Meet Me In St. Louis (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Roy Mack, Vincente Minnelli
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Jane Gumm, The Vitaphone Kiddies, Virginia GummDirector: Roy Mack, Vincente Minnelli
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: Doris Gilver
Writer: Fred F. Finklehoffe
Writer: Irving Brecher
Writer: Sally Benson
Writer: Sarah Y. Mason
Writer: Victor Heerman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.37:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-04-06
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Meet Me In St. Louis (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Movie Review: Judy proves she was great
Summary: 5 Stars
Meet Me in St Louis is a year in the life of the Smith family. It is divided into the four seasons -summer, fall, winter and spring. The film is based on a series of New Yorker Magazine articles and the subsequent book by Sally Benson. It takes place at a time where life was simpler and everyone had manners.
Liza Minnelli has a nice five
SUMMER 1903
We are introduced to Mrs. Smith - mama / Anna (Mary Astor) and Katie (Marjorie Main), the maid, making catsup. One by one each of the family members arrive, only son Lonnie (Henry H Daniels, jr), third daughter Agnes (Joan Carroll), grandpa (Harry Davenport), middle child Ester (Judy Garland), oldest daughter Rose (Lucille Bremer), youngest daughter Tootie (Margaret O'Brien), and Mr. Smith - papa / Alonzo sr. (Leon Ames).
The newcomer is neighbor John Truitt (Tom Drake). Ester has decided that she is going to marry him. Rose has her own beau, Yale man Warren Sheffield. Ester pines after John with the famous song "The Boy Next Door".
To get John and Ester together, Rose invites him to Lonnie's going away party (he's becoming a Princeton man). The party has two great numbers, the ensemble piece Skip to My Lou and the Garland / O'Brien duet under the bamboo tree. The party ends leaving Ester and John alone together. This leads to one of the most romantic scenes ever. Ester and John are turning out the gas lights. The way Minnelli shot it showed his love for Garland. The two never do anything more than shake hands but you can see the chemistry.
The next scene is probably the film's most famous. The "youngsters" are going out to Fairground construction site on the trolley. Everyone is there except for John Truitt. Everyone sings the Oscar nominated The Trolley Song. When Ester sees John, she joins in.
Autumn 1903
This is Halloween night. This is a wonderful sequence. It shows how Halloween was celebrated at the turn of the century. It is not the commercial event it is now. Kids would go to the houses of those they feared and throw flour in their face to "kill" them. Tootie takes on the most feared man in town.
Father announces that he has been made head of the New York office and the family will be moving after Christmas.
Winter 1903
Lonnie is home and he has a crush on Lucille Ballard (June Lockhart). The big event is the Christmas Eve dance. Since Lucille has snubbed Lonnie for Warren, Ester and Rose have decided to dominate all the men at the dance. Disaster strikes when John's suit is locked in the tailor shop but grandpa comes to the rescue. Of course, Lucille tells Warren to go with Rose and she will be with Lonnie. This sticks Ester with Lucille's dance card from hell. But of course John shows up in time for the last dance.
After the dance, the John asks Ester to marry him. When she goes home, she finds Tootie waiting up for Santa Claus. This leads to Ester singing the greatest Christmas song of all time, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
In the end, papa decides that the family will stay in St. Louis. Oh and Warren tells Rose they are getting married!
Spring 1904
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World's Fair) is opening and everyone is going in their finest.
Many felt that Meet Me in St Louis was one of the best films of 1944. Unfortunately it only received 4 Oscar Nominations (no wins). I agree that it was best and should have been nominated for Best Picture, Judy should have been nominated for Best Actress and Vincent for Best Director.
It is well known that this is the film where Judy and Vincent met and fell in love. You can see it in every scene. This was a work of love.
DVD EXTRAS -
Disc 1:
Introduction by Liza Minnelli -
Commentary by John Fricke with Margaret O'Brien, Irving Brecher, Hugh Martin and Babra Freed Saltzman
Music-only Track - This has the movie with only the musical score, no dialog or other sounds including singing.
Disc 2:
Meet Me in St. Louis: Making of an American Classic - Roddy McDowell narrates the 30 minute documentary made in 1994. It tells the origins of the film from the adaptation of the New Yorker Magazine articles to the casting and the making of film with new and vintage interviews with Margaret O'Brien, Lucille Bremer, Hugh Martin, Vincent Minelli, and Liza Minelli. This has some interesting insights into the film.
Hollywood: The Dream Factory - This 50 minute documentary made in 1972 is a history of MGM. It is narrated by Dick Cavat. It has obviously been put on the DVD as a filler. It is nice but noting special. The only fun thing is a sequence at the end where Elizabeth Taylor grows from Lassie to Father of the Bride to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Becoming Attractions: Judy Garland - TCM's 46 minute compilation of Judy Garland film trailers hosted by film historian Robert Osborne. If you are Judy fan this is fun to watch.
Meet Me in St. Louis TV pilot - The 1965 television pilot starring Shelly Fabares, Rita Shaw and Celeste Holm written by Sally Benson. It was a typical 60's TV show - very hooky but any chance to see Celeste Holm is worth a one time look. What was interesting is that it was shot in color before color TV.
Bubbles - a 1930 Warner Bros short subject with Judy Garland (as part of the Gumm Sisters). She appears for a couple of seconds about 2 minutes in to the short. These are always fun to see.
Skip to My Lou - a 1941 short featuring songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. And the orchestration of the song will sound quite familiar!
Audio Vault - contains two items - Boys and Girls Like You and Me - Rogers and Hammerstein's song that was cut from the film. A brief intro has been inserted and the song is performed over stills.
12/02/46 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast - It was not uncommon to promote a movie to perform an abridged version of the film on the radio. This features Judy, Margret and Tom and Gale Gordon as papa and contains the original commercials (running time 57 minutes).
Stills gallery - assortment of stills from the movie and production.
Summary of Meet Me In St. Louis (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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