From the late 1930s to the middle 1940s, the fictional character of Andy Hardy was the most popular teenager in American motion pictures. Andy, an energetic and wholesome-living teenager, first appeared in a 1928 stage play, Skidding, by Aurania Rouverol (c. 1886–1955). This play was purchased by the MGM (see entry under 1920s—Film and Theater in volume 2) studio and made into a low-budget film called A Family Affair (1937). When that film proved popular with audiences, studio executives planned two additional Hardy family feature films, You're Only Young Once (1938) and Judge Hardy's Children (1938). By 1939, it was clear that the Hardy family, and Andy in particular, were appealing to large audiences. To make sure that filmgoers recognized the releases of new films about the Hardy family, each title in the series began to include the family's last name. Most of the titles contained the name of Andy...