For Me And My Gal Free
Jo loves her job but her main motivation is to make money so that her kid brother can go to medical school. She then teams with a smooth operator, Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly), who promises better career and rewards if she joins his song-and-dance act. But while they struggle, Jimmy and Sid hit the big time.
For Me and My Gal
The chemistry between Judy & Gene was natural and infectious, and led to their teaming again for The Pirate (1947) and Summer Stock (1950), both also available as remastered Blu-ray releases from Warner Archive.
Gene Kelly made his screen debut alongside Judy Garland (in her first adult role) in this rousing celebration of vaudeville and USO troopers, cited by legendary director-choreographer Berkeley as his favorite film.
For Me and My Gal is a 1942 American musical film which starred Gene Kelly and Judy Garland, and was directed by Busby Berkeley. This film was written by Sid Silvers, Fred F. Finklehoffe, and Richard Sherman. Arthur Freed of the MGM Studios produced the film and it also marked the debut of Gene Kelly, as an American actor.
America is on the verge of entering into World War I when two talented performers Harry Palmer and Jo Hayden decide to play the Palace Theatre on Broadway. Their decision was to get married after staging the play that bears the hallmark of vaudeville's success.
Weeks before the red letter day, Harry gets drafted into the army which he postpones by intentionally smashing his hand into a trunk. His intention to receive a short delay was not met with affection as Jo left the act at the Broadway, after receiving the news of his brother dying in the war.
Without Jo, Harry tries to get enlisted in the army but could not do so because his hand had gotten permanently crippled. Dejected, he chose the only way that was open to him in going to the war, which was joining the YMCA front line troops.
Although the film was directed by Busby Berkeley, it does not contain any of his signature music style, when it comes to large-scale musical production numbers. The songs were choreographed by Bobby Connolly and were performed exactly the same way as they would have been on the vaudeville stage.
The film received a lot of critical acclaim from all circles of the society. Roger Edens and Georgie Stoll got nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Score. Roger was nominated for Musical Adaptation and Georgie got the nomination for Musical Direction.
For Me and My Gal is an ambitious and opulent musical that talks about the nostalgic and romantic era of vaudeville in an entertaining and sentimental way. The performance of the actors not just make the kaleidoscopic fantasies real but also, make the audience believe in the love of vaudeville through a cascade of memorable and joyous songs. The strong dramatization, innovative framing, and boundless imagination of the filmmaker makes this film strike a chord with an audience who were looking for escapism in a weary world of wars and turmoil. The plot of the film might be predictable but the narration, elements, and the cinematography affects the audience with sincere emotion and heart-wrenching warmth.
Ultimately, For Me and My Gal should be remembered as a soulful and tender romantic film that evokes the essence of the vaudeville in an obvious and naïve way, which is lively, affectionate, and genuine. It is a patriotic spectacle that captures the nervous energy during the war. The memorable music numbers of this wartime romance makes the portrayal of simple love timeless, elegant, and immensely powerful.
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Plot:Set in 1916 right before the United States entered World War I, the film follows vaudeville team Jo Hayden (Garland) and Jimmy Metcalf (Murphy). While traveling, Jo and Jimmy meet self-centered Harry Palmer (Kelly), who is looking for any way to reach the top. Jo falls for Harry and leaves Jimmy to start an act with Harry. Right before Jo and Harry are going to hit the big time, Harry is drafted into World War I. Harry takes extreme measures to stay out of the military and risks his relationship with Jo at the same time.
Good news from the 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives -- this delightful Fox Pre-Code picture has been beautifully remastered. We've yet to see much of the presumed Pre-Code riches from the Fox, Paramount and Columbia studios. If more like the 1932 Me and My Gal are ready to be released, by all means bring them on.
Director Raoul Walsh and an expert cast give us eighty minutes of fun and excitement down on the New York docks, where the men are 57 varieties of goofy and the dames look a guy straight in the eye. The script by Arthur Kober, Philip Klein and Barry Conners contains plenty of slapstick antics but also a fair helping of clever, sassy dialogue, some of which will send a viewer to the reference pages. Most old movie fans have heard the interjection "Jake!" before, but "Bezark" was a first for this critic. Although nobody wears outrageous costumes and their behaviors aren't patently absurd, the dockside atmosphere of Me and My Gal reminds one of Segar's original Popeye cartoon strip. The leading lady even moves a bit like Olive Oyl -- when she tunes the radio to a Latin song, she swings her bottom to and fro to the music before standing up straight to dance.
