Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett, years before making Minnelli's "Father of the Bride" together, here are "Me and My Gal," a story of a policeman and this flirtatious young thing working in a diner near the wharf. When Spencer, along with another lawman, saves a drunk from drowning, he is promoted to detective. A gang of wise-guys robs a bank, one of which just so happens to love Joan's sister. They are caught and thrown in the clink, but, when he escapes, Joan's sister takes him in to their place, in their attic. (She lives with her father.) Joan's father is a war veteran who can't speak, but can communicate in an unusual way. Although Joan spars a lot with Spencer, she grows very fond of him, even going so far as to on a few dates with him. They do make a very enticing couple, with his witty one-liners and her zesty replies. There's a minor subplot of the drunk, who's seen almost throughout the whole film, and while his antics wear a little thin, the actor's very good at being "crocked." He can barely stand up in all of his scenes. This is a very diverting, fun and exciting movie with Spencer Tracy, who always knew how to draw the viewer into his world. "Me and My Gal" is a good way to spend time relaxing with good actors and an entertaining movie.

In one of the screen's most realistic romances, Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett play a cop and a waitress during the depression and prohibition who meet, crack wise, fall in love, argue some and fall more in love, all the time still cracking wise and arguing even more. There's a story, but it really doesn't concern these lovers, only surrounding his job and her sister, a newly married woman whose gangster ex-boyfriend escapes from prison and hides in her attic. The criminal story goes with the setting, the era and the hottest trend in pre-code films, but it is the dialog you will remember, one of the juiciest screenplays of the time. Bennett will delight you, cast against type as the tough-talking but ultimately tender good girl who can't believe that she's in love with a cop, joking with him about his flat feet yet never ceasing her love for him once she realizes he's serious about them being together. The two have an adorable love scene where they coo baby talk like affections at each other while their mind tells the audiences what they are really thinking.There's also several scenes with an obnoxious drunk who won't go away, showing that even during prohibition, an obviously intoxicated man could roam the city streets and cops would pay him little mind except to insult him (and sometimes physically assault them). Veteran director Raoul Walsh whose credits go back to the early silent era, takes this delightful script, runs the camera man into a furious frenzy with the speediness of it all, and demands quick, non-static editing that moves along like a rat in the sewer.There are so many fresh ideas in this film that you never feel bored, wanting to capture every delightful line that Tracy and Bennett throw at each other. It is ironic that 18 years later, these two stars would play a happily married couple in "Father of the Bride" with a beautiful daughter (someone named Elizabeth Taylor) where Tracy would also speak in character while his character remained silent.

Me and My Gal (1932) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A New York cop (Spencer Tracy) fights with and then falls in love with a waitress (Joan Bennett) but things take a bad turn when her father and sister get involved with a gangster (George Walsh). This is a sometimes interesting pre-code that starts off as a (bad) comedy but then turns into a romance before once again changing into a drama. I do have to question the screenplay for trying so many things as the film seems extremely uneven and in the end I had to see it as a major disappointment considering the talent involved. The biggest problem is the screenplay that is all over the place and this includes a pretty bad start where we have to follow a drunk around for a non-stop gag that just keeps going and going and going. I'm going to take stab and say that this scene with the drunk runs at least ten minutes and then he keeps coming up for the next ten minutes. The joke pretty much has him not paying for meals, asking the cops to arrest a fish for stealing his worm or just being plain annoying. I'm really not sure if Walsh was having a kick with this stuff or what but it should have ended up on the cutting room floor. The stuff dealing with the gangsters is pretty uninteresting as well because they're brought into the story due to Bennett's sister, someone we really don't care about and since it isn't actually happening to Tracy's girl, there's no added drama thrown in. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why the movie was jumping around so much and a lot of the ending just feels tacked on for no good reason other than to have some action. What makes the film worth viewing are the performances by the two leads. The two work very well together as they both come off quite charming and entertaining. The snappy dialogue they get to throw at one another is a plus as is a nice sequence where they talk to one another while their "thoughts" also get told. George Chandler and Henry B. Walthall have small roles as well.

Given the stars and the director, one would think this is an early classic. Instead, it's a bomb. Joan Bennett is beautiful and Tracy can act. That's it. The film is embarrassing. The script is terrible, being both witless, and humorless. It features one of Hollywood's longest and least funny drunk acts. Poor Tracy just has to stand there and watch. This belongs in the Golden Turkey book.