Me and My Gal (1932)

Directed by Raoul Walsh

Starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Marion Burns

Produced by Fox Film Corporation 

Spencer Tracy plays policeman Danny Dolan who dutifully walks his beat by the pier and flirts with a waitress named Helen. When Danny rescues a drunk who has fallen into the water, he gets a promotion to detective. 

Unfortunately, Danny's heroics distracted another police detective Al from his surveillance of a couple of gangsters, allowing the bad guys to escape. One of the men, Duke, is working with Kate, a bank teller and Duke's ex-girlfriend, to rob some safety deposit boxes. And (just to bring things full circle) Kate is Helen's sister. 

Danny and Helen begin falling in love, but Danny's investigation into Duke's gang threatens them all. Will Duke carry out his robbery? Can Danny and Helen survive? 

Me and My Gal seems determined to answer one overriding question: Is it possible for a minor character to ruin an otherwise great film? 

The answer? Almost. 

Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett are great as the main couple. Many of their dating problems would be familiar to a modern audience. Helen debates allowing Danny to kiss her. If she does, she's easy. If she doesn't, she's a prude. There is a perfect chemistry between the two which sells you on the courtship. 

Raoul Walsh may be the most unappreciated early Hollywood director around. His work here is solid without being distracting, making really effective use of early sound technology. 

In one scene, we see Danny and Helen having a conversation, but their voiceover betrays what they are actually thinking. It's well staged and the timing of the moment is spot-on. Have you seen this done before? Sure, but this must be one of the first instances of the technique. 

As for that minor character....sigh. Will Stanton plays the drunk Danny saves. For the first half of Me and My Gal, the drunk is constantly wandering into every scene. Danny leaves him at the pier and goes to the chowder house. The drunk follows him. He's at the pier later. He keeps popping up, over and over. 

In and of itself, this is not a problem. But Stanton has his own unique take on playing a drunk character. Imagine telling a high school freshman to act as obnoxiously inebriated as he possibly can. The resulting stumbling would be subtle and restrained compared to what we get here. 

Me and My Gal is a great blend of romantic comedy and crime drama. I only wish there was a sober edition. 

*** out of *****