Me and My Gal

It is probably no exaggeration to state that Me and My Gal (MAMG) is an important film with historical significance. MAMG is also a charming and entertaining movie-----one that the eminent British film scholar Leslie Halliwell characterized as a "Pleasant little programmer, very evocative of its period.". In addition, it contains a cinematic record of 32 year old SpencerTracy delivering an appealing natural performance that compares quite favorably with his later acting style-----one which has led many critics and filmgoers to regard him as the greatest cinematic actor of all time. Finally, MAMG captures lovely 22 year old Joan Bennett in all of her youthful spirited beauty-----when she was still a natural blond and before becoming a less interesting brunette Hedy Lamarr look-alike in 1938.

MAMG was made for the Fox Film Corporation before its merger with.20th Century. Both Tracy and director Raoul Walsh worked extensively for Fox during this time. A number of Fox films from the early 1930s ended up as lost (either temporarily or sometimes forever), including Tracy's most notable Fox film------The Power and the Glory (1933).

When we see Bennett and Tracy convincingly playing youthful and romantic characters, it is easy to believe in them and their story. Tracy's command of his part in the complex narrative is astonishing in its realism. And Bennett is sexy and sassy in an engaging and lovable way that will remind many of Joan Blondell at her best. We are so fortunate that MAMG managed to survive for us to enjoy this record of these two great stars at the dawn of their significant careers. In just 79 minutes, we can see a film that is funny, dramatic, romantic, annoying (the extended drunk scenes tended to slow down the narrative), thrilling, violent, charming and even abstract (with its cinematic nod to Eugene O'Neill's stream of consciousness play and film Strange Interlude).

Don't miss MAMG the next time TCM shows it. MAMG might not have been a classic. But even with whatever shortcomings it may have had, MAMG is still a delight!

Spencer Tracy's Fox films are an interesting lot and one can count himself lucky if he gets to see any of his early work. For some reason the films that he did at that first studio he was contracted to are rarely seen, some I suspect are lost. Fortunately Me And My Gal was not. And it's a real Irish treat.

Me And My Gal casts Tracy in a part that either James Cagney or Pat O'Brien would have scored brilliantly with at Warner Brothers. He's a happy go lucky tough Irish cop who falls for wisecracking waitress Joan Bennett. Joan's just fine, but Joan Blondell or Barbara Stanwyck would have been perfect casting.

Bennett has a sister Marian Nixon who is married to George Chandler, but fooling around with gangster Frank Walsh. When he makes a daring prison break he takes refuge in Nixon's house while Chandler who is a merchant seaman is away. Also in the house is Chandler's father a wheelchair bound paralyzed World War veteran played by silent movie pioneer Henry B. Walthall. Walthall has an interesting way of communicating to the outside world his thoughts that prove ultimately to be Walsh's undoing.

Some nice snappy dialog banter between Tracy and Bennett is what really moves this film along. At one point these two do a really great parody of Strange Interlude by Eugene O'Neill. It should be seen beside the film version of same that MGM did that same year with Clark Gable and Norma Shearer and one the Marx Brothers did in Animal Crackers. It's as funny as the Marx Brothers.

Tracy's role here is very typical of the kind of roughneck parts he did in his early years for the most part. He was even doing the same roles in his first few MGM contract parts. His advancement to becoming what many consider to be the screen's greatest actor ever came when Jeanette MacDonald asked for him to be cast as Father Mullin in San Francisco. That opened a career whole new vistas for him.

Still these early films do have a lot going for them. Write to TCM and get some of these out on DVD and shown on television. Let's hope many of them still exist.

'Me and My Gal' is an entertaining romance/mystery/screwball comedy, featuring charming performances by Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett, 18 years before they would pair again in the classic 'Father of the Bride.' Both stars are at their early best here, zinging wisecracks at each other at a frantic pace. Joan Bennett is the real surprise, shining in a role that would have been well suited for Myrna Loy or Claudette Colbert. Worthwhile for the two stars.

This film covers lots of ground. It starts out being a slice of life in Depression era New York City where New York cop on the beat Danny Dolan (Spencer Tracy) meets diner waitress Helen Riley (Joan Bennett) and they fall in love after a rather raucous romance. During this time, Danny gets a promotion and becomes a detective on the force. This is the precode part of the film.

The noir part of the story has to do with Helen's sister, Kate. She had been in love with gangster Duke Castenega, but when he left town she got engaged to the horse-faced but honest and steady Eddie, who is a merchant seaman. Kate gets married and Duke is captured and sent to prison but manages to escape, finding his way back to Kate while Eddie is out to sea. This is the noir part - Kate willing to blow up her life over a strong physical attraction to Duke that I think even she mistakes for love.

The two parts of the film intersect when Danny is one of a group of detectives tasked with bringing Duke in, with Helen having divided loyalty between Danny and her sister.

There are lots of interesting, poignant, and funny scenes - Danny and Helen playing out a scene from "Strange Interlude" that they remember as "Strange Innertube", Danny rescuing a dog that his homeless and hungry owner is getting ready to drown out of desperation, Kate's drunken wedding reception and her dad throwing the radio out the window. As for the dog that is rescued, I thought it was odd everybody was so interested in the dog having plenty to eat, but nobody ever bothered to help his elderly and equally hungry owner who had already said that if he had the nerve he would kill himself. Some things never change.

What took an entire star off of my rating were the tedious scenes involving a perpetual drunk who just gets annoying. Every time I think he is gone for good he comes back, ruining every scene he is in. Fortunately, he is completely gone during the second half as the action and drama part heats up.

Me and My Gal (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A New York cop (Spencer Tracy) fights with and then falls in love with a waitress (Joan Bennett) but things take a bad turn when her father and sister get involved with a gangster (George Walsh). This is a sometimes interesting pre-code that starts off as a (bad) comedy but then turns into a romance before once again changing into a drama. I do have to question the screenplay for trying so many things as the film seems extremely uneven and in the end I had to see it as a major disappointment considering the talent involved. The biggest problem is the screenplay that is all over the place and this includes a pretty bad start where we have to follow a drunk around for a non-stop gag that just keeps going and going and going. I'm going to take stab and say that this scene with the drunk runs at least ten minutes and then he keeps coming up for the next ten minutes. The joke pretty much has him not paying for meals, asking the cops to arrest a fish for stealing his worm or just being plain annoying. I'm really not sure if Walsh was having a kick with this stuff or what but it should have ended up on the cutting room floor. The stuff dealing with the gangsters is pretty uninteresting as well because they're brought into the story due to Bennett's sister, someone we really don't care about and since it isn't actually happening to Tracy's girl, there's no added drama thrown in. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why the movie was jumping around so much and a lot of the ending just feels tacked on for no good reason other than to have some action. What makes the film worth viewing are the performances by the two leads. The two work very well together as they both come off quite charming and entertaining. The snappy dialogue they get to throw at one another is a plus as is a nice sequence where they talk to one another while their "thoughts" also get told. George Chandler and Henry B. Walthall have small roles as well.