Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Color

Quite simply, I consider this to be the best musical that Judy Garland ever appeared in.

St. Louis in 1903 was a very exciting place to be, for the city, though growing, had not lost its hometown feel. This "little town" had a very exciting prospect in its future....the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, or the St. Louis World's Fair, which would take place in downtown's spacious Forest Park. Here, many exciting things would premiere, such as the bright electric lights on the outside of a building and the young kids' cotton candy.

Sally Benson wrote a series of short stories about her home at 5135 Kensington Avenue around the turn of the century, and in 1944, director Vincente Minnelli took parts from several of them and turned it into a musical masterpiece.

The Smith family of the movie is impatiently awaiting the fair, just like everybody else in town. Though set in Victorian times, director Vincente Minnelli brought the most modern filming techniques and designs to the movie while staying amazingly true to the period. When you're watching it, you feel like you're viewing something filmed in the 1990s.

Meet Me in St. Louis is divided into four parts, all based on seasons. The movie opens with a breathtakingly beautiful, colorful view of a lively Victorian street, and then we view a normal afternoon at the Smith house, in which we see the women cooking dinner, children playing, and the two teenagers of the house gleefully singing the title song, "Meet Me in St. Louis". When father Alonzo (Leon Ames) comes home from his job at a law firm, he is authoritative and bossy, but winning. From the very beginning, the viewer gets a sense of just what all of these remarkably well-rounded characters have to offer in the story.

Judy Garland immediately shines from the beginning, singing of her infatuation for her neighbor John Truett (Tom Drake) in "The Boy Next Door" and leading a rousing version of "Skip To My Lou" at her brother Lonnie's (Henry H. Daniels, Jr.) going-away party before his freshman year at Princeton. Margaret O'Brien, who plays young Tootie Smith, is charming from her very first scene, and Judy returns to her vaudeville roots when the two sing a corny number, "Under the Bamboo Tree", a cakewalk complete with hats and canes.

The dialogue is fresh and funny, showing both the naivete and sophistication in the older girls and cleverness in the younger two. The viewer really gets the feeling of a close-knit family in this movie.

The best scene, however, occurs when Esther joins in on a trip to the unfinished fairgrounds via the trolley, where she sings the famous "Trolley Song". This is, in my opinion, Judy's best performance in an MGM musical. The colors are bright, the chorus girls are vivacious and happy, but Judy in her black velvet steals the show. I can't even describe how wonderful it is. Just watch it and you'll want to join in. And the amazing thing is that it was filmed in one take.

The Halloween sequences come right after the trolley scene, and this focuses more on the younger girls, tomboy Agnes (Joan Carroll) and charming Tootie (O'Brien). While this part is probably the slowest of the movie, the viewer learns a lot about the Victorian customs of Halloween, which differ from modern notions. The lighting in this part is phenomenal and doesn't seem dated at all.

Late Halloween night, Esther is led to believe that her love, John Truitt, hit Tootie, and she flies over to his house in a rage and beats him up (which is really hilarious). After learning that Tootie was lying, she returns to his house, where he kisses her. On a cloud of air, she floats back into her living room, but the scene is less than happy. Her father has just decided to move the family to New York, where they will live in a small flat and....gasp....miss the fair!

None of the family is happy about this, and they resolve to make the best of the remaining time in their dear city. When the Christmas dance comes around, Esther plans to attends with John, and he asks her to marry him afterward. She gladly accepts, but is worried about their plans for the future since the family is moving to New York the next day.

Esther climbs the stairs and hears Tootie crying in her room. She tries to console her with the now-legendary song, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", which is introduced in this film. Tootie rebels and violently smashes the snowmen in the yard....guess what? The father calls the family into the living room for a surprise meeting. They aren't moving to New York after all!

The scene of the actual fair follows, and everybody is having a great time.

"Meet Me in St. Louis" is an absolute masterpiece and must-see for everybody on the planet. Everything is wonderful: the music is harmonious, the scenery is lush, the camerawork hardly looks dated, and a sense of sweet nostalgia and harmony accompanies the movie from beginning to end. Judy Garland has never been more charming or beautiful in a film, and her voice was at its prime. Newcomer to MGM Lucille Bremer, who played her older sister Rose, is graceful and funny, and silent movie star Mary Astor plays a very convincing role as the mother. Margaret O'Brien rounds out the main cast as the youngest daughter, and she is a sensation of a child actress. The way she delivers her lines in such a natural but cute way is very rarely, if ever, paralleled.

The DVD is loaded with special features, including the short film "Bubbles," which Judy appeared in at age seven, a Vincente Minnelli trailer gallery, a full-length commentary, the history of "Meet Me in St. Louis," and more!

You would like this movie if: you like beautiful music, you have an interest in the Victorian age, or you just want to see a masterpiece of the MGM musical (and old movie in general) collection. Also considered a perk is the abundance of well-known musical numbers: "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." None of the other numbers are throwaways; all have real musical value and further the plot.

You wouldn't like this movie if: you don't like musicals. That's the only reason I can think of.

Rating: ****
Judy Score: ****