Meet Me in St. Louis
1944 Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Synopsis
Meet me in Saint Louise is a successful American musical from 1944 starring Judy Garland.
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92/100
A bit swamped with work and errands in the days before I leave for Cannes, so let me direct you to my friend Theo's capsule review, with which I concur 100% apart from the hilariously measured phrase "pretty wonderful" (as allotted to a film he rates higher than 99.9% of everything else he's ever seen). It is in fact intensely wonderful, pure delight from beginning to end; people think of it primarily as a Judy Garland vehicle (and she's magnificent) but it's really one of Hollywood's greatest ensemble pieces, so enraptured with everybody onscreen that its essential plotlessness barely registers. The only bum note, as Theo observes, is Dad's climactic decision to remain in St. Louis, which is cheaply…
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"Tootie! What's wrong with Tootie?"
Why, her sister just sang her the most melancholy song ever, of course she's bashing in the heads of snow people.Meet Me In St. Louis is an unexpected treasure. This was my second viewing, and I could see owning this film. On the surface, it is a charming ode to family and the Midwest. But even the sweetest confections need to be tempered with some darkness, and this film certainly is.
The film centers around the Midwestern Smith family - mother, father, grandpa, maid, and five children - older sisters Rose and Esther (Judy Garland), brother Lon Jr., and younger sisters Agnes and Tootie. The younger sisters provide much of this darkness - both…
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The simplest of stories and the corniest of songs brought to life vividly and movingly by Minnelli and an ace cast. Often feels more like a documentary than a musical. An impeccably directed and effervescently funny documentary. For someone whose only exposure to Garland has been the Wizard of Oz, it was a revelation. She can do more with her eyes than most actors can do with their whole bodies. But I'm most excited about catching up with more Minnelli. The detail, imagination and craftsmanship - and yet the simplicity and subtlety - of the staging was just awe inspiring.
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Wish this had stuck the landing, script-wise (the direction is pitch-perfect throughout), because letting the family stay in St. Louis seems like a sure-fire way to devalue it. And thus startlingly conservative morphs into shockingly conservative in the last few minutes or so, making me more uneasy than in love, negating a fair amount of goodwill. BUT, it must be noted, that this is one of my favorite examples of Musical family dramedies, direction-wise. Much less showy than expected, and the first Garland solo song is just stunning--not only because she manages to express with her face as well as her voice, but also because Minnelli dares to just stick us in observational mode, never once cutting to anything other…
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This is the best christmas movie ever. I have to watch it every year, otherwise it wouldn't feel like christmas.
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This has been my Christmas Eve movie for the last 3 years. I don't by any means love musicals, but I can't resist this one, the dialogue is sharp, witty and funny. Tootie the fatalistic youngest Smith daughter is a standout. I love watching her declare her dolls to be one disease away from a miserable torturous death. Judy Garland's performance is both strange and wonderful.
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Guess I'm a cheerless bastard, but Vincente Minnelli's elegant direction and oceans of Technicolor can't distract me from the bland script, in which the men are dull and the women are girls. Did St. Louis ever look like Antebellum Georgia? Death-obsessed Tootie would probably get a real kick out of St. Louis now.
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Classic, clean musical showing off Judy's pipes to its full advantage. Light and charming, it can be a little sterile due to the period setting, but it's certainly a classic.
Full review: www.thevintagecameo.com/2013/05/meet-me-in-st-louis/
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The simplest of stories and the corniest of songs brought to life vividly and movingly by Minnelli and an ace cast. Often feels more like a documentary than a musical. An impeccably directed and effervescently funny documentary. For someone whose only exposure to Garland has been the Wizard of Oz, it was a revelation. She can do more with her eyes than most actors can do with their whole bodies. But I'm most excited about catching up with more Minnelli. The detail, imagination and craftsmanship - and yet the simplicity and subtlety - of the staging was just awe inspiring.
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92/100
A bit swamped with work and errands in the days before I leave for Cannes, so let me direct you to my friend Theo's capsule review, with which I concur 100% apart from the hilariously measured phrase "pretty wonderful" (as allotted to a film he rates higher than 99.9% of everything else he's ever seen). It is in fact intensely wonderful, pure delight from beginning to end; people think of it primarily as a Judy Garland vehicle (and she's magnificent) but it's really one of Hollywood's greatest ensemble pieces, so enraptured with everybody onscreen that its essential plotlessness barely registers. The only bum note, as Theo observes, is Dad's climactic decision to remain in St. Louis, which is cheaply…
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Vincente Minnelli's masterpiece is a flurry of color, affection, and music. Beautifully photographed, wittily written, and excellent performed by everybody involved, Minnelli's toast to family is one of the best musicals ever made.
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Maybe it's just that I'm not in the right demo; maybe it's my long "eh" relationhip to Judy Garland, maybe it's the fact that I expected this to be a full fledged classic, maybe I just prefer my 1940s "Turn of the Century" films to star Orson Welles (The Magnificent Ambersons) or James Cagney (The Strawberry Blonde). Whatever the case there are stand out moments-I quite liked the Halloween sequence, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", the Christmas Eve dance-but the film was not at all what I expected. I think it was hurt by my expectations, but also by some of the weaker cast members, especially Tom Drake, who is Garland's unimpressive love interest.
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Ah, this film is so sweet that it's hard not to fall in love with it. The technicolour is vibrant, accentuating the brilliant period costumes. Judy Garland's hair was the one thing that bothered me throughout the film. That fringe was ghastly! Somehow I've transformed into Tim Gunn in this review but nevertheless.
Being a musical, it doesn't actually have THAT much music. There's maybe seven or eight? musical numbers which isn't too high compared to other musicals. I'm not the biggest musical dude anyway so I didn't mind it.
It's very good.
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Hard to imagine what 1944 audiences would have made of (a) a Hollywood picture that's remarkably plot-free; (b) a musical that had no "backstage" element but whose songs were integrated into the characters' emotions and lives; or (c) the last American teenage girl who to protest moving to New York City from St. Louis.*
Today Meet Me in St. Louis has charm to spare, but it's ascendency in the canon is a bit puzzling. Minnelli has a deft touch with the material, but several of his decisions are hard to explain. For example, the staging of the "Trolly Song"; since he's got all of the characters on a trolly car, there's not really much you can do with them from…
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The most adorable articulation of social conservatism ever. Such pretty colors! Had a stupid grin on my face through stuff like the trolley song, etc.