1944 was the height of U.S. involvement during World War II. A lavish Hollywood musical set in the American past, Meet Me in St. Louis was the ultimate escape from the unrelenting news of the war.
Meet Me in St. Louis tells the tells the story of a large, idealized upper middle class family. The film covers the year just prior to the opening of the 1904 World's Fair, the biggest event that St. Louis had ever seen. The script was based on a series of stories written by Sally Benson, published by the 'New Yorker' magazine during the early 1940s.
The Smiths are headed by taciturn businessman Alonzo (Leon Ames). His graceful wife is Anne (Mary Astor). Perfect son Lon is a freshman at Princeton. He has four sisters. Smiling beauty Rose (Lucille Bremer) is the oldest, followed by passionate Esther (Judy Garland). Agnes (Joan Carroll) and Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) are still children.
Of course, the older children are all given love interests. Esther has 'the boy next door', perfect John Truett (Tom Drake). Lon has perfect Lucille Ballard (June Lockhart). Rose has enthusiastic but otherwise perfect Warren Sheffield (Robert Sully).
The plot weaves several musical numbers around the ups and downs of the various romances. Suspense is created when Alonzo announces that he is taking a promotion in New York City. Will the family's pending move to the Big Apple disrupt their ordinary but picturesque lives?
Tootie, the youngest of the children, is an impish little girl with an obsession with death. Her activities including burying her dolls that she imagines have died from terminal illnesses. She is a strange character for a musical from 1944. Another curious scene has her participating in a street bonfire, which is fed by little children tossing furniture into the flames. No adults are present, but their supervision is sorely needed.
O'Brien was the leading child actress from the 1940s, and was second billed to Judy Garland. In 1945, she was awarded a special Juvenile Oscar, for her work in this film and Jane Eyre. She was the first to win the Juvenile Oscar since Garland in 1940 for The Wizard of Oz.
Except for O'Brien's eccentric character, and a scene where Garland bites her beau, Meet Me in St. Louis is conventional even for a big budget MGM musical. While the supporting characters are all charming, they have been heavily romanticized. Garland's nervous, insecure personality gives her character a depth that it likely didn't have on paper.
Among the supporting cast is Harry Davenport, who plays the spry grandfather, and Marjorie Main, who is the family cook. Davenport was one of the best supporting actors of the 1930s. Main would become famous in a few years from a series of Universal films where she played gregarious bumpkin Ma Kettle.
Surprisingly, the musical numbers do not dominate the film. The big production is "The Trolley Song", with Garland singing of newfound love. The cast with their colorful period costumes are packed onto a trolley, while Garland moves about singing. She had a wonderful voice, full of the soaring warmth found in her most famous song, "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz.
However, the best song here is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", a bittersweet song that she would perform in concerts for the rest of her life. Another song that works is the moving "You and I", which Alonzo and Anne use to reaffirm their love after a family row. Alonzo's singing voice is dubbed by Arthur Freed, the film's producer. Freed's early career was as a songwriter.
Director Vincente Minelli was the head of many MGM musicals. Although nearly two decades older than Judy Garland, they would marry the following year, 1945.
Meet Me in St. Louis received four Academy Award nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay (Irving Brecher), Best Color Cinematography (George Folsey), Best Song ("The Trolley Song"), and Best Score. (61/100)
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS is a captivating musical about a St. Louis family at the time of the 1903 World's Fair. Tunes include "Trolley Song" "Boy Next Do...More at Family Video
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