“Busby Berkeley directed Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in this engaging M-G-M backstage-musical fable. The nonsense story has considerable charm, and Garland and Rooney hoofing together are a happy sight. Vincente Minnelli, new to films, directed Garland's solos. Rooney, Richard Quine, and Ray McDonald are three young hoofers billed as ‘The Three Balls of Fire'.... This is the movie in which Rooney does his wildly funny impersonation of Carmen Miranda; it also features the jive number ‘Hoe Down.'”