Nothing puts one in a patriotic mood like hearing a brass band play a rousing march. There’s nothing quite as American as that proud, militaristic sound with perfectly synchronized musicians. A movie which celebrates the many forms of American music is the 1940 “Strike up the Band.”
Starring young Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in the second of their four “let’s put on a show” movies, this musical highlights the American spirit of young people who want to forge their own way in the world to do something worthwhile.
A Musical Story
Jimmy Connors (Rooney) is a high school senior in a small Midwestern town and his widowed mother’s only child. He plays the drums in the school band, but he also has aspirations of organizing his classmates into a dance orchestra which can play at all the school functions….