Mon amie Sally

I think I heard of Paul Dresser and wanted to hear his music. Only song I can say I knew - faintly- was the Wabash song, which turns out to be the Indiana State song. So, yeah, I didn't know much about this story. It was interesting to see the 1890s period sets. Mostly I watched this to see Rita Hayworth. Never saw anything of hers (but I probably did). She is actually a good actress and dances well. Victor Mature seemed to be an odd pick for the role of Paul. But their chemistry on screen was apparent.

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.

For a movie that had to pass the Production Code, My Gal Sal has some pretty racy lines that passed through the censors. Victor Mature obviously has a physical relationship with Carole Landis while working in a travelling vaudeville show, and when he starts coming onto Rita Hayworth when he moves up in the world, he's very interested in in seeing her bedroom. He keeps pushing until she finally relents, and she's next seen in a disheveled appearance running late to her next performance.

The costumes in this movie are gorgeous, so if you like the time period of the 1890s, you'll love watching all the beautiful outfits parade across the screen. The songs are source music from the protagonist's collection, but if you aren't familiar with Paul Dresser's work, there will be new schmaltzy tunes for you to listen to. The love story, honestly, isn't that great. Victor's character is written to be selfishly ambitious with a big temper. Rita is rude, snobby, and also has a huge temper. You can't even imagine the depths of their fights, and it makes the audience wish they'd end up with calmer people who might soften their rough edges. Carole was a sweet, caring girl, and John Sutton is steady, stable, and puts up with way too much from Rita.

But hey, you can't have everything. If you like Rita, you can check out this early musical. It's pure escapism that fits right in with the backstage musicals of the WWII era.

MGM musicals dominated the genre. No one could make musicals like they could, although a few studios tried with lesser success, as is the case with this one done by Fox in 1942.

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 not an unpleasant musical, but it gets a more lavish treatment than it deserves. It's a typically fictionalized musical biopic, with Victor Mature playing Paul Dresser, a popular Midwestern songwriter of the "Gay 90s." (For younger readers, that's what the 1890s were called, though the description had to do with high spirits, not sexuality.) Rita Hayworth is Dresser's love interest and the title character. Several of the songs in the movie were not even the work of Dresser, though the title song is. As the movie notes at the beginning, Dresser, born Dreiser, was the older brother of famed novelist Theodore Dreiser, author of that grim classic "An American Tragedy." The screenplay is supposedly based on Dreiser's reflective essay "My Brother Paul." But if it were, this film would be a bit of a drag: Paul Dresser's fame was fairly brief and he died young, and Theodore Dreiser never wrote anything light. Hollywood was wise enough to make up some harmless stuff, pick a beautiful leading lady and play it all for fun.

This biopic chronicles the life of songwriter Paul Dresser, played by Victor Mature, in the Gay Nineties, as he moves from carnival entertainer into New York society. Rita Hayworth stars and does the songs-dubbed by Nan Wynn. More a curiosity than a memorable musical.