Pigskin Parade

A cinematic oddity that splices together campus comedy, sports underdog (football, in this case), and manic musical into… something. I’m not quite sure what it all is, but it’s a lot of something that’s diverting if thin. There’s wisecracking Patsy Kelly and an effete Jack Haley as a married couple, a strangely Oscar-nominated turn from Stuart Erwin as a redneck with a talent for football, and a cavalcade of collegiate brothers. Of course, there’s something about the big game, mistaken identity, boundless “can-do” energy that permeates Depression-era cinema, and a strange subplot involving a Communist-sympathizing student as a punchline. What really stands out in Pigskin Parade is the cinematic debut of a teenaged Judy Garland constantly asking if people want to hear her sing and being rebuked in her earliest scenes. She does eventually let those mutant lungs belt out a few songs, but Pigskin Parade is so overloaded with musical interludes, hillbilly comedy, and anything else you can think of that Garland’s belting is but one small fraction of a weirder tapestry.