Little Nellie Kelly (1940)

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

George M. Cohan (play)
Jack McGowan (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 November 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Musical

Plot:

Irish colleen Nellie is in love with handsome Jerry Kelly, even though her father objects. Nellie and...

Plot Keywords:

Irish | Childbirth | Ireland | Marriage Proposal | Dancing

Cast

Judy Garland	...	Nellie Kelly / Little Nellie Kelly
George Murphy	...	Jerry Kelly
Charles Winninger	...	Michael 'Mike' Noonan
Douglas McPhail	...	Dennis Fogarty
Arthur Shields	...	Timothy Fogarty
Rita Page	...	Mrs. Mary Fogarty
Forrester Harvey	...	Moriarity
James Burke	...	Police Sergeant McGowan
George Watts	...	Mr. Keevan, NYC Bar Owner

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #6612)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

This movie has Judy Garland performing "Singin' in the Rain" more than 10 years before Gene Kelly most famously sang it in Singin' in the Rain (1952). The song was first heard on screen in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929).

Quotes:

Nellie Kelly: There's nothing like a darn good cry, is there?
Michael 'Mike' Noonan: There's whiskey.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

Soundtrack:

Singin' In The Rain

Grandpa's Just A Jerk...

As others have commented, the film does (on its face) have things to (potentially) enjoy: Judy's singing, Arthur Freed's handiwork, Cohan's songs, and a possible musical and comic look at Irish immigrants in New York. But in almost every way the film stiffs. Judy climbs from the wreckage (as usual) unscathed: her freshness and energy nearly making the film and songs rise to the level of entertainment. But George Murphy is the complacent stiff, the songs are mostly mediocre at best (except for a jazzy "Singin' In The Rain' by Judy), and worst of all "Grandpa" is a character who - although meant to be curmudgeonly and adorable in his irascibility - comes off as almost criminally abusive, ruining his daughter's one leap at married bliss, and doing a good number on his grand-daughter's as well. The actor in that role (the usually reliable Charles Winninger) gives an unlikeable and near one-note performance which constantly grates, until the viewer wants to strangle him. This may or may not have been purposeful, but - in terms of making the film (a light musical affair) bearable to watch - it is a disaster. You feel both aggravated by Grandpa's insistent hostility towards the happiness of others, and put off by the passivity of others toward his ugly and pointless behavior over the course of years. I don't think this is the stuff of light entertainment, but of a psychological essay. Grandpa's just a jerk...

It is true that every now and then you will find an unheralded film to be undeserving of its anonymity. This is not one of those cases: the film drags along, forgettable song after forgettable song, stiff actor after stiff actor, sentimental stereotype after sentimental stereotype, and all made worse by that horrible Irish stew pot of a Grandpa. This one can be skipped without feeling cheated.