Meet Me in St Louis
United States 1944, 113 mins
Director: Vincente Minelli
Starring: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor
Director: Vincente Minelli
Starring: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor
The plot hinges on the possibility that Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), a banker and a father, might uproot his family to New York, scuttling his daughter Esther's (Judy Garland) romance with boy-next-door John Truett (Tom Drake) and causing similar emotional trauma for the rest of the household.
In a cast that includes Mary Astor as Alonzo' wife, Lucille Bremer as another daughter, and Marjorie Main as the housekeeper, the most fascinating character is played by six-year-old Margaret O'Brien.
As kid sister Tootie, O'Brien seems morbidly obsessed with death and murder, burying her dolls, "killing" a neighbor at Halloween (she throws flour in the flustered man's face on a dare), and maniacally bludgeoning her snowmen when Papa announces his plans to move to New York.
Margaret O'Brien won a special Oscar for her remarkable performance, prompting Lionel Barrymore to grumble: "Two hundred years ago, she would have been burned at the stake!" The songs are a heady combination of period tunes and newly minted numbers by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin, the best of which are The Boy Next Door, The Trolley Song, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
As a bonus, MEET ME IN ST LOUIS is lensed in rich Technicolor, shown to best advantage in the climactic scenes at the St.
Louis World's Fair of 1904.
Booking Information
There are currently no shows available.
