MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Sally Benson's short stories about the turn-of-the-century Smith family of St. Louis were tackled by a battalion of MGM screenwriters, who hoped to find a throughline to connect the anecdotal tales. After several false starts (one of which proposed that the eldest Smith daughter be kidnapped and held for ransom), the result was the charming valentine-card musical Meet Me in St. Louis. The plot hinges on the possibility that Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), the family's banker father, might uproot the Smiths to New York, scuttling his daughter Esther (Judy Garland)'s 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 Ames' wife, Lucille Bremer as another Ames daughter, and Marjorie Main as the housekeeper, the most fascinating character is played by 6-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. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Features:
  • cc
  • All-new 60th anniversary digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements
  • New introduction by Liza Minnelli
  • Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.0 as well as original mono
  • Music-only audio track (without vocals)
  • Two behind-the-scenes documentaries: "The Making of an American Classic" (narrated by Roddy McDowell) and the Emmy-winning 1972 TV special "Hollywood: The Dream Factory" (narrated by Dick Cavett)
  • Turner Classic Movies special "Becoming Attractions: Judy Garland" (1996)
  • Audio commentary by Judy Garland biographer John Fricke with Margaret O'Brien, composer Hugh Martin, screenwriter Irving Brecher, and Barbara Freed-Saltzman (daughter of producer Arthur Freed)
  • Vintage musical shorts
  • Photo re-creation of deleted song "Boys and Girls Like You and Me"
  • TV series pilot episode (1966)
  • Radio show (1946 Lux Radio Theater broadcast)
  • Vincente Minnelli trailer gallery
  • Stills gallery

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Color Cinematography - 1944 (George Folsey)
•     Nominated Best Score - Musical - 1944 (George Stoll)
•     Nominated Best Screenplay - 1944 (Fred F. Finklehoffe, Irving Brecher)
•     Nominated Best Song - 1944 (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin)

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1993

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Acting - 1944 (Margaret O'Brien)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1944

• New York Times

•     Won 10 Best Films - 1944

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Judy Garland - Esther Smith
       Margaret O'Brien - "Tootie" Smith
       Mary Astor - Mrs. Anne Smith
       Lucille Bremer - Rose Smith
       Tom Drake - John Truett
       Marjorie Main - Katie the Maid
       June Lockhart - Lucille Ballard
       Leon Ames - Mr. Alonzo Smith
       Harry Davenport - Grandpa Prophater
       Henry Daniels, Jr. - Lon Smith, Jr.
       Joan Carroll - Agnes Smith
       Hugh Marlowe - Col. Darly
       Robert Sully - Warren Sheffield
       Chill Wills - Mr. Neely
       Belle Mitchell - Mrs. Braukoff

• Director:

  Vincente Minnelli

• Producer:

  Arthur Freed

• Book Author:

  Sally Benson

• Screenwriter:

  Irving Brecher, Fred F. Finklehoffe

• Cinematographer:

  George Folsey

• Composer (Music Score):

  Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin, George Stoll

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  George Stoll

• Editor:

  Albert Akst

• Art Director:

  Cedric Gibbons, Lemuel Ayers

• Set Designer:

  Edwin B. Willis, Paul Huldschinsky

• Costume Designer:

  Irene Sharaff

• Choreography:

  Charles Walters

REVIEW:

• Meet Me in St. Louis is a "family values" exercise in traditional Americana, following the life of a midwest family as the World's Fair comes to early 20th century St. Louis. There are songs, family crises, more songs, more crises, and more songs. The highlight of the film is Judy Garland's singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Meet Me in St. Louis was the first team-up for Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, whom Garland would go on to marry, producing their daughter Liza Minnelli, though they would divorce six years later, in 1951. Minnelli's talent for handling complex set pieces works well in this film, as does the lively Technicolor cinematography of George Folsey. At least some of the credit should go to songwriter turned producer Arthur Freed for his excellent work in bringing together the proper talent. Freed also doubled as the singing voice of actor Leon Ames.
  
  One piece of Hollywood backstage lore -- that this was the film for which the director (Minnelli) resorted to telling a child actress (Margaret O'Brien) that her dog had been run over and killed, in order to get her to cry properly in the next scene to be shot -- has since been denied by O'Brien. The actress recently told Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne that her impetus for crying in the scene was hearing (from her mother) that actress Jane Powell wouldn't have any problem drumming up tears. O'Brien - fiercely competitive with Powell -- then wept on camera without any problem. She cried at full volume, and she later received a special Oscar for her performance. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi