the audience applauded

Let's be realistic.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

While it is not one of the best films of either Judy Garland (in her last MGM musical) or Gene Kelly, Summer Stock nevertheless is a treat for fans of either of them or both and it showcases their talents well.One shouldn't expect an awful lot from the story (true this said for a good deal of musicals before and during this period), it's certainly not disposable because Summer Stock does such a good job in entertaining and moving the viewer but it is rather weak in how thin as a wafer and trite it is, some parts also could have been developed longer to help them and some of the characters' motivations (particularly in the case of Gloria DeHaven) ring true better. Bumbling Phil Silvers is an acquired taste, some will find him funny, others annoying. For me he was a mixed bag, because at some points he was very amusing and then there were other points where he did grate (his accent in the Dig, Dig, Dig number is not for the easily offended either) and didn't seem necessary. The number Heavenly Music will also evoke mixed reactions, it will induce laughs for some and an equal share of cringes from others, for this viewer the campiness of the number got overly-silly to the point it got irritating and jarred with the rest of the film.However, Summer Stock looks fabulous, being shot in gloriously colourful Technicolor (clearly loving the ever photogenic Garland) and having good use of lighting, lavish costumes and handsome and never cheap sets. The film is very energetically and whimsically scored, the swinging Happy Harvest , restrained Friendly Star and particularly the characterful and sweet You Wonderful You instrumental arrangements standing out, and the songs apart from Heavenly Music are great, deserving a better distinction of having only two memorable songs or something like that. Especially good are the rousing Get Happy (an instant classic and one of Garland's signature tunes for very good reason), the charming You Wonderful You and the incredibly heartfelt and intimately filmed Friendly Star. Summer Stock boasts equally strong choreography, Portland Fancy perfectly shows what made Garland's and Kelly's partnership here click so well and is one of the finest dance duets in a Garland film and Kelly's newspaper routine is some of his best solo work. A large part of Kelly's appeal was how he did things that don't seem all that special or interesting and turned them into something truly extraordinary.The script is good-humoured and warm-hearted with a great deal of witty humour and charm, and while the story is not perfect in any shape or form it's at least breezily paced and cheers one up after a hard day complete with some nice emotional investment. Summer Stock is directed beautifully, and while there are reservations about Silvers the cast are very good indeed, Garland and Kelly in fact wonderful. Unlike some viewers, while a little jarring in Get Happy Garland's fluctuating weight didn't bother me because she is so charming, emotive, is exquisitely photographed, copes with ease with the dancing and sings an absolute dream, especially in Friendly Star. Kelly is at the top of his game with the dancing, he sings pleasantly and he's a dashing leading partner. His and Garland's partnership is a joy. Gloria DeHaven does make a real effort bringing some charm to a character that is quite shallow and doesn't have an awful lot to her and her voice is radiant, and Eddie Bracken is admirably more restrained than usual. Hans Conreid doesn't have an awful lot to do but is suitably smarmy.All in all, in her last MGM musical Judy Garland went out on a high in a film that even with its faults is very easy to 'get happy' to. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I'll be surprised if this gets read very often, coming as far down the line as it does. Enough others have praised this film, and given sufficient summaries of its gossamer plot, that I am gratefully relieved of the duty.My only comment is that, if you are interested at all in cinema choreography, you watch at least through the "Portland Fancy" number. You don't have to sit through to "Get Happy"; watch whichever "That's Entertainment" anthology that features it. But if you ever want to understand what drives movie dancing, and why Kelly and Garland are equated by many with Astaire and Rogers, "Portland Fancy" should provide your education. a traditional square/contradance that segues into a jitterbug session and then to a challenge tap between the two stars, it is in this viewer's opinion one of the finest dance moments in any movie. To enjoy dance but ignore this moment does the soul a disservice.

It was her last MGM musical, and one of her best. But she was really troublesome in the making of it, so MGM fired her and her career (which included at least two more great performances) never recovered in the movies. That is how SUMMER STOCK is recalled today - the film that wrote "finish" to Judy Garland's film stardom at MGM.But SUMMER STOCK is also the film that gave her her last chance to appear opposite Gene Kelly and to play a story line that she was familiar with. For here Judy returns to the story line of the musicals she made in the early 1940s with Mickey Rooney, regarding "putting on the show". The difference is that she and Mickey and the others were teenagers (or supposedly teenagers) showing up the dubious grown-ups. Here it is grown-ups putting on a show for an out-of-town preview in a small town.Judy is living in a New England town, where her family has old, old roots (at one point we learn her great great grandfather set up an anti-theater law in 1698!). She and her sister, Gloria DeHaven, own a farm. Judy has been courted, and is engaged, to Eddie Bracken, the son of the town banker Ray Collins. Bracken is his typical weak type, with eyeglasses and hay fever. Collins is typically fatherly, but a bit of a bully to his son (not for any bad reasons). He looks forward to the marriage as a way of uniting the two oldest families of the area. And he even does Garland a favor, giving her a new tractor for her farm at cost.DeHaven has always been the pampered younger daughter. She has been dating Kelly and invites him and the cast of his musical review production to put it on in the barn of her farm. The musical not only has Kelly as director, producer, and star, but also has Phil Silvers and Carleton Carpenter as his assistants (in Silvers' case, supposed assistant as he's a walking disaster area), and also been lucky enough to get a famous leading man named Keith (Hans Conreid, effective in his brief part but all too brief). They descend on the farm and Garland and her cook and helper Marjorie Main are uncertain about what exactly to do. Collins and Bracken are not too helpful. In fact their parochial attitude to theater people is very hostile.As the film progresses Garland slowly gets dragged into the production, especially as DeHaven's interest flags. In the meantime the relationship of Bracken and Garland starts cracking seriously as he gets suspicious of the intentions of Kelly towards his intended.The numbers are pretty good, particularly the songs "Howdy Neighbor", "You Wonderful You", "Heavenly Music", and the last minute show stopper, "Get Happy!" Oddly enough, in the discussions I see on this thread, nobody notes the ridiculous tune that Conreid (it's not his voice) and DeHaven sing "Alone on a Lonely Island". It is done in such a way to spoof the stiff, overly rich voice of Conreid's "Heath". As it does not show up in the final production it probably was only meant for that character.It is too bad that SUMMER STOCK was her last MGM film...but at least Judy left on a high note.

Judy's last film at MGM wasn't her best. A pity. She does not look good for most of her scenes and her acting is erratic. But that voice! Simple story of "let's put on a show in a barn" with Judy as farm owner and her sister, GLORIA DE HAVEN, the star of the show...at least for a while. Everyone knows where the plot is going and how it's going to end, but it's kind of fun getting there. Very unrealistic as the rehearsals have nothing to do with the actual show itself. Also, where are the crew members and backstage help? Incredible how they made the rustic barn into a first class Theatre with a huge stage. What happened to the boards that creaked in the GENE KELLY dance number. All of a sudden the stage is shiny, huge and bright. Well, that's MOVIE magic I guess. Also, what happened to all the kids in the show during the evenings? The farm looked like a ghost town when Judy and Gene were outdoors and when Gene does the "newspaper" dance in the barn, where was everybody. The guys in the GET HAPPY number were not any of the guys in the actual show or earlier scenes in the movie. One really MUST check reality at the door for most any musical. As good as the GET HAPPY number is, it's not Judy's best by any means. There is also a scene where Judy goes into an office to talk about not letting the show go on. The camera angle is so strange, as is the blocking of the scene. The camera is trying to hide her weight perhaps? It's such an awkward moment.