At the end of the 19th century, the young Indiana boy Paul Dresser left his hometown for a long adventure that would eventually place him at the pinnacle of American music as a songwriter.At the end of the 19th century, the young Indiana boy Paul Dresser left his hometown for a long adventure that would eventually place him at the pinnacle of American music as a songwriter.At the end of the 19th century, the young Indiana boy Paul Dresser left his hometown for a long adventure that would eventually place him at the pinnacle of American music as a songwriter.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 4 wins & 1 nomination total
Featured reviews
It's interesting that Paul started out singing at carnivals before hitting the big time on Broadway. I suppose that's similar to singers/songwriters who toiled away in bars before getting discovered.
Anyway, the movie was comfortable, pleasant, relaxing to watch and gave me a glimpse into a seemingly simpler happy world, even if it's idealistically presented. Thank you TCM for keeping these flicks on the air.
Irving Cummings was a director that tried his hands at directing musicals with mixed results. "My Gal Sal" is the biography of Paul Dresser, an American composer who wrote tuneful, if somewhat bland songs. The screen play is by Theodore Dreiser, a writer on his own right, but who had nothing to add to make this film work better.
This is a musical that has a dated look from the beginning. The situation is preposterous, at best.
Rita Hayworth shines as the red headed Sally Elliott, a singing star of the musical theater of the time. She is responsible for the discovery of young and inexperienced Paul. She likes his songs and doesn't hesitate in stealing one to include in her show. Never did the technicolor loved anyone as it loved Rita Hayworth! She was a beautiful woman who lights up the screen any time we see her.
Victor Mature, as Paul, plays an unworldly Paul Dresser. He is a country boy and it shows. It is through his association with Sally that he gets the kind of sophistication he never had.
In minor roles James Gleason, as Paul's agent is excellent. This character actor graces with his presence dozens of films where he is always in the background. The great Phil Silvers appears briefly in a couple of key scenes. He was a talented actor of the stage and the screen and television that was always a welcome addition to everything he appeared in. Also, Carol Landis is seen in a small role.
See the film as a curiosity piece. The songs are tuneful, if forgettable.
"My Gal Sal" is basically a nostalgic period musical, about 1890s songwriter Paul Dreiser (Mature) who leaves his country town in Indiana to find a big success on Broadway in New York. He meets and falls in love with a musical performer, a gal named Sally Elliott (Hayworth). They start hating each other at first but soon grow into one another. Their contrived romance is kept afloat by various passable numbers, including the title tune (written by Paul), "On the Big White Way," "The Convict and the Bird", "Liza Jane", and "Mr Volunteer".
Not a classic, but it passes the time. Try to watch it along with Hayworth's other musical of 1942, the gloriously carefree "You Were Never Lovelier" with Fred Astaire.
My Gal Sal which along with On The Banks Of The Wabash was the most popular song that Paul Dresser ever wrote serves also as the title of this musical biography of Dresser. Paul originally named Dreiser was the oldest of nine children and the youngest was famed novelist Theodore Dreiser and Dreiser wrote a short essay in tribute to his older brother which was the basis for this film. Young Theodore only appears as a child at the beginning of the film.
But the title role is fictional musical comedy star Sally Elliott who is played by Rita Hayworth. She's got publisher John Sutton panting after her, but she's got this love/hate thing going on with Victor Mature as Dresser. The plot for Sutton must have seemed familiar, it's the same one that 20th Century Fox used in A Yank In The RAF where Sutton was in the same position as in this film only with Tyrone Power and Betty Grable.
If this were being made today we would get the real story which was that Paul Dresser was a man of large frame and large appetites. The 'Sal" he wrote this song for was in real life a bordello madame of a certain house that he favored and occasionally took aspiring novelist Theodore in for a quickie. He was also a man close to 300 pounds and the guy who could have played him for real at the time was on the 20th Century lot and that was Laird Cregar.
But Mature and Hayworth were just coming into their own and Zanuck got full use of them. Mature was his studio's property, but Rita was on loan from Columbia where Harry Cohn was starting to realize what a great find Hayworth was. Zanuck was developing his star with three films, this one, Blood And Sand and Tales Of Manhattan. They both looked real good and sang real good with dubbed voices.
A lot of period music, costuming, and sets is what My Gal Sal gets its best marks for. In fact the film won an Oscar for Best Art&Set Design. Rita looked and danced divinely even using someone else's voice as she always did.
It's not the best film of this type that Fox ever did, but if your taste does run into period musicals than you can't go wrong with My Gal Sal.
As a biography it's worthless but as a showcase for Rita's talent and beauty it can't be beat. There are one or two occasions where she is so heavily made up and dressed in an unflattering pink that she appears corpse like but otherwise looks sensational in her period costumes and her dancing and singing are marvelous. Mature is fine as the male lead but is overshadowed by Rita.
Not a classic but a bright, pleasant entertainment. A must for Hayworth fans.
Did you know
- TriviaVictor Mature was known within the movie community for having a sense of humor about his lack of acting, singing and dancing talents and supposedly once responded to being denied membership in a high-class social club for being an actor, by declaring: "I'm not an actor...and I've made 37 movies that prove it!"
- GoofsWhen Dresser introduces "The Pity Of It All," he hands the lyrics to Sally, but she sings them without looking at the sheet.
- Quotes
Paul Dresser: Look. If you don't like my act, why don't you get out of here.
Fred Haviland: Like it? Why, you're the hit of the show.
Sally Elliott: It's one of the funniest acts I ever saw.
Paul Dresser: Funny? What's funny about it?
Sally Elliott: Wasn't it?
Paul Dresser: You know very well it wasn't, nobody else was laughing.
Sally Elliott: But there was two pianos. And that suit. What could you expect?
Paul Dresser: What's wrong with my suit?
Sally Elliott: It's all right if you can stand the noise.
- Crazy creditsRare for the era, the film cold-opens with a brief medley of performers singing bits of Dresser songs before dissolving into the main titles.
- ConnectionsFeatured in 20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
- SoundtracksI'SE YOUR HONEY IF YOU WANTS ME, LIZA JANE
Written by Paul Dresser
Performed by Victor Mature (voice dubbed by Ben Gage)
- How long is My Gal Sal?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Una chica con sal
- Filming locations
- Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA(Indiana countryside)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1