hoyayer
Aside from the fact that Esther is a seriously manipulative psychopath, and Tutti has some bad death issues, Judy Garland manages to disguise her character beautifully.We're all fortunate that Garland refused to sing the original words to "Merry Little Christmas" -- 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas, It may be your last.' Her reasoning was that the audience would hate her. They sure would have, and it would have blasted the main character's cover permanently.Instead we got this wonderful collection of songs and silliness!
bsmith5552
"Meet Me in St. Louis" is Judy's Garland's film and nobody else. Producer Arthur Freed and Director Vincente Minnelli lavish Garland with plush Technicolor, great tunes and photography that showcases Judy in a way that she had never been seen. She was never more beautiful on screen.The story centers around the affluent Smith family of St. Louis: Father Alonzo (Leon Ames), Mother Anna (Mary Astor in an inspired bit of casting), daughters Esther (Garland), Rose Lucille Bremer), Agnes (Joan Carroll) and cutsie Tootie (Margaret O'Brien). Also there is Lon Jr. Henry H. Daniels Jr., Grandpa (Harry Davenport) and the maid Katie (Marjorie Main). They all live in a palatial mansion, wear all the latest fashions and generally live lives that few of us could imagine.The time is 1903 six months before the opening of the 1904 St. Louis World Fair. Esther and Rose are looking for husbands. Rose has her eye on New York socialite Warren Sheffield (Robert Sully) and Esther on the boy next door John Truett (Tom Drake), who doesn't seem to have any family but lives in an equally palatial mansion. Tootie and Agnes are up to no good on Halloween. As the year ends, Alonzo announces that he is moving the family to New York. everyone becomes despondent. But at the last moment..........................The songs in this film are memorable. Tunes such as "The Boy Next Door", Clang, Clang Clang Goes the Trolley" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" have since gone on to become classics. Garland pretty much has center stage all to herself. There is no "A" list leading man for example, to detract from her performance. She sings all of the songs and sings them well.Garland and Minnelli would soon become an item and would eventually marry resulting in daughter Liza Minnelli. None of the supporting players would achieve major stardom except for a bit player who played the Iceman: Chill Wills.
calvinnme
Movie musicals don't get any better than this! In "The Wizard of Oz" Judy Garland's character, Dorothy, opines, "there's no place like home." In "Meet Me in St. Louis" we are treated to a depiction of exactly what an ideal home, a home to cherish and nostalgically remember, is. The Smith family lives in a sprawling and lovely house in the nicer part of St. Louis. Three generations of the family live together: Grandpa Smith, Lon (a prosperous attorney )& Anna Smith and their five children: Lon Jr. (off to Princeton), Rose (smitten with Warren Sheffield), Esther (getting to know "the boy next door") and the two youngest girls, Agnes and irrepressible "Tootie" (always up to mischief). Family drama unfolds! The brilliantly talented Vincente Minneli has created in this film an irresistible homage to home and family circa 1903/04 with the added piece de resistance of Judy Garland singing some of her most well-known and beloved songs: "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Beautiful!Garland is the supreme entertainer of her generation and possibly for all time. She can relate a song to her audience and make them feel what is in her heart. Nowhere in St. Louis is this more clear than in her rendition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - a carol with obvious tear-jerking sadness and poignancy. However, the film's most exuberant display of joyous passion remains 'The Trolley Song'. At any rate, enjoy! This is one film that never gets old and Judy Garland was never more beautiful than she was right here.
Jacob Rosen
Vincente MInnelli's masterpiece of reminiscence is much the better for its acute awareness of its own time: made when America's wartime involvement was at its height (1944), the film yearns for refuge in a simpler time and finds it at the turn of the century in a growing but still youthful (the streets are yet to be paved) Midwestern city. Minnelli's mastery of editing to coax complicated feelings from his performers is exquisite, particularly in long, gliding takes that completely envelope the audience as the characters experience emotional peaks (falling in love) and valleys (the threat of being uprooted from home) which are then broken through cross-cutting to discuss them. Made with a genuine appreciation for hearth and home, the film ostensibly features Judy Garland; but Minnelli seamlessly incorporates her into his large cast, and also allows ample room for complex performances from the wonderful Leon Ames, Mary Astor and, in the pivotal role of the youngest daughter Tootie, the sublime Margaret O'Brien. Not just a great musical--a great work of art.
AD