Wisecracking cop Danny Dolan (Spencer Tracy) keeps order on the docks, saving a dog, chasing away kids (when not encouraging them to fight) and doing his best to curb the antics of the local drunk. For rescuing said drunk from drowning, he's promoted to detective. Danny meets Helen Riley (Joan Bennett), a diner cashier who chews gum and talks back when he makes with the smart remarks. Helen's sister Kate (Marion Burns) holds a noisy reception after her marriage to the slightly horse-faced ship's officer Eddie Collins (George Chandler), and when Danny is dispatched to quiet things down he meets their father, tugboat captain Pop Riley (J. Farrell MacDonald). With Eddie gone to sea, Kate is left alone with Eddie's father Sarge (Henry B. Walthal), a paralyzed WW1 casualty who communicates with Eddie only by blinking his eyes. Danny continues his somewhat crude courtship, bringing Helen gifts obviously purchased with the 'policeman's discount'. Local thug Duke Casteñega (George Walsh) breaks out of prison, murders a guard and pulls off a big robbery with his sinister brother Baby Face (Noel Madison). Danny is ordered to find and arrest the crooks, but is unaware that Kate is still carrying on an affair with Duke, who is hiding in her attic. Sarge knows Duke is there, but has no way of telling anyone.
With Raoul Walsh's relaxed direction and the unforced acting of Spencer Tracy, Me and My Gal feels too natural to be completely scripted. After his promotion, Danny goes to buy a new hat and gets so excited that he takes a liking to the one he walked in with. The salesman is delighted: "That's the first time I ever sold a guy his own hat!" The humor is pretty basic at times, what with gravel voiced Frank Moran making a running gag out of spitting in the eye of the dock drunk. But even the drunk is given funny lines (approx):
The fun includes a moronic detective (Bert Hanlon) who parrots everything Danny says. A fast talking radio salesman buries Pop Riley and Helen in an avalanche of words. Pop, a very big man, makes a pained face whenever Danny gives him a hand-crunching handshake. Calling for more beer at the party, Pop steps into a ridiculously close close-up to give a hearty laugh. Raoul Walsh would strain this gag in his later Gentleman Jim.
Finally alone together in the apartment finally, Danny maneuvers Helen onto the sofa to make out. They mention that show they just saw, "Strange Innertube" or something, where the actors talk, and then the audience hears their secret thoughts as voiceovers. Helen and Danny then trade carefully chosen endearments, which are immediately followed by sarcastic voiceovers indicating what's really on their mind. "What if your father should walk in and see us now?" wonders Danny, followed by Helen's 'ghost voice': "They'll have to give him ether to remove father's foot from up his..." That particular anatomical image crops up not once but three times in the film's comic dialogue.
A lot happens in Me and My Gal. The robbery is carried off just like the one in Rififi, with the crooks drilling through a ceiling to reach their treasure. It also has the original instance of the gag cribbed by Martin Scorsese for his remake of Cape Fear -- Duke makes his daring escape by strapping himself to the underside of a prison vehicle. In another original, clever scene Danny proves his mettle as a detective by finding a way to communicate with the paralyzed and mute Sarge.
Spencer Tracy is fully in command of his Danny, a puffed up but lovable smart guy who thinks he's tops with the ladies. Frankly, Tracy is more charismatic here than he is as the middle-aged, middle class everyman in most of his later MGM pictures. Joan Bennett is the big surprise. Noir fans know her man-killing femme fatales in Fritz Lang's The Woman in the Window andScarlet Street.. She's a cute tease in this picture, with flirtatious eyes that would communicate quite a bit more than the Pre-Code dialogue. She's marvelous -- she even lights a match by striking it on her rump. After Me and My Gal, seeing Tracy and Bennett as the husband and wife in Father of the Bride is almost depressing -- Danny and Helen are a lot more fun. Grabbing each other for a kiss, they knock over half the bottles on the café countertop. Helen: "After a kiss like that, you're going to have to marry me!" 041b061a72