PIGSKIN PARADE (20th Century-Fox 1936) Fox Home Video

After acquiring Judy Garland’s contract, and placing her in several lackluster short subjects, MGM could not entirely figure out what to do about ‘the little girl with the big voice.’ Indeed, Garland’s singing pipes were of a full-grown woman when she was barely 15-years old. And L.B. Mayer, usually savvier when regarding talent, instead chose to nickname Garland ‘my little hunchback’ – a moniker that greatly affected the sensitive Garland’s perceptions about her own self-image. Undeniably, Garland went through her ‘ugly’ period as a burgeoning teenager; Mayer, instructing his commissary staff to confine the girl’s diet to chicken soup – to slim her down – and getting her hooked-on amphetamines and diet pills. At the time, neither was fully understood for their overall addictive quality, and certainly each was misunderstood for their damaging life-long effects on general health.  Lest we forget, even David O. Selznick was a great proponent of Benzedrine, using it on himself and rather liberally to extend his workdays well into the night. So, to suggest Mayer was somehow maliciously out to wreck Garland’s health and childhood is a bit much. Let us merely suggest, his aim was to get as much economy out of her as was humanly (some would say, ‘inhumanly’) possible.

However, as Mayer knew not yet of the extent his little dynamo could perform, he was more than willing to finagle a loan out to 2oth Century-Fox for David Butler’s Pigskin Parade (1936) a passable pastiche being prepared by Zanuck, for which Garland would prove just one in an ensemble of great musical comedy attractions. Pigskin Parade is a varsity-themed disposable nothing, designed to effortlessly passes the time with nothing more substantial than good cheer. The picture stars the now forgotten character actor, Stuart Erwin as Amos Dodd – a hillbilly ‘discovery’ by married football coaches, Bessie (Patsy Kelly) and Winston ‘Slug’ Winters (Jack Haley). Seems Amos knows how to toss around the old watermelon on his farm. This directly translates into a killer forward pass for the fledgling Texas team, all set to face off against Yale in the Yale Bowl. Showcasing a veritable who’s who of Fox up-and-comers and never-would-be’s, including Bette Grable (Laura Watson), Dixie Dunbar (Ginger Jones) and Elisha Cook Jr. (Herbert Terwilliger Van Dyck), today, the picture’s focus appears to be on Amos’ younger sister, Sairy (Judy Garland) the outstanding novelty act to emerge, belting out ‘The Texas Tornado’.

Garland was already a seasoned Vaudeville veteran at the time she was loaned out to Fox for Pigskin Parade. In their shortsightedness, MGM had miscast Garland in several low budget short subjects but had hesitated spending the money to showcase her in a feature film. Hence, Mayer used Pigskin Parade to test audiences’ response to Garland. The response was overwhelming. Garland’s renditions of the Texas Tornado and It’s Love I’m After had to be re-shot after they drew spontaneous applause from the cast and crew on the set. If you are a fan of musical comedies of this vintage then you already know how this one ends – with merriment, song and laughter; in short – a pretty good way to cozy up with nostalgia on a rainy or snowy day. Amos falls for attractive student, Sally Saxon (Arline Judge), incurring the envy of her affluent suitor, Mortimer Higgens (Grady Sutton). Texas State squares off against Yale in a blizzard. In the eleventh hour of the game, Yale leads 7-6 and Slug accidentally knocks himself unconscious on the sideline. All seems lost until the butch Bessie takes over, sending in Amos who (wait for it) runs the winning play barefoot (in the snow?!?!).

Fox Home Video’s DVD is fairly impressive. The B&W image is sharp, solid and nicely contrasted with a fairly solid spectrum of tonality. Occasionally, the image can appear slightly softly focused and fine details do tend to get lost in extreme long shots. Overall, however, the picture will surely not disappoint. Age-related artifacts are kept to a minimum and the overall quality of the transfer is smooth and appealing. The audio has been re-channeled to stereo. The original mono is also included. Extras include a featurette on all of the talents in the film, a special reminiscence on Garland from her daughter, Lorna Luft, a brief bio on Darryl F. Zanuck, stills galleries and a restoration comparison. Recommended.

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3.5

EXTRAS

3.5