My Review of Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)

 

Written by Irving Brecher And Fred F. Finklehoffe

Directed by Vincent Minnelli

Esther: "I can't believe it. Right here where we live - right here in St. Luis.'

To my shame, this is a movie that up until very recently I've never sat all the way through. Of course in the spirit of this review, that's something I've now rectified and now I can see why this movie has been so highly regarded.

For a movie that falls under the Christmas banner, it's only in the final act do we get the festivity itself. The movie itself started at the height of summer and led into the autumn, focusing on the Smith family in particular with an emphasis placed on daughter, Esther (Judy Garland).

Esther had matchmaking in mind, being a tad too eager to get her sister, Rose (Lucille Bremmer) engaged as the latter herself was keen on getting hitched to Warren Sheffield (Robert Sully). Esther herself also has a beau in next door neighbour, John Truett (Tom Drake), which formed the central romance of the movie.

Another big factor into the movie was the Smith family patriarch Alonzo (Leon Ames) wanting to relocate the family to New York. This was something none of the family wanted and something that caused youngest daughter Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) to lash out and vent her anger on a snowman of all things.

By the end of this movie, Christmas had rolled in, relationships had mended and the Smith family decided not to take a bite out of the Big Apple after all. Oh and Esther only went and created a Christmas classic of her own with a certain song popularised in this particular movie.

- Director Vincent Minnelli ended up marrying Judy Garland after making this movie.

- This film's so good, it even has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

- Standout music: The Trolley Song, Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis and of course, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

- Chronology: 1903 St Louis, leading up to Christmas of course.

Meet Me In St. Louis is an utter joy of a movie. It's truly stood the test of time with a sublime lead performance from Judy Garland as well as some of the best musical numbers to boot. Finally having seen it fully, it's undeniably brilliant.

Rating: 9 out of 10