Babes in Arms Background

  • Music: Richard Rodgers
  • Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
  • Book: Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
  • Productions: 1937 Broadway, 1939 film

Babes in Arms is a 1937 musical theater production which tells the story of a boy who puts on a show to avoid being sent to a work farm. It has as music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Rodgers and Hart.

The 1937 Broadway Production

The show opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, in New York, New York on April 14, 1937 and ran for 289 performances. (It transferred to the Majestic Theatre on October 25, 1937).

Cast:

  • Billie Smith played by Mitzi Green
  • Val Lamar played by Ray Heatherton
  • Peter played by Duke McHale
  • Baby Rose played by Wynn Murray
  • Ivor DeQuincy played by Harold Nicholas
  • Irving DeQuincy played by Fayard Nicholas
  • Marshall Blackstone played by Alfred Drake

The songs from the original Broadway play

  • "Babes in Arms"
  • "I Wish I Were in Love Again"
  • "Light on Our Feet"
  • "Way out West"
  • "Imagine"
  • "All At Once"
  • "Johnny One Note"
  • "The Lady Is a Tramp"
  • "My Funny Valentine"
  • "Where or When"
  • "You Are So Fair"

Babes in Arms was the first of four Mickey / Judy "backyard musicals" directed by the legendary Busby Berkeley. June Preisser made her MGM debut in this film as Baby Rosalie - a bit of a spoof of Shirley Temple. She refers to two of her films, "The Baby General" (Shirley's The Little Colonel) and "The Queen's Little Daughter" (Shirley's The Little Princess). Mickey has dinner with Baby Rosalie to discuss the production with hilarious results - probably the best scene in the movie. Judy sings "I Cried for You" with a tongue-in-cheek monologue written by Roger Edens. Judy also sings "Figaro" and "Good Morning" (with Mickey Rooney) - a song that would turn up again in the 1952 production, Singin' in the Rain. The film was on the exhibitor's top ten list for 1939, and Mickey Rooney was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award. The film was based on the Rodgers and Hart stage play of the same name, but bore little resemblance to the play.