Words and Music

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• Judy Garland was scheduled only to sing with Mickey Rooney in this film, and producer Arthur Freed offered her $50,000 (or half of what she owed the studio for medical bills) to do one take. At the first public screening, the fans asked for more of her, so Freed offered her another $50,000 to do a second song. By the time her scenes were filmed, she had paid back the studio but had made nothing.
• Four Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart songs from the 1937 Broadway production of "Babes in Arms" which were showcased in this film hadn't been used in the 1939 Rooney-Garland-Busby Berkeley backyard musical. The numbers are: "I Wish I Were in Love Again," a duet by old pals Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland (I)' in the party sequence; "Johnny One Note," Miss Garland's spirited follow-up at the party; Lena Horne's exuberant "The Lady Is a Tramp," which became a signature song for her; and finally, "Way Out West (On West End Avenue)," a comic ditty sung partially by 'Betty Garrett (I)', whose full prerecording can be found on the soundtrack CD from Sony.
• Movie Goof (continuity error): After an opening chorus "Oooo's" and "Ahhh's" to the music of the song, "Lover," Tom Drake says, "You have just heard some words and music written by Rodgers and Hart," even though we have heard no words.
• "It Never Entered My Mind," sung by 'Betty Garrett (I)', was deleted from the movie. Miss Garrett's vocal is not contained on the soundtrack CD from Sony.