Product Details

• Actors: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Charles Winninger, Douglas McPhail, Arthur Shields
• Directors: Norman Taurog
• Writers: George M. Cohan, Jack McGowan
• Producers: Arthur Freed
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM Video
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1992
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302341116
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,103 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage Garland, March 9, 2000

By 

David H. Rubin (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Little Nellie Kelly [VHS] (VHS Tape)

They don't make 'em like this any more, arguably with good reason. However, Garland is luscious and joyful in this film, which pre-dates her quirky gestures and throbbing vocals. Here she is all sweetness and light, especially in the sublime "Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow" and "Singing in the Rain" numbers. God was she an original! Her luminous screen presence is what makes this film work.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mild Entertainment, July 2, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Little Nellie Kelly [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Judy Garland was a sensation in THE WIZARD OF OZ and BABES IN ARMS--but by 1940 she was eighteen years old, and LITTLE NELLY KELLY finds her in transition between the child star she was and the adult star she would become. Based on a George M. Cohan play, the film offers Garland a double role: first as Irish-born Nelly Kelly and later as her teenage daughter, "Little" Nelly Kelly. The storyline is sentimental. Against father Charles Winninger's wishes, Garland marries George Murphy and leaves Ireland for America--with her stubborn and ill-tempered father in tow. After becoming an American citizen, she dies in childbirth (Garland's only death scene, and she plays it very well), leaving possessive grandfather and police officer husband to wangle over her surviving child.

The first portion of the film is the weakest, with neither Garland nor Murphy entirely at home with their Irish accents; another flaw is the fact that Winninger's irrascable grandfather eventually becomes a shade too obnoxious to fully engage our sympathies and Murphy is none-too-convincing in old-age make-up. Although not a musical per se, the real highlight of the film are Garland's few songs, which include "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow," "A Great Day for the Irish," and an elaborate staging of "Singin' In The Rain." Although she still shows traces of the affectations forced upon her in previous films by director Busby Berkley, she performs both her numbers and her scenes with a playfulness and sincerity that is quite charming.

Although expertly made, LITTLE NELLY KELLY is essentially an inexpensive programmer designed to test Garland's potential as an adult actress--a test which she clearly passes. But the film is so greatly overshadowed by both her earlier and later achievements that it is negligable in both her cannon and the musical genre as a whole, and as such will be of interests more to Garland completists than to casual viewers. Recommended for hardcore fans only.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Judy Garland Shines in one of her Greatest Films!, January 12, 2003

By 

Kimberly S. Loeffler (Binghamton, New York USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Little Nellie Kelly [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Little Nellie Kelly is a wonderful example of how talented Judy Garland was. She was just 18 years old when she starred as a Young Irish beauty who falls in love with George Murphy, marries and dies in Child Birth. Then Garland plays her own 16 year old daughter Little Nellie and she did it brilliantly. One of the most lavish numbers in this film is "Nellie Kelly I Love You". Garland sings "Singin' In The Rain" just 12 years before Gene Kelly and her version is dynamite. As Wife Nellie She gets her first kiss and as child Nellie struggles to understand why her father (Murphy) and Grandfather (Charles Winninger) don't get along. This film proves that Dorothy was capable of enchanting an audinence as an adult movie Actress.
If you have only seen one film of Judy Garland then you have to see this one. You will fall in love with Judy while she falls in love on screen.
Little Nellie Kelly is a charmer in the Grand tradition. Based on a 1920's Broadway Musical this MGM hit features music by George M. Cohen.
Kimberly Loeffler, Forever a Judy Fan!