For Me and My Gal (1942)

For Me and My Gal
Directed by Busby Berkeley
Written by Richard Sherman, Fred F. Finklehoff, and Sid Silvers; Story by Howard Emmett Rogers
1942/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Harry Palmer: You think anything’s going to stand in the way of us playing the Palace this time? Oh no, not even a war.[/box]

I don’t know how I missed this enjoyable musical until now.

The action starts in 1916.  Jo Harding (Judy Garland) is in Jimmy Metcalfe’s (George Murphy) vaudeville act.  Jimmy is clearly in love with her.  Self-absorbed headliner Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly) recognizes her talent and sets about stealing her and more from Jimmy.  She can’t stand him at first but Harry also has the gift of the gab and Jimmy sees the writing on the wall and lets her go.  Jo falls deeply in love with Harry, whose main interest is not romance but opening at the Palace Theater in New York, the mecca of all vaudeville performers.

Jo and Harry are relegated to playing the sticks for far longer than Harry had anticipated. He briefly flirts with a chanteuse (Martha Eggerth) who could be his ticket to the big time. But when she offers him a solo break he decides to be loyal to Jo.  Then a draft notice conflicts with their golden opportunity to finally play the Palace.  Harry makes the wrong choice and could lose Jo for good.

The first half of this picture is crammed with delightful musical numbers.  Gene Kelly is absolutely stellar in his film debut and Garland looks lovely in her first “adult” role at the ripe old age of 19.  My favorite of the many great numbers is Gene Kelly’s dance as a hobo/clown in his solo act at the very beginning.  The movie slows down in the second half as the plot concentrates on the love story and some pretty forced patriotic material that was apparently tacked on after Pearl Harbor.  Still, anybody who likes musicals of this era should love this one.

Roger Edens and George Stoll were Oscar-nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

Judy Garland and Gene Kelly sing and dance to “Ballin’ the Jack”