Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

good back-story, and good acting

Best movie ever!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

"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.

This was the third time I watched this particular movie and the reason I watched this just now was because it was Christmas and this film had the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" sung by Ms. Judy Garland to Margaret O'Brien. Because I knew this film was made in 1944, part of me wondered when that song was written with those lyrics (much different than the revised ones written for 1957 when Frank Sinatra sang it and others after him would follow suit) during that time whether it was meant to address the audience of that period of their worries of their loved ones being overseas during the holidays and their concern of them ever coming back to them in the future. Anyway, this is such an entertaining musical with such great comedy and drama from not only Ms. Garland and O'Brien but also Harry Davenport as the grandpa and Marjorie Main as the maid. The best sequence involves Ms. O'Brien going out alone on Halloween involving a prank that was common during the 1903 period. Oh, and Ms. Garland also did great numbers like "The Boy Next Door" and "The Trolley Song". Oh, and no wonder she married director Vincente Minnelli after making this as she gets some of her best close-ups here! So on that note, that's a high recommendation of Meet Me in St. Louis. P.S. Great intro on the DVD from Judy and Vincente's daughter Liza Minnelli.

Beautiful, touching musical about a middle-class St. Louis family in the year leading up to the 1904 World's Fair. In particular the love lives of the two teenage daughters (Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer). While there are some great songs, including classics "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," there's much more to the movie than that. It's got a lot of heart with genuinely lovable characters that you actually care about. A lot of praise rightfully goes to Judy Garland and precocious Margaret O'Brien, but the rest of the cast is excellent as well. Especially good is Leon Ames as the father, probably my favorite role of his. It's an amazing film, enjoyable at Christmas or all year round. Wonderful early 20th century slice of life Americana.

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.