Andy Hardy - First Film and Cast Changes For Sequels

First Film and Cast Changes For Sequels

The initial Hardy film, A Family Affair (1937), was based directly on Rouverol's play and was produced without a view to producing a series. It featured Lionel Barrymore as Judge Hardy and Spring Byington as Mrs. Hardy, Andy's parents, and Margaret Marquis as Andy's on-again-off-again sweetheart, Polly Benedict. But when the series was launched, most of the cast was changed, with the notable exceptions of Rooney and Sara Haden as his Aunt Milly. The second and subsequent films starred Lewis Stone as Judge Hardy, Fay Holden as Mrs. Hardy, Cecilia Parker as Andy's older sister Marian Hardy, and Ann Rutherford as Andy's girlfriend Polly Benedict. (The Hardys' oldest child, married daughter Joan Hardy Martin, appeared only in the first film.)