FOR ME AND MY GAL: Blu-ray (MGM, 1942) Warner Archive

The bells were certainly ringing for Busby Berkeley’s timely bit of war-themed propaganda, For Me And My Gal (1942) a five-star musical extravaganza to unite the formidable talents of MGM’s resident superstar, Judy Garland with the rising talents of then Broadway sensation, Gene Kelly. On the strength of his legendary stage-run in Pal Joey, Kelly had signed a studio contract with David O. Selznick, only to discover to his chagrin, Selznick had about as much interest in making movie musicals as peeling a turtle. Likely, Selznick’s only interest in Kelly was to acquire yet another Broadway hopeful he could market and loan out to other studios at a premium, thus to make Selznick a very rich man. But on this outing, being traded like a prized racehorse for stud fees had its advantages. Kelly, the Pittsburgh-born zeitgeist then appearing in William Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life, had dazzled MGM producer, Arthur Freed, who then plied his formidable tact to gain Kelly’s signature on an MGM contract. However, Kelly did not believe he had the goods for the movies and thus declined Freed’s offer. Kelly might never have come to MGM if not for Selznick’s aversion to musicals, as he had been courted a second time by MGM’s raja, Louis B. Mayer. Alas, the terms of this tentative arrangement quickly soured; Kelly, again, refusing to sign on the dotted line, leaving the door open for Selznick – Mayer’s son-in-law - to follow up with a pitch of his own.

But the professional ‘backdoor’ maneuvers, eventually to get Kelly to MGM and For Me and My Gal palled to Freed’s willful placation of screenwriter, Fred Finklehoffe. The Howard Emmett Rogers’ story, finessed by screenwriter, Richard Sherman needed a lot of work.  Rather than stifle Finkelhoffe with this weighty commitment (Finklehoffe already overworked as a studio warhorse), or even to convince him he was the right man for the job, Freed instead, and rather underhandedly, asked Finklehoffe to look over Sherman’s draft and come up with a new ending. Once Finklehoffe agreed to these terms, Freed had him on the hook. He pronounced Finklehoffe’s new ending superior. Only now, it did not exactly fit the rest of Sherman’s story. So, Freed instructed an exacerbated Finklehoffe to begin anew and from scratch on a total rewrite of the screenplay. Through Finklehoffe’s auspices, Freed again became aware of Gene Kelly. Meanwhile, Kelly, who had not made a single movie since signing on with Selznick, now became the focus of Freed’s formidable finesse, coaxing Mayer to reconsider the terms of his contract and cater to Selznick, who willingly signed over all his contractual options on Kelly to MGM. Thus, Kelly came to MGM in the most deceitful way, forced to work for Mayer, whom he had foresworn never to, owing to Mayer’s previous ‘devious’ handling of their initial contractual negotiations. Mayer and Kelly would never entirely reconcile their differences. And while Kelly went on to achieve great things at MGM, he often did so, ignoring Mayer’s advice. As Kelly’s pictures turned handsome profits, Mayer never disputed the final outcome. But he never warmed to Kelly. “He didn’t like me. I didn’t like him,” Kelly explained in an interview given decades later, “The feeling was mutual!”

For Me And My Gal also had the very good fortune of arriving on movie screens just after America’s entrance into the war-effort, spurred on by the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. Like all the Hollywood majors, MGM was eager for their piece of ‘the action’ – making patriotic flag-wavers to bolster the effort and sell a slew of war bonds. From the outset, For Me and My Gal would prove a more uniquely mature entertainment than MGM was usually inclined to ascribe its movie musicals. Thematically, it was darker, and with Kelly as its enterprising protagonist, the dramatic sequences took on greater ballast. By the time the picture went before the cameras, its headliner, 19-yr.-old Judy Garland was already a veteran in the biz. For Garland, For Me and My Gal marked her graduation from playing plucky prepubescent ingenues. In For Me and My Gal, Judy is Jo Hayden, a naïve Vaudeville singer who falls madly in love with Kelly’s rakish opportunist, Harry Palmer. Recognizing Jo’s talent, and eager to exploit it to serve his own ends – playing the ‘big time’ – Harry feigns a romantic interest in Jo, enough to get her to drop her current professional partnership with Jimmy K. Metcalfe (George Murphy), who is also secretly in love with her. Harry and Jo perform to sell-out crowds.

