Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (July 24, 2025)
Intended primarily for teens, A Date With Judy existed as a popular radio series from 1941 to 1950, and it enjoyed a TV version that ran from 1951 to 1953. Between these two, we got a film production via 1948’s identically titled A Date With Judy.
Middle-class high school student Judy Foster (Jane Powell) spends much of her time with wealthy life-long friends Ogden "Oogie" Pringle (Scotty Beckett) and his sister Carol (Elizabeth Taylor). Oogie and Judy also date, but this ends when Carol interferes and cancels Oogie school dance plans with Judy.
When Carol realizes her mistake, she attempts to reunite the pair. However, this becomes complicated when Judy dates older war veteran and current college student Stephen I. Andrews (Robert Stack).
Though this implies Date will essentially revolve around the Judy/Oogie/Stephen love triangle, the film also takes on other dimensions. Sort of.
To some degree, we find a love rectangle, as we see an obvious connection between Carol and Stephen. The movie also detours to a side tale related to Judy’s father Mr. Foster’s (Wallace Beery) fear of dancing in public.
All of this leads to a 114-minute movie with maybe 25 minutes of actual plot. Given the wafer-thin nature of the narrative, Date needs charming characters and lively situations to maintain the viewer’s attention.
Alas, it fails to provide either of those. In particular, our title character proves awfully unlikable.
We need a vivacious and sympathetic Judy for this film to work. However, in Powell’s hands, Judy just seems bossy and annoying from Minute One.
Granted, the film attempts to soften her somewhat as it goes, but only slightly. Judy remains grating and self-centered across the film’s entire running time.
I wanted to slap Oogie and tell him to find a less obnoxious girlfriend. Rather than prompt audience affection, Judy turns into an arrogant nag.
Some of his results from the screenplay, but I think Powell’s aggressively pushy performance creates a lot of the harm. Even in Judy’s gentler moments, the character comes across as difficult and stuck on herself.
Carol displays similar attributes but the film doesn’t ask us to like her in the same way we need to embrace Judy. Carol intends to come across as arrogant and egotistical, so we respond to those traits without issue.
Taylor also doesn’t play Carol with the same level of pushiness Powell brings to Judy. Even though Carol should become the less likable of the two, we actually care more for Carol’s arc because at least she seems honest.
And Taylor adds some subtle tones to the role. Even though Carol should feel cartoonier than Judy, Taylor’s talents allow her to feel like the more human of the two.
All of this leads to a complicated love situation that fails to ensnare the viewer, partly because we don’t care what happens to the characters but also because the end result seems so inevitable. No spoilers but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which roles will end up together.
This march toward the inevitable doesn’t work because of our general disinterest in the fates of the participants. If we don’t invest in Judy and the others, the narrative fizzles.
Date tries to spice up matters with a largely pointless subplot related to Judy’s dad and his attempts to learn to dance. These exist A) to fill space and B) to allow cameos from Xavier Cugat and Carmen Miranda.
Though I think “A” becomes the primary factor. Actually, when Judy discovers Mr. Foster’s interaction with Miranda, this prompts her belief that her pop’s cheating on her mother (Selena Royale).
This twist gets forgotten pretty quickly - as do most of the story developments, really. Date churns out romantic tensions and tangles for no real reason other than to push along the “narrative” and give the characters more chances to sing.
Though we get plenty of performances, Date doesn’t become a musical in the sense that the songs exist as part of the story.
Instead, Date just grinds to a halt so folks can sing – and occasionally dance, but the emphasis remains on vocals. Audiences dug this back in the 1940s but I find the injection of songs without much connection to the narrative to become a drag.
Not that the sluggish and scattered Date would prosper without all the tunes. It lacks much to prompt interest no matter what.
Date simply flops because it comes with bland characters and an annoying lead. A more charming main actor could salvage this dud but as it stands, the movie becomes a snooze.
