Written for Sight & Sound, December 2023. – EK
If Raoul Walsh's action films are imbued with poetry, his comedies are charged with anarchy. A prime example of the latter is
Me and My Gal, a pre-Code delight in which a New York cop (Spencer Tracy) fights both to bring order to the waterfront and win over a blonde (Joan Bennett). It's a madcap, riotous affair with a contempt for the rich - a proletarian air runs through its deep focus cinematography (easily lost on the eye, if not viewed on 35mm). Walsh turns vulgar jokes into unassuming art and mocks the world. It is as much about the joy of cinema as it is about the artistry of it.
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