Gene Kelly’s screen debut came alongside celebrated starlet Judy Garland in this rousing WWI period piece produced as enlistment propaganda in the throes of the American involvement in WWII. For Me and My Gal’s narrative hinges on an act of cowardice privately undertaken by Kelly’s character in an effort to bypass the draft and resume his burgeoning vaudeville career alongside his radiant singing girlfriend, but the resulting string of misfortunes that befall him pave the way for an education on the front lines and an inevitable lovers’ reunion. Berkeley’s disinterest in the nationalistic schmaltz of the material is palpable in both the hurried tempo of the war montages, which mainly become vehicles for experiments in superimposition, and in the disproportionately lengthy emphasis on Garland and Kelly’s awe-inspiring chemistry, whether in blissful dance or tender banter. Of particular note is the sublime titular number, in which Berkeley’s camera, steadied on a crane for several minutes without a cut, raptly observes the harmonious movements of the stars’ bodies and voices.