By PROF. EDWIN JAHIEL
FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942) Directed by Busby Berkeley. Script by five writers. Cinematographer, William Daniels. Editing, Ben Lewis. Art direction, Cedric Gibbons, Gabriel Scognamillo. Sets, Edwin B.Willis & Keogh Gleason. Music director, George Stoll. Choreography, Bobby Connolly, Gene Kelly. Cast: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Marta Eggerth, Gene Kelly, Ben Blue, Horace McNally, Keenan Wynn, et al.
The movie is the result of the collaboration of two musical-movie greats: director-choreographer Busby Berkeley and producer Arthur Freed. Producer and lyricist Freed is synonymous with all those famous, big and lavish MGM musicals. Among them: Meet Me In St. Louis, Easter Parade, On the Town, Annie Get Your Gun, An American in Paris, Royal Wedding, Show Boat, Singin' in the Rain, Gigi.
"For Me and My Gal" is a backstage picture about vaudevillians, mostly Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. It has lots of flag-waving since it was made during World War II and deals with the WW I period. Kelly is a draft-dodger, who, of course, gets redeemed. Basically this is routine nonsense, but made with oomph, brio and strong production values.
The young Judy Garland has some charm and cuteness, though her voice is no great shakes here. Curiously, Berkeley does not stage any chorines doing his celebrated ensemble dancing. The picture is generally appreciated by lovers of musicals, although it cannot rate at the top of the genre. However, it should be quite appealing to connoisseurs and film historians for the additional reason of its two debuts. This was Gene Kellyıs first major movie role as well as the first American film of Marta Eggerth.
In 1930s Europe, the Hungarian-born (1912) Marta (or Martha) was the undisputed queen of German and Austrian musicals and filmed operettas. She also made some notable musicals in Italy, the UK, and France. The king in that category was her husband and sometimes co-star, Polish-born tenor Jan Kiepura.
In that decade, on the Continent, Eggerth and Kiepura were household names. They were often refrerred to as Eggerth-Kiepura, the way, in America, one spoke of the Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy musical couple.This was a bit odd, as in reality, in the 22 films Eggerth made, and in Kiepura's 13, the two singers appeared together only in two, both of 1934. (They did three more in post-war Europe) but the performers were no longer major names)
Those figures are quite unlike those for the melodious, romantic American duo of MacDonald-Eddy. Jeanette made some 28 film in her career, Nelson, 20. They were together in 9.
In the late 1930s, after the Nazis had annexed Austria, both singers, still very much at the height of their popularity, fled the violently anti-Semitic "Greater Germany" and came to America. Alas, their fame did not travel with them. They did not do all that well in the USA.
Kiepura at least did sing opera. Eggerth was only in two pictures: For Me and My Gal and, the following year, again with Judy Garland, Presenting Lily Mars.
How sad was Madame Eggerth's professional situation in America can be measured by her all too brief role in For Me and My Girl, despite her being listed third in the screen credits. Early on she sings her one and only song, inside a special railroad car equipped with a grand piano.The voice is lovely and beautifully controlled. Those few minutes make the movie well worth watching. Yet, somehow, Hollywood must have decided that her box-office appeal would be too small.
After World War II, the couple returned to Europe where they made their remaining three films together, always in the same, light, operetta-ish format. Madame Eggerth was also in a fourth, but without her husband. None of those movies was particularly good or a real comeback for the singers who soon after retired.
Kiepura died in 1966. Madame Eggerth remained in New York. Some years ago, a friend who teaches German film in an Eastern college, invited her to one of his yearly film festivals. She impressed all with her youthfulness, naturalness and charm. She lives in the State of New York.
Written 11 July 1998
" Le mauvais gout mene au crime" (Stendhal)
Edwin Jahiel's movie reviews are at http://www.prairienet.org/ejahiel
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