For Me and My Gal (1942)

the leading man is my tpye

Did you people see the same film I saw?

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

With only three film appearances together, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland became a team with enough dynamite to blow memories of Judy and Mickey out of the barn. Fresh from Broadway, Gene never looked back as he took Hollywood by storm, and within a few years, was rivaling another dancer named Astaire who came back from a brief retirement to give Mr. Kelly, if I may, a run for his money. Here, Gene and Judy get a war story, timely for the time, even if the war they were fighting was the first World War, not the then current second one. They are members of separate vaudeville acts who come together as one, he replacing her old partner George Murphy (not a bad hoofer himself), and as fast as you can scramble to find a big yellow tulip, they are in love. But when their chance to hit the big time through the Palace in New York comes along, Gene is drafted, and his old selfish nature erupts which makes him not only unpatriotic but his own worst enemy.Like "This is the Army!", this takes the audience out to view the entertainers on the front, sometimes in dangerous areas of combat, and after realizing the mistake he made, Kelly is desperate not only to fight but to make his girl proud and win her back. But will he find her on the French trenches? Can Judy belt? Can Gene tap? Will Leo roar? Along the way, there's Judy and Gene "Ballin' the Jack", turnin' out the title song and briefly singing the rousing "When You Wore a Tulip" which had a hit recording where the two addressed each other by their real names. "I wore a big red rose!", to which Judy replies "A big fat rose", a memorable duet truncated for the movie much to this Judy fan's disappointment. Judy also gives a fantastic rendition of "After You've Gone", one of the best torch numbers of her career, showing all the emotion she would later empower with "A Star is Born". Gene's selfish character may have made certain audience members "boo" during the war, and it does seem as if he'll never turn over a new leaf or wake up and smell the chock full o' nuts. But MGM had "patriotism" on its mind in 1942, and there is no way it could let a leading man (especially a new one they intended to make a big star) remain "yeller". That old task masker Busby Berkley is once again at the helm of a Judy picture, and if he was taxing her as dramatized in her many biographies, it never shows. The chemistry between Judy and Gene is top dog and any indication of her teenage "Nobody's Baby" glamourless girl is totally gone. She's a star all the way from here, and Gene would rejoin her for two more musical ventures of varying themes where the memory of their first venture proved to be much more than a fluke.

Harry Palmer is incredibly ambitious, and will do whatever it takes to get to the top of the vaudeville stage. Upon meeting the talented Jo Hayden, he succeeds in getting her to form a double act, but as Jo starts to get attached to Harry, he shows just how much he wants to get to the top, regardless of anyone else's feelings.Tidy and delightful enough tale harking to the pre-WWI days of vaudevillian splendour. Starring Gene Kelly {Harry} in his first motion picture and Judy Garland {Jo} on effervescent form, it's a shame that this Busby Berkeley directed piece isn't the classic that it's stars and production numbers warrants. For Me And My Gal looks and feels like an excuse for MGM to show off, and as great as it is to see Garland and Kelly together {and it's rather joyous actually}, some numbers, particularly Garland's solo's fall a little flat. Yes the title number and the likes of Ballin The Jack are first rate efforts {Bobby Connolly dance directing and not Berkeley}, but counter that with the listless Till we Meet Again and it becomes an up and down picture relying on safe standards material to win us over.The support cast are also straight out of averageville. It was no surprise to me to find out that Garland had George Murphy demoted to the support role of Jimmy Metcalf, thus giving his intended role as Harry to the ebullient Kelly. Because Murphy and Marta Eggerth {Eve Minard} are poor and frankly lack enthusiasm, something that may be applicable to the director also? However the film is saved by it's warmth {the ending is sure to soften the hardest of viewers} and the turn from Kelly. Oozing star quality and hinting at the ego that would drive his career on, Kelly lifts the film out of the threatening passivity. Nice solo on Tramp Dance and a fine duet with Ben Blue {Sid Simms} for Frenchie Frenchie {Oh Frenchy}, Kelly however does still have much to thank Garland for on their shared numbers. They have great chemistry, and as it turns out in the end, Garland was right to insist that Kelly be bumped up to lead man status. Mixed but certainly no time waster, hell the two leads alone demand a venture into it. 6.5/10

How much you like this depends upon how much star appeal means to you and how well you like the songs. I wanted to see it for the tap dancing, so this film was very disappointing. It was a lot more singing than dancing, and except for the title song, not the kind of crooning that appeals to me. I was really sorry to see George Murphy get such a weak part and not be able to show off his dancing talents.From what I've read, he was supposed to get Gene Kelly's role but Judy Garland talked the "powers that be" into casting a young Kelly instead. What a mistake. The story was somewhat boring, too, overall. The film is of note since this was Kelly's first starring role. It should have been Murphy's. At least they gave the military boys in this World War I saga a good plug. That kind of patriotism really bugs the liberal wackos here, so the film has merit for that. Why is it that Americans plug the U.S.A. during wartime, the Left calls it "propaganda?" When Liberal causes are shown, it's labeled "thought-provoking." Yeah, right.

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions. Busby does well as a director. Judy, George and Gene are great dancers. I love the dancing doll scene in the beginning with Judy and George, and Judy's and Gene's later dance scenes. George had great finesse. He danced with Fred Astaire in the Broadway Melody of 1940, I think. Ben Blue is always great in acting, singing and dancing. He does comedic female character impersonations very well. He was a very talented choreographer and dance coach, I think. He is wonderful in this film. Gene's first film role portrays him initially as obnoxious and unpopular, and he is even a coward by faking an injury to keep from fighting in World War One. Later on in this film, he goes overseas as a YMCA entertainer. He gets nicer later in this film, and of course his dancing is superb. Elsie Janis was on the NY Palace marquee in this film. She, for real, entertained in Europe during World War One, and was called the Sweetheart of the AEF. She was billed as Elsie Janis and Her Gang. In this film, however, Judy is billed as the Sweetheart of America, then you see AEF (American Expeditionary Force) on the curtain. Judy appears as Jo Hayden and Her Gang. I think that this is a travesty. The real Elsie Janis was from here, in Columbus, Ohio, and she is a legend. She even owned a large home here, across from The Ohio State University. Finally, there is the film Yankee Doodle Dandy, also made in 1942 like For Me and My Gal. It is also made during WWII, and talks about WWI. In both films, there are WWI female singers encouraging the troops. There are also both James Cagney and Gene Kelly being rejected for military service in WWI. Gene and Jimmy both happen to be great tap dancers. "Over There", George M. Cohan's authored song, even appeared in For Me and My Gal. There are military troops marching in both films. Both films are in black and white, which I do not like, especially for musicals. Judy and Gene would later appear in The Pirate and Summer Stock. There may be other films, but I am not sure.