For Me And My Gal (1942) {Warner Archive Blu-ray Review}

Reviewed by Jason Lockard

June 2022 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of arguably the greatest family entertainer in Hollywood history Judy Garland. Warner Archive celebrated her birthday with not one, not two but three Blu-ray releases. There was 1941's Ziegfeld Girl and 1945's The Clock.

Now we are looking at the final of the Judy Garland birthday Blu-rays 1942's Busby Berkeley musical For Me and My Gal co-starring Gene Kelly and George Murphy.

Jo Hayden (Judy Garland) and Harry Palmer (Gene Kelly) are a vaudeville act with big dreams of playing the palace theater on Broadway. Just when it looks like their dreams are about to come true Harry is drafted into the army, because of World War I. Harry intentionally injures his hand to avoid being called to duty, Jo think his act was that of a coward and breaks up the team. Now, Harry has to find a way to bring the team together again, by any means necessary.

Judy Garland and Gene Kelly are always great together, but Judy Garland truly shine her showing her dramatic expertise. Now as good at Garland and Kelly are together the supporting cast in this feature are just as great. The music is spectacular and the direction of Busby Berkeley is par excellence.

For this Blu-ray release Warner Archive lovingly restored this classic and it looks amazing. The black and white picture is sharp and clean. There is just a very small amount of debris. The soundtrack is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. There is no signs of hiss pops or age related wear. There is also English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Now an amazing film restoration was not enough, not for the 100th anniversary of Judy Garland's birth. Warner Archive went above and beyond and added some really cool bonus features to this release. Take a look at what is included.

* Audio Commentary: by film historian John Fricke

* MGM Short – La Fiesta De Santa Bárbara: A 1935 short film showcases of Mexican-themed revue and festival in Santa Barbara. It featured a 13-year-old Judy Garland and her two sisters singing “La Cucaracha”.

* MGM Short – Every Sunday: A 1936 short film two girls (Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin) trying to rally people to come to a concert that is threatened to be closed due to low attendance.

* Outtake Musical Numbers

Three Cheers For the Yanks

For Me And My Gal Deleted Finale

* Screen Guild Players For Me And My Gal: A half-hour radio show version of For Me and My Gal featuring Judy Garland, Gene Kelly and Dick Powell.

* Leo Is On The Air Radio Promo: A short radio program spotlighting the film For Me And My Gal.

* Theatrical Trailer

Watch The Trailer Below:

It is so awesome to see another great MGM musical getting the love it so richly deserves. Warner Archive deserves a lot of respect for their tireless work in restoring and releasing classic films on Blu-rays so physical media fans can enjoy films like For Me and My Gal for years to come.

If you would like to add this new Warner Archive Blu-ray of For Me and My Gal to your collection head over to Amazon and get your copy and celebrate the talent of the great Judy Garland.