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When
Carvel teenager and new tow truck-owner Andy Hardy is stopped by a policeman
for driving without a license plate, a radio report implicates him in
stealing the car he is towing. At home, Andy finds it hard to be
cheerful, even though his mother Emily, his father, Judge James K. Hardy,
and his aunt Milly are celebrating his sister Marian's return from New York.
Marian thinks that Carvel is too unsophisticated for her and is annoyed by
her family's worries that she is dating Jeff Willis, a local young man who
is considered a "wolf."
As the judge sits in his study, Andy comes in
and tells him about the misunderstanding that led to the auto theft problem.
The judge promises to sort things out if Andy will help him by befriending
Melodie Nesbit, a teenager at the center of a custody battle between her
mother Olivia and her father Roderick. Although Melodie is not as
pretty or outgoing as Andy's other girlfriends, he agrees to help by asking
her to a dance. Just then, Jeff arrives, announcing his presence on a
loud speaker set up in his car, and broadcasts his invitation to Marian to
come with him to the Red Door Inn on the 19th. Andy tells her about
the notorious inn and warns her not to get involved in a scandal.
On the night of the dance, Melodie is happy to
be there, even though she knows that Andy has asked her out only because of
his father. Andy has to bribe his friends to dance with her, but one
boy, Harry Land, refuses the money because he has a secret crush on Melodie.
After the dance, Melodie, who has a crush on Andy, asks his advice on how to
appeal to boys.
That same night, Emily secretly orders a forty
dollar cut-away coat for her husband out of her household account. A
few days later, Andy's friend Susie comes to distribute posters for a
"spinster skip" dance, to which the girls are to invite the boys. Andy
offers to drive Susie around town and is seen by Melodie, who immediately
goes to the judge and asks him to say that he accepted her invitation for
Andy to come to the dance. At the same time, the postman arrives with
Emily's COD coat and informs her that the amount due is $61.40. Emily
is upset because the ad said nothing about extra charges and refuses to
accept the package.
On the night of Marian's date with Jeff, she
becomes annoyed when her family makes fun of her choice of a dress, which is
really a fancy nightgown, and promises that she "will show them." That
night, a man from a collection agency comes to the house and demands that
Emily pay the full amount of the coat or be taken to court and have her
husband's salary attached.
Later,
at the dance, Melodie impresses everyone with her new clothes and hairstyle
and now the boys are willing to pay Andy. Despite Melodie's charm,
Andy later admits to her that he does not return her affection. When
she quietly goes into her house, she overhears her parents having a vicious
argument. Back at home, Andy feels terrible that he made Melodie cry,
but is happy to hear that Polly Benedict, his old girl friend, is coming
home. Melodie then comes to the judge and says that she never wants to
see either of her parents again and the judge lets her spend the night with
his family.
Some time later, Andy, who volunteered to search
for the long-overdue Marian, brings her home, towing Jeff's car, in which a
drunken Jeff had a minor crash. After they bring the unconscious Jeff
into the house, the judge explains to Andy how low man falls when he allows
himself to reach this state.
The next day, a sober Jeff comes to the door to
apologize and say that he did hear the judge's words the previous night and
has learned his lesson. That afternoon, the judge meets with Melodie's
parents and, after lecturing them about their behavior, asks Melodie in and
convinces Olivia and Roderick to retract the horrible things they have said
about each other and try to get along. After the family leaves, a
tearful Emily comes to her husband, remorseful over what has happened about
the cut-away coat. The judge alleviates her fears by letting her know
that he inadvertently found out about the agency and discovered that the
entire mail order business was run by confidence men who tricked
unsuspecting customers into paying more than the advertised price for the
suit.
That afternoon, Andy takes Harry to see Melodie,
who has gotten over her crush on Andy and is more than willing to date the
smitten Harry. She also convinces Andy to ask Polly to the football
dance. As Andy leaves Melodie's house, Polly drives by with her
cousin, who coincidentally is the man who mistakenly thought that Andy stole
his car. With everything now fine, Andy drives home and tells his
father, "woman are habit forming." |
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