For Me and My Gal

***For Me and My Gal*** is a 1942 American wartime musical-drama film directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and George Murphy and co-starring Marta Eggerth, Ben Blue, Stephen McNally, and Richard Quine. The film was produced by Stella Adler and Arthur Freed, with a screenplay by Richard Sherman, Fred F. Finklehoffe and Sid Silvers. The film, which was inspired by the true life of vaudeville actor Harry Palmer, was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

## Plot

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In 1916, during the heyday of vaudeville, Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly) tries to convince fellow actress Jo Hayden (Judy Garland) to join his act. Jo at first is uninterested, but Harry finally woos her into Jimmy Metcalf (George Murphy), who remains on good terms with Jo and Harry, rehearsing their first act, "For Me and My Gal." They premiere at the Newark Theater. Just before their planned performance at the prestigious Palace Theater in New York, Harry gets a draft notice. Furious, he intentionally smashes his hand to get a six week postponement, enabling Harry and Jo to perform. However, when Jo learns of his selfish act to become famous, she rejects Harry and goes solo. Harry, trying to change Jo's attitude to him and redeem his own morality, tries to enlist but fails in every health test as a direct consequence of his crippled hand. At last, he resorts to the only position open to him, an army entertainer in the YMCA in France. Harry and all of the troops attend Jo's concert at the front lines; Harry bumps into Jo, and begs her for the encouragement he desperately needs. She obliges. Harry is then summoned to convince the ambulances to turn back to avoid an ambush. However, the radio malfunctions, so Harry sets out on a daring exploit to hunt down the ambulances and bring them back; he does this just in time, bombing the approaching enemy to death with a grenade. He is injured, but Jo learns of this heroic act; when she sees a bandaged Harry in the audience in the last performance of the film, she forgives and accepts Harry once again. They embrace, and they sing a reprise of "For Me and My Gal."

## Cast

* Judy Garland as Jo Hayden
* Gene Kelly as Harry Palmer
* George Murphy as Jimmy Metcalf
* Marta Eggerth as Eve Minard
* Ben Blue as Sid Simms
* Stephen McNally as Mr. Waring, Palace Theater manager
* Robert Homans as Palace Theater doorman (uncredited)
* Lucille Norman as Lily Duncan (uncredited)
* Edward Peil Sr. as Jim (uncredited)
* Richard Quine as Danny Hayden (uncredited)
* Addison Richards as France Doctor (uncredited)
* Keenan Wynn as Eddie Milton (uncredited)

## Release and reception

*For Me and My Gal* premiered at New York City on 21 October 1942. The Hollywood premiere opened on 26 November the same year. It grossed more than $4 million, making it a big hit.

The studio earned a profit of approximately $2.1 million.

The film is available on VHS and DVD, which were provided by MGM in 1988 and Warner Bros. on 6 April 2004, respectively.

## External links

* *For Me and My Gal* at the Turner Classic Movies Database
* *For Me and My Gal* on AllMovie
* *For Me and My Gal* on Rotten Tomatoes
* *For Me and My Gal* at the American Film Institute Catalog
* *For Me and My Gal* on IMDb