Me and My Gal

ME AND MY GAL (Fox, 1932), produced and directed by Raoul Walsh, not to be confused with the Judy Garland and Gene Kelly musical, FOR ME AND MY GAL (MGM, 1942), is a nifty little comedy/drama that teams Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett for the second time (following their initial pairing in SHE WANTED A MILLIONAIRE (Fox, 1932)). Although Tracy reportedly didn't have much regard for the movies he did over at Fox during his five years (1930-1935) at the studio, he was said to have been proud of this production, and it's easy to see why. Under the good direction of Walsh, ME AND MY GAL has both good story and sharp dialogue to keep the pace moving at a high degree.

The story revolves around Danny Dolan (Spencer Tracy), a new Irish cop on the waterfront beat of New York City's Pier 13, going through his daily duties. After acquiring a dog and dealing with Joe Morgan (Will Stanton), a stumbling drunk, Dan comes to Ed's Chowder House Sea Food diner where he meets Helen Riley (Joan Bennett), a sassy, gum- chewing waitress/cashier with all the answers to Dan's questions. Helen has a sister, Katherine (Marion Burns), who's engaged to marry a nerdy buck-tooth, bespectacled Eddie Collins (George Chandler). Katherine has a shady past, having previously been involved with Duke Castenega (George Walsh), a gangster she cannot resist, especially when wanting her to go against her will by giving him a combination number list for safe deposit boxes. After saving a man's life from drowning, Dan is promoted detective working along with Al Allen (Adrian Morris), a fellow detective who earlier missed seeing Duke and his thugs departing the ship from South American on Pier 13. Duke gets arrested for a robbery and later breaks out of prison. As for Dan's courtship with Helen, he gets to meet the rest of her family, including Kate and their father, Pat (J. Farrell MacDonald). Situations become involved as Dan is assigned to locate Duke's whereabouts, unaware that he's hidden away in the attic of Kate's apartment as witnessed by Kate's war veteran father-in-law, John Collins, (Henry B. Walthall) paralyzed in a wheelchair with his only means of communication blinking code signals through his eyes. Others in the cast include of Noel Madison (Baby Face Castenega); with Eleanor Wesselhoeft, Russell Powell, Billy Bevan and Frank Moran in smaller roles. Be sure to stay tuned for J. Farrell MacDonald's full face close-up fade-out.

A very fast-paced 79 minute production with Tracy and Bennett doing their best competing with one another. Their most memorable moment is their parody to Eugene O'Neill's stage production (and later 1932 MGM drama) to STRANGE INTERLUDE where the two speak out their thoughts through their minds heard only by the movie going audience. This may be a loss to contemporary viewers, but in 1932, many understood the humor of it all.

Remade by 20th Century-Fox as PIER 13 (1940) starring Lloyd Nolan and Lynn Bari in the Tracy and Bennett roles, there's no doubt which version is better. Tracy and Bennett wouldn't work together again until many years later in the classic FATHER OF THE BRIDE (MGM, 1950) and its sequel, FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND (MGM, 1951). Never distributed to home video, ME AND MY GAL did enjoy some rare showings in revival movie houses, public television in the early 1990s, before turning up on cable television's Fox Movie Channel, Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: October 2, 2012) and then availability onto DVD. Considering how movies from the old Fox Film library have been lost or lay forgotten in the studio vaults, at least this not only is still available for viewing, but also one that can still be seen and surprisingly appreciated today. Check! (***)

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.

This 1932 comedy casts Joan Bennett and Spencer Tracy almost 20 years before they teamed in FATHER OF THE BRIDE. Here, their youthful zest and energy create sparks that fly! Bennett is a wonder as the wise-cracking dame who works in a diner -- Tracy is his usual hard-boiled self -- many comic twists and turns keep your attention -- there's a cute episode where you hear what they're really thinking during a romantic scene ( this happens after Tracy mentions he's seen a film called "Strange Innertube"). There's a great supporting part for Glenda Farrell who sings a provocative number at a burlesque hall. As always Farrell is full of spunk. As is this movie -- full of laughs,m great tempo and direction. A must see.

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" is an ingratiating pre-Code comedy-drama enhanced by spirited banter between Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett who play two young people feeling each other out as potential mates. Bennett is surprisingly good as a wise-cracking, down-to-earth waitress who speaks her mind and can easily hold her own against Tracy's New York City cop. The pre-Code era's lack of pretense about sexuality makes their impassioned kiss in the diner -- as the two knock over items on the lunch counter -- all the more humorous. Bennett, both impressed and amused by Tracy's kiss, responds: "If you're gonna kiss me like that, you're gonna have to marry me." It's a magical little moment that caused the passage of time since 1932 to drop away and left me there with them to enjoy the fun.

A sub-plot involves Bennett's newly married sister, a good girl who nevertheless can't resist her bad boy gangster ex-boyfriend. When he needs to hide from the police, she installs him in a spare bedroom, under the nose of her disabled father-in-law who is confined to a wheelchair, can't speak a word and communicates only by blinking his eyes in Morse code. Later, when everything gets resolved, Tracy tells the father-in-law that the daughter-in-law is a good kid at heart in spite of what she did, expressing pre-Code generosity for forgiveness and tolerance, even in sexual transgressions with gangsters.