Looking for an easy victory as a confidence boost, Yale University intends to invite the University of Texas to a charity football game, but accidentally sends it to the much smaller Texas State University instead. The underdog Texans, under the command of new coach Slug Winters (Jack Haley), are optimistic of their chances until their star player (Fred Kohler, Jr.) suffers a season-ending injury. The coach's wife/advisor (Patsy Kelly) is undaunted, traveling to Missouri to find a replacement. She discovers Amos Dodd (Stuart Erwin) and his sister Sairy (Judy Garland) in a melon patch and offers them scholarships on the spot, but will their homespun charm be enough to win in New Haven?
Collegiate comedies were a very popular genre for a while in the early days of film. I suspect because that way you could have a bunch of young, fresh-faced talent that you didn't have to pay much.
This film is notable because of the amount of talent stuffed in. There's a very young Garland, future starlet Betty Grable, Elisha Cook, Jr., future Tin Man Jack Haley, and TV stalwart Stuart Erwin. If you watch a lot of TCM, you'll recognize even more.
It definitely feels dated but it's so up-beat and innocent, it's hard to hate on it. There's a full-length print on YouTube but the quality sucks so you're better off paying $4 and renting it on Amazon.
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