i must have seen a different film!!

A Masterpiece!

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Grandpa, Charles Winninger, just should've toned it down a notch. He didn't have to become totally mild mannered. If he was to just be more of a lovable grouch type instead of totally bitter and abrasive, this film would've been a 10. Judy Garland herself was a 10++. She was wonderful in this film. In both roles, as Nelly Kelly sr. and Nelly Kelly Jr. In Ireland in 1922, Nelly sr. is in love with George Murphy, and accepts his marriage proposal and they marry. Grandpa is completely steamed up about this and wants nothing to do with George. As miserable and unpleasant Grandpa is though, he still holds an unconditional love towards his daughter, Nelly Sr. and his granddaughter, Nelly Jr. calling them both "the apple of me eye". One of the reasons Grandpa is so bitter towards George is that he is just so overprotective of his daughter. But there is no reason for him to try and stop them from falling in love and being happy. And there is no reason for him to continue to have such a high level of hatred towards George. Anyway, George and Nelly Sr., with grandpa in tow, sail ship to America, New York. Nelly sr. gives birth to a daughter, but sadly Nelly sr. dies from complications of giving birth. The daughter is named Nelly Kelly jr., in honor of her mother. Judy's death scene actually brought out tears in me. I don't shed tears in films that easily, but with Judy Garland, in this film and in "Me and my gal", I have formed a couple tears. In many of her movies I get somewhat close to that level. Judy is just so beautiful and sweet and charming with a voice from heaven. She is like, almost ethereal. Judy sings " A pretty girl milking her cow". She sings it twice, once as Jr. and once as Sr. She sings it beautifully, especially as Nelly Sr. during a very heartwarming scene near the beginning of the film with her adding a little Irish gaelic to the song. She is just so pure, charming, and wonderful here talking about believing in the stars, kissing and falling in love with George for the first time. Judy is a true angel. She also sings "Singing in the rain" and "Its a great day for the Irish", both as Nelly Jr., wonderfully. We see a montage as little Nelly is growing up. We see a few photographs of Nelly jr. as a child during the montage. Im quite sure that these were real photos of Judy, Frances Gumm as a child. In the present, well 1942, Judy as Nelly jr., is stunning and pretty when she's grown up. She meets and falls in love with Douglas Macphail. She's passionate and romantic with a lovely voice, just like her mother. The title song at the end with Judy on the dance floor is also wonderful. This film is just pure Hollywood golden age magic.

When the film begins, Nellie (Judy Garland) is living with her father, Michael (Charles Winninger), in Ireland. Inexplicably, Michael is against Nellie marrying Jerry Kelly (George Murphy)--and the reason for this is never explained in the film. Soon after Jerry and Nellie marry, they head to America--and Michael follows (even though he vowed never to leave Ireland). Then, Michael moves in with them--though this makes no sense. Michael refuses to talk to Jerry and is a nasty old b--, I mean, 'jerk'. Later, Nellie dies during childbirth--and still Michael won't talk to Jerry---yet he continues to live with him! The child, also called Nellie, grows up to be...Judy Garland!! Yes, Judy plays both her mother and daughter--a bad Hollywood cliché. And, during all this time, STILL Michael won't talk to Jerry--yet is allowed to live with them. Considering all the divisiveness caused by Michael, the film made no sense--Jerry SHOULD have thrown the old jerk out long ago. Oh, and did I mention that Michael refuses to get a job and doesn't work for decades?! Overall, he's a terribly written and completely unsympathetic character who seemed to take pleasure in ruining his daughter's and granddaughter's lives. He really needed to be written better--a serious weakness in the film AND people in the film shouldn't have put up with his abusiveness. He should have been written as a lovable grouch--instead he comes off as a nasty creep who you want to see get hit by a bus or beaten to death by all the people this nightmare of a character insults during the course of the film!!! It's a shame because Winninger's boorish character completely overpowers Garland's nice performance. At only 18, she is very poised--especially when playing the mother. And, while I didn't love the song selection, she did a great job. This film didn't seem to hurt her career any--but it SHOULD have been a much better showcase for her amazing talents, not a showcase for poor writing and a hateful character.By the way, although it didn't hurt the film any, George Murphy's Irish accent was amazingly absent. With a name like Murphy, you'd have thought he could have done better. Additionally, on a sad note, Judy's love interest later in the film, Dennis (Douglas McPhail), killed himself just a few years after making this picture. He had an incredible voice.

Irish-accented Judy Garland (as Nellie) ignores the objections of lazy father Charles Winninger (as Michael "Mike" Noonan) and marries ambitious George Murphy (as Jerry Kelly). The trio immigrate to the United States and become citizens. The years pass quickly and center stage switches to identical singing daughter "Nellie" (also played by Ms. Garland). She is attracted to Irish import Douglas McPhail (as Dennis Fogarty). History repeats itself when Mr. Winninger strongly objects to granddaughter Garland's courtship...For most of this film, Winninger's character displays an intense hatred for his son-in-law. His other traits include laziness and drunkenness. This character is so relentlessly unflattering, the hopeful ending does not count for much. There is little Winninger can do with the script, but he manages. The real main attraction is Garland, who gets to emote and sing. Her incredible voice shines throughout, but especially on the amazing highlight "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" and the MGM standard "Singin' in the Rain".***** Little Nellie Kelly (11/22/40) Norman Taurog ~ Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, George Murphy, Douglas McPhail

In honor of today being St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd check out this Judy Garland movie, adapted from Irish-American George M. Cohan's musical comedy and about and with many other Irish or at least other Americans of such descent, on YouTube. In this one, Ms. Garland plays two roles of which one is of Nellie Noonan whose father Mike (Charles Winninger) is so possessive of his daughter that he hates anyone who he thinks will take her away, even one as nice as Jerry Kelly (George Murphy). After the senior Nellie dies during childbirth, Mike and Jerry raise the same-named title character who grows into the spitting image. Unfortunately, Mike is as stubborn as ever despite Jerry's repeated attempts to ingratiate himself. And then there's the 2nd generation Nellie's potential suitor, Dennis Fogarty, (Douglas McPhail) to deal with...The story, despite the now-shopworn elements, is still touching as a tale of "Old World" vs. "New World" ways that threaten to conflict constantly during the whole thing but because of Ms. Garland's appeal as both mother and daughter, never blows completely over. In fact, despite Mike Noonan's mean-spiritedness, there are occasionally touches of tenderness of him with the daughter when no one else is around that make him not so bad which shouldn't be too surprising since he's played by one of the most lovable of character actors in Mr. Winninger even if his character is somewhat of a freeloader, or slacker as he now would be referred as. And Ms. Garland is thoroughly fine whether crying or laughing as both mother and daughter. And of course, her singing is divine throughout especially during the "Singin' in the Rain" number. And classical singer McPhail is also in fine form when serenading her to one of the few of Mr. Cohan's songs retained for the film. Unfortunately, the version I saw had a segment missing (Part 7 on YouTube) because of a copyright issue with WMG (Warner Music Group). Still, I liked what I saw and hope someday to eventually see the whole thing. In the meantime, Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone! P.S. Once again, I like noting when a cast or crew member is from my birthtown of Chicago, Ill., in this case, it's director Norman Taurog.