Little Nellie Kelly is another one of those “little” musicals that was, in the MGM tradition, equal or better than most “big” musicals from the other studios. The film is based on a 1922 George M. Cohan show although it bears little resemblance to it, retaining only the title, the song “Nellie Kelly, I Love You” and some elements of the plot, such as it is. According to Hugh Fordin’s book “The World of Entertainment” (aka “M-G-M’s Greatest Musicals – The Arthur Freed Unit”), producer Arthur Freed, who purchased the play from Cohan for $35,000, ran into Cohan at an ASCAP dinner in San Francisco. Cohan said “I hope you didn’t keep any of my terrible play?” to which Freed responded “No, I just kept the title and little Nellie Kelly being a police captain’s daughter.” Cohan was evidently satisfied.

Little Nellie Kelly is significant in Judy’s career for several reasons: It’s part of MGM’s grooming of Garland for adult stardom; it’s a vehicle centered around her talents without frequent co-star Mickey Rooney; and it’s the only film in which Judy has a death scene. The mother (“Nellie Kelly”) dies giving birth to “Little Nellie Kelly.” Roger Edens later said “Mr. Mayer didn’t like the idea of Garland growing up – ‘we simply can’t have that baby have a child.'” This has often been embellished with Mayer having a tantrum and screaming statements like “We can’t let that baby have a baby!” If there were any doubts at MGM as to whether Judy had the acting versatility to pull off an adult (however brief) role, this scene surely erased them. George Murphy, who was in the scene with Judy, later stated that he’d never seen such incredible acting: “…this was one of the greatest dramatic scenes that I have ever witnessed. It took me longer to get over it than it took Judy!” He later wrote that the scene was very emotional for everyone on the set: “When it was finished, the complete set was empty, with the exception of the director, Judy and myself. All these so-called hard-bitten workers were so affected that they had to get away so that their sobbing would not disturb the soundtrack.”

In spite of the slight story and a rather cartoonish characterization of Little Nellie Kelly’s grandfather by Charles Winninger, the film was enormously popular and turned a huge profit. It also gave Judy several great songs to sing. Both “A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow” and “It’s A Great Day For The Irish” would stay in her repertoire for the rest of her life. Years later Judy joked about “A Pretty Girl” being “an obscure folk song that fit the picture well. And we did it, and they released the picture, and the song became…an obscure Irish folks song!” The other musical highlight is her rousing rendition of “Singin’ In The Rain” that is only equaled by Gene Kelly’s iconic performance 12 years later.

Also of note, and a staple of future MGM Records soundtrack compilations, is the outtake of Judy’s beautiful rendition of “Danny Boy.” Two separate takes of this song have survived and have been released in various audio formats over the years. The song was a replacement for “The Stars Look Down” (unrecorded) that was to be Judy’s first song in the film. “Danny Boy” was then replaced by a quick chorus of “A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow.”

Also planned for the film was “By Killarney’s Lakes” which was replaced by a reprise of “A Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow” this time sung by the daughter “Little” Nellie Kelly. The confusing shuffling of the songs makes sense dramatically. The mother sings it to George Murphy’s character then the daughter sings it to him years later, bringing it full circle.

An early version of the script included another song, “Rings On My Fingers” that Judy, again as the mother, would sing to the other immigrants on the ship to America. The scene was deleted before filming.

One of the delights of the film is the “Nellie Montage” sequence showing Little Nellie Kelly growing up. MGM used actual photos of Judy from her childhood, giving the sequence an authenticity and providing a pleasant surprise to unsuspecting Garland fans – especially during late night television showings.

True to Judy’s popularity and back-breaking schedule at the studio during this time period, she began her work on the film while still shooting Strike Up The Band. Just after she completed a looping session for Little Nellie Kelly on October 1, 1940, Judy was taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital for a tonsillectomy. The studio (and the public) let out a sigh of relief that the procedure did not effect Judy’s voice.

Future Broadway and movie star John Raitt (star of “The Pajama Game” and father of singer Bonnie Raitt) has a small role as a hospital intern.