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.

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.

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.

Not a great movie, by any means, but with judicious use of your fast forward button, you can enjoy a delectable performance by Judy Garland, both as actress and singer. Up to this point in her career--with the exception of "The Wizard of Oz"- -Judy Garland had been playing second fiddle to Mickey Rooney pretty much non-stop. Now, without him, she comes into her own, and becomes the belle of the ball.The rest of the cast is mildly appealing, with the exception of Charles Winninger. He plays a man so selfish that everyone else's indulgence of him seems astounding.My advice: fast forward to Judy as young Nelly Kelly.