For Me and My Gal (1942) (The Big Time) (1943)

For Me and My Gal

“For Me and My Gal is mainly remembered for two different reasons: Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. This was Kelly’s first film role, and it makes a stellar first impression, and a transitional role for Garland. Here she was changing over from the girl-next-door parts to an ingenue and taking on more grown-up parts.   It’s a bit of a goopy wartime musical/morale booster, but a very enjoyable one. A love story between vaudeville performers looking for their big break before the outbreak of World War I, For Me and My Gal is a bit routine in parts but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s plenty of morally gray spaces that the film inhibits, mainly in Kelly’s character who rapidly loses audience sympathy before working overtime to gain it back, to keep your attention even when ” read more