A review of the 1944 classic movie “Meet Me In St Louis”
I’m not keen on musicals and I can’t identify with a rich, white family in the America of 1903, but it’s hard not to be caught up in the exuberance of the Smith family of St Louis, as the city prepares to host the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to celebrate the centennial of the acquisition of territory from France which almost doubled the size of the USA. Remember the film was released as the tide of the Second World War was turning. In his book “Have You Seen …?” film critic David Thompson calls this production “the picture which may be the most satisfying story ever told as a musical in the history of the genre”.
Based on a book and told in four seasonal segments, the technicolour is striking, the costumes are flamboyant and the songs and dancing are lively. We have the stories of one grandfather, two parents, a son and four daughters. The leading character, the second oldest daughter Esther, is played by Judy Garland who suffered all sorts of physical and mental problems while shooting the movie. Director Vincente Minnelli became her lover during production and her husband soon after. The most memorable song is “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, the words of which are sadder than the title.