Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
It’s sentimental favorite time here on Hot Toasty Rag. I’m sure everyone has their own favorite Judy Garland impersonator, but at my house, there’s no comparison to my mom. And while she has been known to wave her hands in the air during “The Man That Got Away” or “I Could Go On Singing,” it’s “The Trolley Song” from Meet Me in St. Louis that is her signature Judy Garland performance. Years before watching the movie for the first time, I knew the “Clang Clang Clang” song by heart because of my mom. Therefore, my review for Meet Me in St. Louis is going to be unapologetically biased. Ironically, she doesn’t even really like the movie! I’m the one who insists on keeping our VHS copy.
Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer, and Margaret O’Brien are sisters in an all-American family in the early 1900s. Judy and Lucille have romantic problems to worry about, and Margaret doesn’t always play nice with the other neighborhood kids. Add in Marjorie Main, the family’s grumpy maid, two other children, a father-in-law, and a new invention called the telephone, and both parents, Leon Ames and Mary Astor, have their hands full! The film is chock-full of songs, with old-fashioned standards like the title song and “Under the Bamboo Tree,” as well as new songs for the film, including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” While the movie is upbeat and fun, it’s also a little sad; Judy sings the Christmas song to a sobbing Margaret who has just destroyed her own snowman.
I always feel sorry for Leon Ames’s character in the film. Not only is he overrun by females in the house, but he’s constantly put down, stifled, criticized, and left out of important family discussions. At that time, the turn of the 20th century, men were believed to rule their own roosts, but maybe they didn’t. Meet Me in St. Louis is such a heartwarming piece of Americana; maybe it was realistic for the father figure to have less of a say in his house than the overwhelming majority. In any case, my heart still goes out to Leon, a character actor who was normally overlooked.
I love this one, despite the sadness, because there were so many famous moments I was taught as a kid and looked forward to seeing for the first time onscreen after years of build-up. This might not wind up be your favorite Judy Garland movie, but you can rent it and see if you like it.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Cinema Central Seleus B" for posting!
More Mary Astor movies here!
More Judy Garland movies here!
More Margaret O'Brien movies here!
More Christmas movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1959's Meet Me in St. Louis here!
Judy Garland, Lucille Bremer, and Margaret O’Brien are sisters in an all-American family in the early 1900s. Judy and Lucille have romantic problems to worry about, and Margaret doesn’t always play nice with the other neighborhood kids. Add in Marjorie Main, the family’s grumpy maid, two other children, a father-in-law, and a new invention called the telephone, and both parents, Leon Ames and Mary Astor, have their hands full! The film is chock-full of songs, with old-fashioned standards like the title song and “Under the Bamboo Tree,” as well as new songs for the film, including “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” While the movie is upbeat and fun, it’s also a little sad; Judy sings the Christmas song to a sobbing Margaret who has just destroyed her own snowman.
I always feel sorry for Leon Ames’s character in the film. Not only is he overrun by females in the house, but he’s constantly put down, stifled, criticized, and left out of important family discussions. At that time, the turn of the 20th century, men were believed to rule their own roosts, but maybe they didn’t. Meet Me in St. Louis is such a heartwarming piece of Americana; maybe it was realistic for the father figure to have less of a say in his house than the overwhelming majority. In any case, my heart still goes out to Leon, a character actor who was normally overlooked.
I love this one, despite the sadness, because there were so many famous moments I was taught as a kid and looked forward to seeing for the first time onscreen after years of build-up. This might not wind up be your favorite Judy Garland movie, but you can rent it and see if you like it.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Cinema Central Seleus B" for posting!
More Mary Astor movies here!
More Judy Garland movies here!
More Margaret O'Brien movies here!
More Christmas movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of 1959's Meet Me in St. Louis here!
Hot Toasty Rag Awards:
Best Original Song of 1944: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
Hot Toasty Rag Nominations:
Best Original Song: "The Trolley Song"