Remarkably, the "Andy Hardy" series of films ran for 21 years from 1937 to 1958 and encompassed 16 features. For the fourth of these, we go to 1938's Love Finds Andy Hardy.

With a big Christmas gala soon to occur, Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) learns that he can't escort his girlfriend Polly Benedict (Ann Rutherford) because she plans to go out of town. His pal Beezy Anderson (George Breakston) will also be away so Andy reluctantly agrees to take Beezy's gal Cynthia Potter (Lana Turner) to the event to keep potential suitors from her.

Awkwardly, Cynthia develops a crush on Andy, as does his younger neighbor Betsy Booth (Judy Garland). All of this leaves Andy to dig his way out of all these entanglements.

The next time someone whines that modern Hollywood only creates sequels and brings no fresh ideas, point out that statistic I mentioned earlier: 16 Andy Hardy movies over 21 years! And the numbers look worse via the early part of that stretch, as the length of the run deceives.

As also noted previously, Finds became the fourth in the string of 16 films. 15 of the 16 came out between 1937 and 1946, with the final entry - Andy Hardy Comes Home - an outlier 12 years after its most recent predecessor.

This means MGM put out 1.5 Hardy flicks a year for a decade. Eight of them hit across the three-year span of 1937-1939!

Despite the fame of the franchise, Finds offers the first Hardy movie I ever saw. A blurb on the back of this Blu-ray refers to it as the "crown jewel" of the series, so that makes it a good place to start.

Did Finds convince me I'd missed out on cinematic delights until now? Nope, as the movie brings the lightest of light fare.

Warner Archive has gone on something of a Mickey Rooney spree of late, and this reinforces my befuddlement at his success in films. Rooney always struck me as annoyingly over the top and broad, a belief that Finds fails to alter.

Indeed, Finds asks the viewer to buy into the unbelievable: that tiny, scrawny and less than handsome Andy would become so attractive to women. Of course, in real life, Rooney did well with the ladies, but that went with movie stardom.

It makes no sense that babes like Turner and Rutherford would swoon after homely Rooney, and his personality doesn’t compensate. As usual, Rooney overacts relentlessly and creates an irritating screen presence.

Even without Rooney, Finds would sputter because there’s no “there” there. Oh, the movie goes down painlessly and creates passable light entertainment.

However, Finds comes with such a thin story that it struggles to sustain its 92 minutes. We discover padding along the way like an out-of-nowhere song performance from Garland mid-film- with two more tacked on toward the end - and scenes that extend much longer than necessary.

Finds enjoys a nice supporting cast. All three of Andy’s potential love interests bring charm to the proceedings, and as Andy’s dad, Lewis Stone delivers a grounding presence.

Unfortunately, between Rooney’s irritating presence and the absence of a narrative with much creativity of spark, Finds winds up as a spotty affair. Nothing about it becomes a painful experience but not much about it delights either.

Love Finds Andy Hardy appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a generally appealing presentation.

Sharpness usually appeared good. The film only suffered from a few slightly ill-defined shots, as the majority of the flick demonstrated nice delineation.

I saw no problems with jagged edges or shimmering, and the movie lacked edge haloes. Grain seemed appropriate and I witnessed no print flaws.

Blacks appeared deep and rich, while low-light shots demonstrated nice definition and clarity. Even with some softness, this ended up as a solid image.

Although the DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack of Finds didn’t demonstrate anything special, it worked fine for its era and genre. Speech seemed slightly thin but was good for its age, as lines remained intelligible and clear.

Music demonstrated reasonable range. The songs and score didn’t impress, but it appeared acceptably bright.

Effects became a minor component in this chatty flick, and they came across as reasonably accurate. Though they had little heft, they were clean and didn’t suffer from distortion or other concerns. The audio appeared positive for its period.

As we head to extras, we find a 1940 short called Andy Hardy’s Dilemma (18:31). Subtitled “A Lesson in Mathematics – And Other Things”, the reel brings back Mickey Rooney and Lewis Stone from the regular cast.

Andy wants his dad to give him $200 for a new car but Judge Hardy plans to donate the cash to a charity instead. Dilemma exists more as an educational piece about child services than an Andy Hardy comedy but it becomes a mildly interesting archival piece.

Other than the flick’s trailer, the remaining extras come from audio affairs. We get an excerpt from the radio show Good News of 1939 (24:42) that focuses on the Hardy family at Thanksgiving.

On the positive side, the segment brings in the main cast from the Hardy films. On the negative side, it doesn’t seem terribly interesting. Still, it offers a good historical curiosity – along with a massively racist ad for Maxwell House.

We also get four Judy Garland Pre-recordings for “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen” (2:50), “Meet the Beat of My Heart” (2:56), “It Never Rains But What It Pours” (2:25) and “In-Between” (4:32). None do anything for me but fans will enjoy them.

Part of a long-running franchise, Love Finds Andy Hardy provides a fluffy concoction. Nearly 90 years after its release, the film becomes forgettable light entertainment. The Blu-ray delivers largely positive picture and audio with a modest selection of supplements. Fans of Andy Hardy will feel pleased but I doubt anyone new to the series will find much here.