This might be as close as Judy Garland came to making a bad movie, and it was great! I’d never seen the ending before. Turns out it was a complete ripoff of The Shop Around the Corner nine years earlier with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan (spellcheck doesn’t recognize her and neither do I).

I’ve always been fascinated with Hollywood’s lack of originality, and this one is no exception. Usually the remake pales in comparison, but not in this case. The viewers on IMDB gave the Jimmy Stewart version 8.1 stars. The Judy Garland version 7.2 stars. Sure I love Judy Garland, but I am not gay!

The “wisdom of the crowd” can take a hike on this one. I’d reverse those numbers easy. Just the opening scene blows anything Shop has out of the water, when Van Johnson inadvertently destroys Garland’s outfit and leaves her half naked beside the road. Leaving her to muster what dignity she had left and go on.

Then you throw in technicolor, some pretty good cinematography, kick ass musical numbers, and voila! It sure beats The Shop Around the Corner in my book, even if they were copying someone else’s work. It turns out they’d brought Buster Keaton in to develop the opening slapstick scene, and the one where the violin is demolished in a pratfall. Both very good.