But their meteoric rise is derailed when Harry gets his draft notice. Determined not to go to war, Harry deliberately cripples his hand in a steamer trunk. Recognizing that, from a romantic/heroic perspective, Kelly’s lead left a great deal to be desired, director, Busby Berkeley came up with a heartwarming scene in which Jo’s brother, Danny (Richard Quine) is given a send-off at a cozy nightclub where everyone sings, ‘Till We Meet Again’ – a poignant sequence that did absolutely nothing to soften the disreputable nature of Kelly’s scoundrel. Worse, Quine’s forthrightness went unrewarded. Instead, he was killed in battle, leaving Jo to acknowledge what Harry had done to himself to avoid the draft as an act of sheer cowardice. Thus, Jo leaves Harry, who then attempted to register with any branch of the Armed Forces to prove himself worthy of her love and respect. Alas, owing to his injury, none would have him. So, he elected instead to sign on as an entertainer for front-line troops. Nobility struck late, but on time as Harry heroically sprang into action to warn an ambulance convey of an artillery ambush by the enemy. He was wounded in his efforts, but commended for his bravery. At war’s end, while performing at the Palace, Jo discovered Harry quietly sitting in the audience. All reconciled, she stepped into the audience where the two shared an embrace before performing a reprise of the movie’s title tune – the very first song they ever did together.

As a musical, For Me and My Gal is in a class apart. This is saying a great deal of MGM – the studio synonymous with movie musicals. It isn’t only the Georgie Stoll/Roger Edens’ arrangements are of a perfection quality – although, they are. It’s that the whole romantic angle of the piece is not a given from the outset. Instead, the opposite appears to be true as Jo, descending from a snow-covered train onto the depot platform is met by Harry’s slick toothy grin – Kelly doing his absolute best ‘Pal Joey’ here - with “hello, spring time” to which Jo replies with appropriate frost, “Aren’t you a little out of season?” Furthermore, the antagonism between Harry and Jimmy is palpably adult. Acting as more the dutiful protector, Jimmy does not care for Harry - not because he is outspoken, cocky and self-assured, but as he is precisely the type a woman like Jo could easily fall for without first weighing the repercussions. And there is a supremely wonderful moment of absolute heartache as Jo, still blindly unaware of how deep Jimmy’s still waters run for her, tearfully asks, "What do you do when someone you love doesn't love you back?" to which he, as painfully admits, "I don't know.”

For Me and My Gal was an enormous hit for all concerned. Moreover, it established a life-long friendship between its two co-stars, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Indeed, Kelly would always acknowledge Garland as the reason for his initial flourish of success at MGM; her gentle tutelage in guiding him from the stage’s grander gestures down to the subtler art of movie acting. “I owe her an eternal debt of gratitude,” Kelly would later admit. “I get sore today, because everyone refers to Judy as a tragedy. In her day, she was a very gay and glorious girl.” And Kelly would repay Garland’s loyalty when, on the troubled shoot of her last movie at MGM, 1950’s Summer Stock, he agreed to appear as second-fiddle in this very light, but highly enjoyable programmer. As shooting progressed, the picture was derailed by illness – Garland, out for 4 weeks – and also, by musical director, Georgie Stoll, who simply could not keep up with the demands of the musical repertoire. Somehow, in the grand tradition of ‘hey kids, let’s put on a show’ – For Me and My Gal wrapped and was sneak-peeked in Westwood Village, only to have more than 85% of its prevue cards reject Kelly’s draft dodger as ‘the hero’ of the piece. Something had to be done. And Mayer, as was his métier back in the days of grand ole moguls, had the answer. A good portion of the picture’s last act was scrapped. Mayer recalled the entire company, adding two big scenes that helped ease Harry Palmer’s virtue back from the grave and into the driver’s seat as the show’s leading man. Jettisoned from this new finale – George Murphy’s Jimmy. When the dust settled, MGM had lavished $802,980.00 on For Me and My Gal – a formidable sum, rewarded in kind when the picture went on to rake in a magnificent $4,371,000. Although its title tune was Oscar-nominated, Best Original Song of 1942 went to MGM’s Lady Be Good – an inferior ‘Broadway to Hollywood’ hybrid that nevertheless yielded the poignant, ‘The Last Time I Saw Paris’, heartbreakingly sung by Ann Sothern.

For Me and My Gal arrives on Blu-ray – long overdue – from the Warner Archive (WAC) and in a 1080p transfer that sparkles from top to bottom and side to side. The elements on this deep catalog title were always in very good shape. Even the old DVD was impressive, despite the fact the original camera negative was lost in the George Eastman/Rochester blaze of 1978 that, by conservative estimates, incinerated 12.6 million feet of classic film. For Me and My Gal looks incredible on Blu-ray. The gray scale is perfectly pitched. Blacks are solid. The quality here belies the studio was working from ‘less than perfect’ sources, emerging with crystal-clean precision that positively astounds, showing off William H. Daniels’ cinematography to its very best advantage. Film grain is indigenous to its source. This is an exceptionally nuanced visual presentation with zero flaws that will surely NOT disappoint. So, prepare to be dazzled yet again. The 2.0 DTS mono is a celebration. Extras are limited to an introduction by Garland biographer, John Fricke from the now defunct DVD, a musical outtake and the film’s original theatrical trailer. Bottom line: very highly recommended.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

4.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

5+

EXTRAS

1