With the holidays approaching, I was excited to choose Meet Me in St. Louis from 1944 for Hometown to Hollywood‘s Celluloid Road Trip Blogathon. I’m taking us to St. Louis! This is a great movie to watch this season because it does feature Christmastime and even a Christmas dance.

Synopsis:

The Smith Family loves living in St. Louis and the entire family is looking forward to the World’s Fair. Daughter Esther also falls for the boy next door. Everything is turned upside down when her father announces they will be moving to New York.

Louis is divided into four striking ‘seasonal’ vignettes. While critics in its day were apt to single out and rave about Minnelli’s extraordinary use of color during the Halloween sequence, today it is its Christmas extract for which the picture most fondly endures; the culmination of the fictional Smith family’s hopeful anxieties for an even more prosperous future. With the holidays approaching, I was excited to choose Meet Me in St. Louis from 1944 for Hometown to Hollywood‘s Celluloid Road Trip Blogathon. I’m taking us to St. This is a great movie to watch this season because it does feature Christmastime and even a Christmas dance.

Meet Me In St Louis Street

While the actual family did move away, the Smith family ends up staying and enjoying the fair. This makes for a much happier ending. It wouldn’t have been the same feel had they moved away at the end, so I definitely understand why this was changed.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

This iconic Christmas song has been sung by many different artists now, but Judy Garland was the first. She also played a key role in the lyrics. Originally there was a line, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, It May Be Your Last.” Garland refused to sing this to Margaret O’Brien because she thought it would make her into a monster. The second part was then changed to, “let your heart be light.”

Halloween Portion

I enjoy the Christmas sections best while the Halloween scenes kind of freak me out. I have young kids, so I can’t help but wonder why they are letting the children burn furniture in the streets! Was that a thing? What was that about?

Judy Garland and Vincent Minnelli

Meet Me Me In St Louis

This film is the one that first introduced Garland and Minnelli. They butted heads at first because Garland balked at playing a teenager again. Minnelli soon won her over and she felt more beautiful in this role than she had in many others. I think she’s beautiful in everything, but apparently she really felt it here.

More Fun Moments

This song is another favorite of mine. Judy did this in just one take. Despite often arriving on set late during this film, she still turned it on when she needed to.

Meet Me.in Saint Louis

This is a great movie to watch during this time of year {or any time…}. It shows Judy at her best and is a lot of fun to watch.

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