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To me, this movie is perfection.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Grandpa, Charles Winninger, just should've toned it down a notch. He didn't have to become totally mild mannered. If he was to just be more of a lovable grouch type instead of totally bitter and abrasive, this film would've been a 10. Judy Garland herself was a 10++. She was wonderful in this film. In both roles, as Nelly Kelly sr. and Nelly Kelly Jr. In Ireland in 1922, Nelly sr. is in love with George Murphy, and accepts his marriage proposal and they marry. Grandpa is completely steamed up about this and wants nothing to do with George. As miserable and unpleasant Grandpa is though, he still holds an unconditional love towards his daughter, Nelly Sr. and his granddaughter, Nelly Jr. calling them both "the apple of me eye". One of the reasons Grandpa is so bitter towards George is that he is just so overprotective of his daughter. But there is no reason for him to try and stop them from falling in love and being happy. And there is no reason for him to continue to have such a high level of hatred towards George. Anyway, George and Nelly Sr., with grandpa in tow, sail ship to America, New York. Nelly sr. gives birth to a daughter, but sadly Nelly sr. dies from complications of giving birth. The daughter is named Nelly Kelly jr., in honor of her mother. Judy's death scene actually brought out tears in me. I don't shed tears in films that easily, but with Judy Garland, in this film and in "Me and my gal", I have formed a couple tears. In many of her movies I get somewhat close to that level. Judy is just so beautiful and sweet and charming with a voice from heaven. She is like, almost ethereal. Judy sings " A pretty girl milking her cow". She sings it twice, once as Jr. and once as Sr. She sings it beautifully, especially as Nelly Sr. during a very heartwarming scene near the beginning of the film with her adding a little Irish gaelic to the song. She is just so pure, charming, and wonderful here talking about believing in the stars, kissing and falling in love with George for the first time. Judy is a true angel. She also sings "Singing in the rain" and "Its a great day for the Irish", both as Nelly Jr., wonderfully. We see a montage as little Nelly is growing up. We see a few photographs of Nelly jr. as a child during the montage. Im quite sure that these were real photos of Judy, Frances Gumm as a child. In the present, well 1942, Judy as Nelly jr., is stunning and pretty when she's grown up. She meets and falls in love with Douglas Macphail. She's passionate and romantic with a lovely voice, just like her mother. The title song at the end with Judy on the dance floor is also wonderful. This film is just pure Hollywood golden age magic.

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

As others have commented, the film does (on its face) have things to (potentially) enjoy: Judy's singing, Arthur Freed's handiwork, Cohan's songs, and a possible musical and comic look at Irish immigrants in New York. But in almost every way the film stiffs. Judy climbs from the wreckage (as usual) unscathed: her freshness and energy nearly making the film and songs rise to the level of entertainment. But George Murphy is the complacent stiff, the songs are mostly mediocre at best (except for a jazzy "Singin' In The Rain' by Judy), and worst of all "Grandpa" is a character who - although meant to be curmudgeonly and adorable in his irascibility - comes off as almost criminally abusive, ruining his daughter's one leap at married bliss, and doing a good number on his grand-daughter's as well. The actor in that role (the usually reliable Charles Winninger) gives an unlikeable and near one-note performance which constantly grates, until the viewer wants to strangle him. This may or may not have been purposeful, but - in terms of making the film (a light musical affair) bearable to watch - it is a disaster. You feel both aggravated by Grandpa's insistent hostility towards the happiness of others, and put off by the passivity of others toward his ugly and pointless behavior over the course of years. I don't think this is the stuff of light entertainment, but of a psychological essay. Grandpa's just a jerk...It is true that every now and then you will find an unheralded film to be undeserving of its anonymity. This is not one of those cases: the film drags along, forgettable song after forgettable song, stiff actor after stiff actor, sentimental stereotype after sentimental stereotype, and all made worse by that horrible Irish stew pot of a Grandpa. This one can be skipped without feeling cheated.

George M. Cohan's famous musical comedy of the early 1900's became Judy Garland's first young adult movie role after her role as pre-teenager Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz". It was also her best role and best performance, second to "Oz", prior to "Meet Me in St. Louis". The story tells of a feisty young Irish lass, Nellie Noonan, who falls in love with a handsome Irish cop, Jerry Kelly (George Murphy), then moves to America. Her pig-headed Irish father, Mike Noonan (Charles Winnger), follows, in spite of the fact that he hated seeing his beautiful little girl get married and leave him. When Nellie gives birth to a little girl, tragedy strikes, leaving Jerry and Mike to pick up the pieces and raise Little Nellie Kelly together. Little Nellie is equally as feisty as her mother, but is modernized and very American. She has the affection of many local boys, most especially Dennis Fogarty (Douglas MacPhail), a clean-cut young lad who has the approval of Jerry, but not Grandfather Mike who wants to keep Nellie all to himself. Nellie triumphs by singing in the St. Patrick's Day Parade, and later at a huge party.During her teenage years, perky Judy Garland appeared mostly opposite the sometimes too energetic Mickey Rooney; MGM always seemed to consider her not as glamorous as their other young stars, Ann Rutherford and Lana Turner, but in "Little Nellie Kelly", she is the epitome of confidence and youthful joy and happiness. There are no down-putting ballads here, like "In Between", "I'm Nobody's Baby", and "But Not For Me" from the Rooney films. For example, as the older Nellie Kelly, she delivers a very poignant "A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow", later reprised by the younger Nellie in a swing version. In the St. Patrick's Day parade, she leads the chorus in the production number "It's a Great Day For the Irish!" with a confidence her characters lacked in the Rooney films. Then, at the party, she sings a swinging version of the decade old standard "Singin' in the Rain", with special introduction lyrics added just for Judy. Later, Judy herself is serenaded by her admirers in the George M. Cohan song from the original show, "Nellie Kelly, I Love You!". While it is obvious that the play's story was somewhat altered to modernize it for the early 40's, it still retains Cohan's charm. Judy also lost the nervous gestures she was forced to use in the Rooney films and acts with grace and confidence.Charles Winninger is amusing as the lovable but hard-hearted grandfather, especially in a sequence where he stirs up a union struggle when Little Nellie tries to get him to work at a construction site; George Murphy goes from young romantic hero to proud and loving father without blinking an eye; The future senator is totally at ease here, and is quite likable. Douglas MacPhail went from second lead in "Babes in Arms" to Garland's love interest, singing "Nellie Kelly, I Love You" with his surprisingly mature deep voice. The rest of the cast is fine too, in much smaller roles, most notably familiar character actress Almira Sessions in the brief role of baby Nellie's nurse.