As part of the 100th birthday celebration for Judy Garland, Warner Archive has released a few of her films on Blu-ray for the first time ever. New to Blu-ray is the classic For Me and My Gal which was the first true adult movie role for her and is the film debut for another screen icon, Gene Kelly.
For Me and My Gal is set during the years of 1915-1919, during the first World War. Jo Hayden (Judy Garland, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Clock) and Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly, Ziegfeld Follies, Hello, Dolly!) are two vaudeville performers who fall in love and plan to get married. But with the arrival of World War I, their relationship is both put to a major test and is gets stalled. Because of his love for Jo, Harry deliberately injures his hand so that he won’t be drafted to the war, and they can be married. His injury plan backfires unfortunately for him and Jo looks at him as being selfish. She leaves him and their act behind and poor Harry is stuck with his self-made injured hand, He then decides to enlist in the armed services, but he’s crippled, so what can he do to save his relationship?
This is another massively entertaining musical romance with fluid direction by the legendary director and choreographer Busby Berkeley, and the performances by the cast, which includes George Murphy (Walk East on Beacon, Border Incident) and Martha Eggerth(The Emperor’s Waltz, The Divine Spark) are excellent as one would expect.
Warner Archive’s Blu-ray for For Me and My Gal is another strong effort. Sets and costumes worn by the actors are loaded with rich detail and texture. Film grain is present throughout, showing no usage of DNR. The grayscale is balanced, showing rich shadow detail with no signs of black crush. Black levels are nice and inky with crisp clear whites. Just a few flickers and a little bit debris was at a minimum.
The English DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix offers a great audio presentation with dialogue, background sounds and musical numbers by Bobby Connolly, Conrad Salinger, Leo Arnaud and George Bassman coming in balanced and often quite strong. The audio is free of any age-related issues such as hissing, crackling and pops. English subtitles are available.
All the extras are ported over from Warner Bros.’ 2004 DVD
There is the commentary track by John Fricke.
A 1935 MGM Short: La Fiesta de Santa Barbara – a short 18-minute film that has been given a brand new 1080p transfer. The short was directed by Louis Lewyn and produced by Pete Smith, who also narrates.
A 1936 MGM Short: Every Sunday is a story where two girls (Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin) use their singing voices for a worthy cause.
Outtake Musical Numbers is also part of the package
“Three Cheers for the Yanks” is performed by Judy Garland.
“For Me and My Gal Deleted Finale” which is performed by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.
Screen Guild Players Radio Broadcast. This is an audio-only version of the film featuring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly reprising their roles. Dick Powell narrates the broadcast.
“Leo is On the Air” Radio Promo. This is another audio-only piece, with musical performances by Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and George Murphy as heard from the film.
The theatrical trailer for the film is also included.
Last, but not least there is the “Song Selection” feature, which is basically quick access to For Me and My Gal’s 26 main musical numbers that include:
The Main Title
“Oh Johnny Oh / They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me”
“The Doll Shop”
“Oh, You Beautiful Doll”
“Don’t Leave Me, Daddy”
“Oh, You Beautiful Doll (Reprise)”
“The Sailor’s Hornpipe (Dance)”
“By the Beautiful Sea”
“For Me and My Gal (Song)”
“For Me and My Gal (Dance)”
“When You Wore a Tulip”
“Do I Love You?”
“After You’ve Gone”
“Tell Me”
“Till We Meet Again”
“We Don’t Want the Bacon”
“Ballin’ the Jack”
“How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm?”
“Where Do We Go From Here?”
“It’s a Long Way to Tipperary”
“Goodbye Broadway, Hello France”
“Smiles”
“Oh! Frenchy”
“Pack Up Your Troubles”
“When Johnny Comes Marching Home”
“For Me and My Gal” (Finale)
For Me and My Gal is another entertaining film starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly’s landmark debut! The audio and video quality for this Blu-ray is another Warner Archive success, to go with the existing extras makes this a highly recommended package!
For Me and My Gal
Director- Busby Berkeley
Cast- Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, George Murphy
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Brothers/ Warner Archive
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –6/16/2022