Tuesday, March 19, 2013


Classic Kids

Day Three: Meet Me in St Louis, 1944 


I love this movie!  From start to finish the characters and the setting will enchant you.  The film, a 1944 musical by MGM, was great escapism for World War Two audiences.   The plot, a ‘typical’ American family in 1904, who live in St. Louis, at the same time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World’s Fair.  Judy Garland shows off her talents with numerous songs, particularly the Trolley Song, and Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.  The Halloween scene with Tootsie (Margaret O’Brien) is shown from a kid’s point of view, what fun!  Tootsie’s Cakewalk dance with Judy Garland is something my daughters and I mimic all the time. 




Upon its 1944 release, Time magazine called it "one of the year's prettiest pictures"; Technicolor has seldom been more affectionately used than in its registrations of the sober mahoganies and tender muslins and benign gaslights of the period. Now & then, too, the film gets well beyond the charm of mere tableau for short flights in the empyrean of genuine domestic poetry. These triumphs are creditable mainly to the intensity and grace of Margaret O'Brien and to the ability of Director Minnelli & Co. to get the best out of her."

Topics:  World fairs, Genre (musicals)

Questions to encourage critical viewing and discussion:  How are families portrayed in this film?  How did the film’s director (Vincent Minnelli) make the film look as if it really took place in 1904?  How are the clothes different?  How is transportation different?  

4 comments:

  1. Clang, clang, clang went my memory...I remember as sort of schmaltzy but that was probably Mr. Martinelli's point. It also makes me wonder how child stars like Judy were affected by what they did. Dunno. But thanks for doing this Jules.
    Dan

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  2. Dan,

    Thanks for commenting, you are so groovy! Yea, the girls and I do talk about Judy and the whole star thing. Maggie O'Brien was actually a child actor who transitioned into the 'real' world, quite well. The girls and I really talk about everything surrounding a film, era of production, story purpose, etc. Thanks again, Dan...Jules

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  3. Every gay chorus has done "Trolley Song". In Atlanta we sang an entire Judy Garland concert that was so "saccharine" as Max would say, I was humming Judy Garland in my sleep. It was not pretty.

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