Friday, November 6, 2009

Grab Bag Friday Movie Vault: Gene Kelly's Film Debut

When I was stuck at home sick this week, I watched a great Gene Kelly movie that I'm stunned I'd never seen. I don't know if it was the decongestant, but I got *completely* caught up in it and even cried into my tissues at the end.

Turns out, For Me and My Gal was Gene Kelly's debut movie. And what a debut! He plays an aspiring vaudeville star who teams up with a girl singer (Judy Garland). Their dream is to perform at The Palace in New York and get married after their first matinee.

Of course, things go awry, and in a very odd plot twist, poor old Gene gets snubbed for draft-dodging. In fact, this movie (with it's "Buy American War Bonds" ad at the end) is so patriotic, I wondered at one point if it could have been designed strategically for recruiting purposes. In any case, it's a great movie with lots of good music and stellar dancing.

Here's the scene where they do their first dance together. Sigh. I love Gene Kelly.

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