For Me and My Gal (1942)

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writers:

Howard Emmett Rogers (story)
Richard Sherman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

19 August 1943 (Australia)

Genre:

Musical | Romance

Tagline:

The Greatest Romantic Musical . . . Ever !

Plot:

Set during WW I, Palmer and Hayden team up as vaudeville artists. Harry Palmer deliberately injures his hand to avoid being drafted to the army...

Plot Keywords:

Vaudeville | Song | Hand | Title Based On Song | Military

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Judy Garland	...	Jo Hayden
George Murphy	...	Jimmy K. Metcalf
Gene Kelly	...	Harry Palmer
Mártha Eggerth	...	Eve Minard (as Marta Eggerth)
Ben Blue	...	Sid Simms
Stephen McNally	...	Mr. Waring (New York Palace manager) (as Horace McNally)

Also Known As:

For Me and My Girl (UK)
The Big Time (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8464) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

George Murphy was originally cast as Harry Palmer, but he instead played Jimmy Metcalf once the lead role went to Gene Kelly.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: A Southern Pacific "cab-forward" locomotive is seen pulling the train at the start of the movie. It is shown stopping in Iowa to let the main characters disembark. The SP does not, and never has, run into Iowa.

Quotes:

Jo Hayden: Who's the want ad with the squirrel around his neck?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Munsters: Dance with Me, Herman (#1.22)" (1965)

Soundtrack:

Some of These Days

Gene Kelly's entry into movies

In 1943 Gene Kelly made "For Me And My Gal". It was a film starring that rising star of MGM Judy Garland, set in the years from 1915 - 1919. Garland wanted Kelly to appear in this film as her lover, Harry Palmer. It was an unusual film debut for Kelly, now recalled for his masterful dancing in musicals like "Singing In The Rain" and "An American In Paris". Instead, although it was a musical (using many tunes of the Tin Pan Alley period, it really was a character study. It looked at Kelly's opportunistic anti-hero, who does love Garland, but who is career centered to the point that he injures himself (he thinks it will be a slight injury) to avoid the draft.

It is a passably good film, due to the chemistry of the leads and such supporting film actors as Keenan Wynn (as Kelly's long suffering agent, who gets to tell him off), and George Murphy (as the would-be lover of Garland, who can't get her attention away from the unworthy Kelly).

The interest I have in the film is why Garland chose Kelly for this part. She apparently insisted that he be used for this film. The reason is that his biggest Broadway success was the 1941 show "Pal Joey", where he played the first anti-hero in Broadway history. Joey is a user of women, who wants to own a fancy nightclub in Chicago. He never rises above the sleazy dive he acts as M.C. at. He could be Harry Palmer's distant, slightly cousin. Garland would have seen Kelly play a role of a heel where he sang a golden flow of Rogers and Hart melodies, and do some good hoofing as well. It was the perfect "screen test" for Kelly to use to prove his ability to play Palmer. So he got his first role, and then went on to the major achievements of his career.