"After a kiss like that, you're going to have to marry me!"
With dialogue such as this throughout the movie, Fox Films felt it had a sure-fire hit in December 1932's "Me and My Gal." The studio was getting good use of relatively newcomer Spencer Tracy. Appearing in eight movies in 1932 alone, the actor was finding his footing still tough in getting the American movie-going public to embrace him.
When "Me and My Gal" with Joan Bennett was released, the movie set a new all-time low record for attendance at New York City's Roxy Theatre. Film critics gave a big yawn at the movie which combined romantic comedy with dramatic hysterics. In retrospect, "Me and My Gal" has proven to be one of Tracy's most energetic performances on the screen, and is an endearing testimony to the brilliant scripted dialogue taking place during the Pre-Code cinema era. The screenplay was written by Arthur Kober, who had just obtained a divorce from wife playwright Lillian Hellman whom he caught having an affair with novelist Dashiell Hammett. Film historian Glenn Erickson noted, "Tracy is more charismatic here than he is as the middle-aged, middle class everyman in most of his later MGM pictures."
Tracy plays Danny Dolan, a street cop-turned-detective who falls for waitress Helen Riley (Joan Bennett). The wise-cracking between the pair is one of the standouts performances in cinema. There's one frequently-mentioned scene where, similar to Woody Allen and Diane Keaton's date after their tennis match in 1977's "Annie Hall," Danny and Helen, in a parody of Eugene O'Neill's 'Strange Interlude,' are on her father's couch deciding to kiss for the first time. The pair's voice-overs reflecting their thoughts are directly opposite on what they're saying. Here, Danny plants a quick peck on her lips. Helen's thoughts are, "Oh, he kissed me. I'm so thrilled, but I'll pretend I'm mad."
"Me and My Gal" is a movie rarely spoken about today but has film historians citing it as one of Raoul Walsh's best early 1930s film after his disastrous bomb in 1930 "The Big Trail" with John Wayne. Film reviewer Stuart Galbraith praised the movie, "Everything about the picture works: it's funny, romantic, suspenseful, and sentimental in the good sense, the dialog is sharp and sassy, and the two leads are terrific." The '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" reference books has included this gem in its listings.
When "Me and My Gal" with Joan Bennett was released, the movie set a new all-time low record for attendance at New York City's Roxy Theatre. Film critics gave a big yawn at the movie which combined romantic comedy with dramatic hysterics. In retrospect, "Me and My Gal" has proven to be one of Tracy's most energetic performances on the screen, and is an endearing testimony to the brilliant scripted dialogue taking place during the Pre-Code cinema era. The screenplay was written by Arthur Kober, who had just obtained a divorce from wife playwright Lillian Hellman whom he caught having an affair with novelist Dashiell Hammett. Film historian Glenn Erickson noted, "Tracy is more charismatic here than he is as the middle-aged, middle class everyman in most of his later MGM pictures."
Tracy plays Danny Dolan, a street cop-turned-detective who falls for waitress Helen Riley (Joan Bennett). The wise-cracking between the pair is one of the standouts performances in cinema. There's one frequently-mentioned scene where, similar to Woody Allen and Diane Keaton's date after their tennis match in 1977's "Annie Hall," Danny and Helen, in a parody of Eugene O'Neill's 'Strange Interlude,' are on her father's couch deciding to kiss for the first time. The pair's voice-overs reflecting their thoughts are directly opposite on what they're saying. Here, Danny plants a quick peck on her lips. Helen's thoughts are, "Oh, he kissed me. I'm so thrilled, but I'll pretend I'm mad."
"Me and My Gal" is a movie rarely spoken about today but has film historians citing it as one of Raoul Walsh's best early 1930s film after his disastrous bomb in 1930 "The Big Trail" with John Wayne. Film reviewer Stuart Galbraith praised the movie, "Everything about the picture works: it's funny, romantic, suspenseful, and sentimental in the good sense, the dialog is sharp and sassy, and the two leads are terrific." The '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" reference books has included this gem in its listings.