For Me and My Gal
Two vaudeville performers fall in love, but find their relationship tested by the arrival of WWI.
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- Cast：
- Judy Garland , Gene Kelly , George Murphy , Mártha Eggerth , Ben Blue , Stephen McNally , Lester Dorr
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Reviews
Wonderful character development!
Just perfect...
Admirable film.
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
"The clouds are singing for me and my gal. . ."The title song is pretty much the only memorable part of this movie, sung by Judy Garland and a newcomer to Hollywood, Gene Kelly. He was a Broadway star and made a smash in his film debut. To see all his collaborations with pint-sized Judy, rent The Pirate and Summer Stock for a song-and-dance-filled weekend!The plot of For Me and My Gal is actually very interesting, but since it didn't exactly send the right message in 1942, that's not the part of the movie most people remember. Judy and Gene are a married couple with dreams of stardom, but just when they're about to make it, Gene gets drafted for WWI. While Judy's brother, the fantastic dancer George Murphy who no doubt joined Gene Nelson in the "I'm jealous of Gene Kelly" fan club, fights in the war gladly, Gene doesn't want to give up his career. In a very controversial decision, he purposely injures his hand to avoid the battlefield. If you like WWI or WWII dramas in black-and-white, with some songs and dances thrown in for morale, you won't go wrong with For Me and My Gal. It's romantic, patriotic, and it makes you think about how far you'd go to realize your dreams. Plus it's got Gene Kelly in it.
Judy Garland and George Murphy are a dance team. However, Judy falls for another (Gene Kelly) and George steps aside so the other two can form a new team. The problem is, Judy soon falls in love with Gene and Gene is a heel and doesn't notice. Later, to avoid serving in the war, he deliberately injures himself! Can Kelly somehow redeem himself and can Garland manage to land the lug? I watched "For Me and My Gal" along with my wife, aunt and uncle. And, about 2/3 of the way through the film, they declared that they'd had enough and they left. I managed to finish it, but must agree, a bit, with them. Although MOST of the songs were pretty good, the story was one giant cliché and really wasn't all that good. Plus, there was a god-awful song by Kelly's OTHER love interest and her high-pitched singing made everyone threaten to leave in the first place. Aside from being Gene Kelly's first film, it's an otherwise adequate film with little else to recommend it.
Busby Berkeley's For Me and My Gal (1942) is a charming love story dressed up in a song and dance musical. Judy Garland and George Murphy make a great team, I really enjoyed watching. They had great chemistry and they worked really well together for the musical numbers. Murphy's character Jimmy was so charming and smooth, I was dying for Jo (Garland) to fall for him.This film went from happy-go-lucky to dramatic by the end and turned into a tearjerker. It was tragic for me when Jo heard the news of her brother dying in battle. And it was understandable for her to think that Jimmy was trying to dodge the draft by breaking his hand. Even when Jimmy was supposed to look like the bad guy I still loved him because he couldn't turn of his charm.The ending was poetic and pretty the way the two love birds accidentally reunited. This happy ending made it a feel-good movie!
Very enjoyable MGM musical, with Gene Kelly debuting opposite the wonderful Judy Garland. Kelly never found a regular dancing partner like Astaire, but Judy perhaps came the closest. They have a magical bond whenever they are on-screen together. This is a war-time musical (the end credits tell us to "Buy War Bonds"), and it has plenty of sentiment, but it also has a darker side, with Kelly's attempt at "Draft-dodging". Kelly's screen persona was influenced by his "Pal Joey" stage success, and you can see this influence very clearly in the film. It's directed by Busby Berkely, and there a few musical numbers that are memorable, but it's really just standard stuff. However, the film is enjoyable regardless of the weak songbook because of the charisma of Kelly and Garland, a plot that actually engages us, and works. Garland was never more gorgeous and lovable than she is here.
