Meet Me in St. Louis [Blu-ray]

Overview

Sally Benson's short stories about the turn-of-the-century Smith family of St. Louis were tackled by a battalion of MGM screenwriters, who hoped to find a throughline to connect the anecdotal tales. After several false starts (one of which proposed that the eldest Smith daughter be kidnapped and held for ransom), the result was the charming valentine-card musical Meet Me in St. Louis. The plot hinges on the possibility that Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), the family's banker father, might uproot the Smiths to New York, scuttling his daughter Esther (Judy Garland)'s romance with boy-next-door John Truett (Tom Drake) and causing similar emotional trauma for the rest of the household. In a cast that includes Mary Astor as Ames' wife, Lucille Bremer as another Ames daughter, and Marjorie Main as the housekeeper, the most fascinating character is played by 6-year-old Margaret O'Brien. As kid sister Tootie, O'Brien seems morbidly obsessed with death and murder, burying her dolls, "killing" a neighbor at Halloween (she throws flour in the flustered man's face on a dare), and maniacally bludgeoning her snowmen when Papa announces his plans to move to New York. Margaret O'Brien won a special Oscar for her remarkable performance, prompting Lionel Barrymore to grumble "Two hundred years ago, she would have been burned at the stake!" The songs are a heady combination of period tunes and newly minted numbers by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin, the best of which are "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." As a bonus, Meet Me in St. Louis is lensed in rich Technicolor, shown to best advantage in the climactic scenes at the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/24/2018
UPC:	0888574678906
Original Release:	1944
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Judy Garland	Esther Smith
Margaret O'Brien	Tootie Smith
Lucille Bremer	Rose Smith
Mary Astor	Mrs. Smith
Leon Ames	Alonzo Smith
Joan Caroll	Agnes Smith
Tom Drake	John Truett
June Lockhart	Lucille Ballard
Marjorie Main	Katie
Henry Daniels Jr.	Lon Smith Jr.,Lon Smith Jr.
Chill Wills	Mr. Neely
Hugh Marlowe	Col. Darby
Harry Davenport	Grandpa
Robert Sully	Warren Sheffield
Donald Curtis	Dr. Terry
Mary Jo Ellis	Ida Boothby
Ken Wilson	Quentin,Quentin
Robert Emmett O'Connor	Motorman,Conductor
Darryl Hickman	Johnny Tevis
Leonard Walker	Conductor
Victor Kilian	Baggage Man
John Phipps	Mailman
Major Sam Harris	Mr. March
Mayo Newhall	Mr. Braukoff
Belle Mitchell	Mrs. Braukoff
Sidney Barnes	Hugo Borvis
Myron Tobias	George
Victor Cox	Driver
Kenneth Donner	Clinton Badger
Buddy Gorman	Clinton Badger
Joe Cobbs	Clinton Badger
Helen Gilbert	Girl on Trolley
Gary Gray	Boy at Pavilion
Joan Carroll	Agnes Smith
Sid Newman	Boy on Trolley
Dorothy Tuttle	Girl on Trolley
Roger Edens	Composer
Conrad Salinger	Composer
Ralph Blane	Composer
Hugh Martin	Composer
George Stoll	Composer

Technical Credits

Irving Brecher

Fred Finklehoffe

Victor Heerman

William Ludwig

Sarah Y. Mason

Vincente Minnelli	Director
Irving Brecher	Screenwriter
Fred Finklehoffe	Screenwriter
Arthur Freed	Producer
Victor Heerman	Screenwriter
William Ludwig	Screenwriter
Sarah Y. Mason	Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

One of Hollywood's best movie musicals, the enchanting Vincente Minnelli hit Meet Me in St. Louis sits alongside The Wizard of Oz as one of the greatest Judy Garland films. Made and released in 1944, this tasty slice of Americana tells the story of a well-to-do midwestern family in 1903, secure and happy in their home yet unnerved by the prospect of imminent changes. Garland plays the oldest daughter of screen parents Mary Astor and Leon Ames, with Tom Drake supplying romantic interest and little Margaret O'Brien stealing scenes left and right as the precocious younger daughter. In the best tradition of Hollywood musicals, Minnelli eschews realism entirely; his St. Louis is an art director's dream, spotlessly clean and brightly colored. The same can be said for Garland's home and the costumes worn by her and her family. If early-20th-century American life was in the least bit inconvenient, you'd never know it from this film. But that hardly matters: Minnelli's St. Louis is a wonderful place to inhabit, if only for two hours. And those songs! Tunesmiths Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin wrote "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for the movie, and the score also includes such standards as "The Boy Next Door" and "The Trolley Song." Finally, there's Garland herself: Radiant in Technicolor, young but already a seasoned pro, she is at her very best, long before illness and emotional disturbances sapped her vitality and diminished her beauty. Meet Me in St. Louis long ago took its rightful place among the pantheon of movie musicals, but its equally noteworthy for presenting a legendary star at the peak of her abilities.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Meet Me in St. Louis is a "family values" exercise in traditional Americana, following the life of a midwest family as the World's Fair comes to early 20th century St. Louis. There are songs, family crises, more songs, more crises, and more songs. The highlight of the film is Judy Garland's singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."" Meet Me in St. Louis was the first team-up for Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, whom Garland would go on to marry, producing their daughter Liza Minnelli, though they would divorce six years later, in 1951. Minnelli's talent for handling complex set pieces works well in this film, as does the lively Technicolor cinematography of George Folsey. At least some of the credit should go to songwriter turned producer Arthur Freed for his excellent work in bringing together the proper talent. Freed also doubled as the singing voice of actor Leon Ames. One piece of Hollywood backstage lore -- that this was the film for which the director (Minnelli) resorted to telling a child actress (Margaret O'Brien) that her dog had been run over and killed, in order to get her to cry properly in the next scene to be shot -- has since been denied by O'Brien. The actress recently told Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne that her impetus for crying in the scene was hearing (from her mother) that actress Jane Powell wouldn't have any problem drumming up tears. O'Brien - fiercely competitive with Powell -- then wept on camera without any problem. She cried at full volume, and she later received a special Oscar for her performance.

All Movie Guide - Richard Gilliam