For Me and My Gal...

Is it just me or do Gene Kelly and George Muphy look a little alike in this photo? George Murphy, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. Judy Garland and Gene Kelly rehersing for "For Me and My Gal". Cast:

Judy Garland as Jo Hayden
Gene Kelly as Harry Palmer
George Murphy as Jimmy K. Metcalf
Martha Eggerth as Eve Minard, singer
Ben Blue as Sid Simms, Jimmy's second banana
Stephen McNally as Mr. Waring, manager of the Palace Theatre
Richard Quine as Danny Hayden, Jo's brother (uncredited)
Keenan Wynn as Eddie Milton, theatrical agent (uncredited)
Lucille Norman as Lily Duncan (uncredited)

Trivia:

This is the first of two movies in which a character says to Judy Garland, "Why didn't you tell me I was in love with you?" The second is Easter Parade, starring Fred Astaire.

Gene Kelly's film debut. It is known that Judy Garland got him the job after seeing him in the Broadway musical "Pal Joey".

This was the first film in which Judy Garland had her name billed before the title, which showed her growing importance and stature at MGM.

George Murphy was originally cast as Harry Palmer, but he instead played Jimmy Metcalfe once the lead role went to Gene Kelly.

After initial previews, much of the film's ending was re-shot in order to make Gene Kelly's draft-dodging character Harry Palmer more sympathetic to wartime audiences. The scenes in which Palmer becomes a hero in combat were among those added.

Eleanor Powell and Dan Dailey were originally supposed to star in this movie but were removed from the picture during rehearsals and replaced by Gene Kelly and Judy Garland.

Producer David O. Selznick had brought Gene Kelly to Hollywood from New York but couldn't find a suitable vehicle for him, so he allowed Kelly to sign a contract with MGM, where his career flourished beginning with this film.

The first of three movie musicals in which Judy Garland and Gene Kelly starred in together, though they did appear separately in other movies and features.

For Me and My Gal marked the first real "adult" role for the nineteen-year-old Judy Garland, who had played juvenile parts until then.

Kelly was 29 years old at the time.

Gene Kelly and Judy Garland got along well – she had been in favor of his getting the part, and during shooting she helped Kelly adjust his stage acting for films, and backed him in disagreements with director Busby Berkeley, whom she did not like. Kelly and Garland went on to star together in two other films, The Pirate (1948) and Summer Stock (1950).

Working titles for the film while it was in production were "My and My Gal" and "The Big Time".

When the film was initially previewed, the audience was dissatisfied with the ending: they thought that Jo (Garland) should end up with Jimmy (Murphy) rather than Harry (Kelly). This prompted Louis B. Mayer to order three weeks of additional shooting to give Kelly's character more of a conscience and to reduce Murphy's presence in the film.

The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Score for Roger Edens (musical ion) and Georgie Stoll (musical direction). In addition, Gene Kelly received a "Best Actor" award from the National Board of Review for his performance.