Wordiezett So much average

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

GazerRise Fantastic!

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

TheLittleSongbird Not one of Judy Garland's finest hours. In fact, while none of the film's faults lie with her (she is the reason to see it) 'Little Nellie Kelly' is one of her worst films and one of the few films of hers that is a one-or-two-time watch only.There are good things about 'Little Nellie Kelly'. It is a very competently made film visually, immaculately photographed and the costume and production design are attractive enough. While a couple of them are inconsequential to the story (in a film that is more a comedy drama than a musical), the songs are still very pleasant with a real sense of whimsy, energy and pathos. Coming off best are "Singing in the Rain", "It's a Great Day for the Irish" and "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" (which Garland would send up later on in her life frequently).Best of all is Garland, who is a sheer delight in a sometimes playful but always touchingly sincere performance that shows a lot of maturity compared to her earlier roles. Regarding her singing, as always, praises are endless, beautiful tone, sincere phrasing and musicality, a playful energy and poignant emotion. Douglas McPhail also sings beautifully.Of the cast however, Garland is the only one who either really registers or halfway impresses. McPhail sounds great but lacks charisma as an actor. George Murphy is both bland and stiff, while Charles Winninger has the single most obnoxious character (a type that he played frequently in and specialised in, except all were far more likable than here) of his entire career and he fails to bring any positive attributes whatsoever to it so much so that it jars with everything else and unbalances everything too.'Little Nellie Kelly's' script is also weak, too much excessive corn and cutesiness and the mawkish sentimentality also gets too much. The characters, with the sole exception of Garland (which is testament to how good a performer she was) are stereotypes that are either passive in accepting the grandfather's mistreatment of everybody or annoying to an unbearable degree with the grandfather coming out on top. Story-wise, it shines with Garland on screen but falls flat everywhere else, the first portion also drags with a real unsettled feel to almost everything but Garland. The direction is undistinguished.Overall, worth seeing for Garland, the production values and the songs (Garland being the best thing about it) but with everything else not coming off well 'Little Nellie Kelly' is a near-miss. 4/10 Bethany Cox

MartinHafer When the film begins, Nellie (Judy Garland) is living with her father, Michael (Charles Winninger), in Ireland. Inexplicably, Michael is against Nellie marrying Jerry Kelly (George Murphy)--and the reason for this is never explained in the film. Soon after Jerry and Nellie marry, they head to America--and Michael follows (even though he vowed never to leave Ireland). Then, Michael moves in with them--though this makes no sense. Michael refuses to talk to Jerry and is a nasty old b--, I mean, 'jerk'. Later, Nellie dies during childbirth--and still Michael won't talk to Jerry---yet he continues to live with him! The child, also called Nellie, grows up to be...Judy Garland!! Yes, Judy plays both her mother and daughter--a bad Hollywood cliché. And, during all this time, STILL Michael won't talk to Jerry--yet is allowed to live with them. Considering all the divisiveness caused by Michael, the film made no sense--Jerry SHOULD have thrown the old jerk out long ago. Oh, and did I mention that Michael refuses to get a job and doesn't work for decades?! Overall, he's a terribly written and completely unsympathetic character who seemed to take pleasure in ruining his daughter's and granddaughter's lives. He really needed to be written better--a serious weakness in the film AND people in the film shouldn't have put up with his abusiveness. He should have been written as a lovable grouch--instead he comes off as a nasty creep who you want to see get hit by a bus or beaten to death by all the people this nightmare of a character insults during the course of the film!!! It's a shame because Winninger's boorish character completely overpowers Garland's nice performance. At only 18, she is very poised--especially when playing the mother. And, while I didn't love the song selection, she did a great job. This film didn't seem to hurt her career any--but it SHOULD have been a much better showcase for her amazing talents, not a showcase for poor writing and a hateful character.By the way, although it didn't hurt the film any, George Murphy's Irish accent was amazingly absent. With a name like Murphy, you'd have thought he could have done better. Additionally, on a sad note, Judy's love interest later in the film, Dennis (Douglas McPhail), killed himself just a few years after making this picture. He had an incredible voice.

wes-connors Irish-accented Judy Garland (as Nellie) ignores the objections of lazy father Charles Winninger (as Michael "Mike" Noonan) and marries ambitious George Murphy (as Jerry Kelly). The trio immigrate to the United States and become citizens. The years pass quickly and center stage switches to identical singing daughter "Nellie" (also played by Ms. Garland). She is attracted to Irish import Douglas McPhail (as Dennis Fogarty). History repeats itself when Mr. Winninger strongly objects to granddaughter Garland's courtship...For most of this film, Winninger's character displays an intense hatred for his son-in-law. His other traits include laziness and drunkenness. This character is so relentlessly unflattering, the hopeful ending does not count for much. There is little Winninger can do with the script, but he manages. The real main attraction is Garland, who gets to emote and sing. Her incredible voice shines throughout, but especially on the amazing highlight "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" and the MGM standard "Singin' in the Rain".***** Little Nellie Kelly (11/22/40) Norman Taurog ~ Judy Garland, Charles Winninger, George Murphy, Douglas McPhail

bkoganbing I have to confess some disappointment in Little Nellie Kelly. Not that I was disappointed with the performances of Judy Garland and the rest of the cast. But I was actually hoping to see an adaption of some kind of George M. Cohan's musical comedy that ran 276 performances during the 1922-23 season on Broadway. But other than the title song and another number, this is not what ran on Broadway at the time. Pity because I would like to have seen just what a George M. Cohan musical comedy was all about. Other than the straight drama/mystery Seven Keys To Baldpate none of Cohan's work was ever brought to the sound screen.I'm surprised that this film is not run as often as The Quiet Man in and around St. Patrick's Day every year. The story has Judy Garland playing a mother and daughter. Mother marries George Murphy over in Ireland to the distress of her father Charles Winninger. After all of them emigrate to America, Judy dies giving birth to Judy. So the young girl is raised by her father and maternal grandfather.Which wasn't easy to do because Winninger and Murphy quarrel rather stupidly and don't speak to each other even though they're living in the same household. If it wasn't for the fact that Winninger is helping to raise Garland his granddaughter by staying at home, Murphy would have and should have thrown him out years ago. Winninger is just plain allergic to work.In the scenes he's in Winninger's a lovable loafer and really steals everything he's in. Barry Fitzgerald must not have been available though his brother Arthur Shields is in the film as the father of Douglas MacPhail that the younger Garland falls for. Winninger is playing a part Barry would normally have been cast in. He and Garland clicked so well that they were cast as father and daughter again in Ziegfeld Girl the following year.The soundtrack is an odd mix of Cohan's songs, Irish ditties, and some new numbers and for Judy, a revival of Singing In The Rain which producer Arthur Freed coincidentally enough wrote the lyrics for. However her best number is with Douglas MacPhail, It's A Great Day For The Irish which she made a Decca record of as a solo backed by The Wearing Of The Green. It's a more modern version of the same type of song as MacNamara's Band.Judy's worldwide legion of fans will love Little Nellie Kelly. Still it might have been nice to have one of George M. Cohan's musicals done in some fashion.