For Me and My Gal (1942)

Two vaudeville performers fall in love, but find their relationship tested by the arrival of WWI.

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writers:

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

Stars:

Judy Garland, George Murphy, Gene Kelly

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

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. Later, he makes up for this. WW I patriotism for a WW II audience, very sentimental, great musical episodes and songs.

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Plot Keywords:

hand | song | vaudeville | opportunist | heroism | 

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Taglines:

She's a Yankee Doodle Girlie !

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Genres:

Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 August 1943 (Australia)

Also Known As:

The Big Time

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$802,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$4,371,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 22, 1943 with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly reprising their film roles.

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Goofs

Depicts a Southern Pacific Railway "cab-forward" steam locomotive hauling a passenger train. That model locomotive was used in freight service only.

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Quotes

Eve Minard: But I'm sorry you love him so much.
Jo Hayden: Why?
Eve Minard: Because he isn't worth it.

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Crazy Credits

A picture of an infantry soldier in New York harbor and the text "America needs your money. Buy war bonds and stamps at this theatre."

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Connections

Featured in An Evening with Gene Kelly (1977)

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Soundtracks

"Yankee Doodle"
(ca 1755) (uncredited)
Traditional
In the score for rolling army trucks
Reprised as background music in the New York Palace theater

User Reviews

Delightful musical, great chemistry between Gene and Judy

Very enjoyable musical, with Kelly and Garland dancing well together and singly nicely in harmony, too (particularly the title song). Also Judy does a really nice job of singing some WWI tunes while entertaining the troops.

Some tidbits about the movie from a Gene Kelly biography I've read:

• Fair bit of on set animosity between George Murphy and Gene Kelly.

Murphy was a veteran song and dance man from many film musicals and felt he was deserving of the starring role (Kelly's) in the film. As he saw it, because it was Kelly's first film, Kelly didn't deserve the role.

• Gene coached Judy through the dance numbers, and Judy helped Gene with

his acting. Apparently he received next to no acting coaching from the director or from the studio.

• If the ending feels sort of tacked on, it actually was. The original

ending had Gene serve as entertainer overseas, then return home to get the girl. At a test screening, audience was 85% negative that a draft dodger should get the girl in the end, typical comment was George Murphy should get the girl, not some draft dodger. MGM re-shot it to give Gene's character a more heroic overseas tour of duty.