Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Irving Brecher (screen play) and
Fred F. Finklehoffe (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

January 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

A cast of favorites in the Charming . . . Romantic . . . Tuneful Love Story of the Early 1900s !

Plot:

In the year before the 1904 St Louis World's Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Boy Next Door | Ice Cream | Toy Monkey | Cigar Smoking

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Judy Garland	...	Esther Smith
Margaret O'Brien	...	'Tootie' Smith
Mary Astor	...	Mrs. Anna Smith
Lucille Bremer	...	Rose Smith
Leon Ames	...	Mr. Alonzo Smith
Tom Drake	...	John Truett
Marjorie Main	...	Katie (Maid)
Harry Davenport	...	Grandpa
June Lockhart	...	Lucille Ballard
Henry H. Daniels Jr.	...	Lon Smith Jr.
Joan Carroll	...	Agnes Smith
Hugh Marlowe	...	Colonel Darly
Robert Sully	...	Warren Sheffield
Chill Wills	...	Mr. Neely
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sidney Barnes	...	Hugo Borvis (uncredited)
Joe Cobb	...	Clinton Badger (uncredited)
Victor Cox	...	A Driver (uncredited)
Donald Curtis	...	Dr. Girard (uncredited)
Kenneth Donner	...	Hugo Gorman (uncredited)
Mary Jo Ellis	...	Ida Boothby (uncredited)
Helen Gilbert	...	Girl on Trolley (uncredited)
Buddy Gorman	...	Sidney Gorcey (uncredited)
Gary Gray	...	Boy at Pavilion (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Mr. March (uncredited)
Darryl Hickman	...	Johnny Tevis (uncredited)
Victor Kilian	...	Baggage Man (uncredited)
The Music Maids	...	Singers (uncredited)
Belle Mitchell	...	Mrs. Braukoff (uncredited)
Mayo Newhall	...	Mr. Braukoff (uncredited)
Sid Newman	...	Boy on Trolley (uncredited)
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Motorman (uncredited)
John Phipps	...	Mailman (uncredited)
Dorothy Raye	...	Girl at Party (uncredited)
Billy Royle	...	Boy in Halloween Sequence (uncredited)
Group Seckler	...	Performers (uncredited)
William Smith	...	Little Boy (uncredited)
Myron Tobias	...	George (uncredited)
Dorothy Tuttle	...	Girl on Trolley (uncredited)
Leonard Walker	...	Conductor (uncredited)
Kenneth Wilson	...	Quentin (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincente Minnelli

Writing credits
Irving Brecher		(screen play) and
Fred F. Finklehoffe		(screen play)
Sally Benson		(based on the book by)
Doris Gilver		uncredited
Victor Heerman		uncredited
William Ludwig		uncredited
Sarah Y. Mason		uncredited

Produced by
Arthur Freed	....	producer
Roger Edens	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roger Edens		(uncredited)
Conrad Salinger		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
George J. Folsey		(director of photography) (as George Folsey)

Film Editing by
Albert Akst

Art Direction by
Lemuel Ayers
Cedric Gibbons
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis		(set decorations)

Costume Design by
Irene Sharaff		(costumes designed by) (as Sharaff)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup creator
Dorothy Ponedel	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Dave Friedman	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
J.E. Jennings	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Wallace Worsley Jr.	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Paul Huldschinsky	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Joe Edmondson	....	unit mixer (uncredited)
Standish J. Lambert	....	re-recording & effects mixer (uncredited)
Frank McKenzie	....	re-recording & effects mixer (uncredited)
Robert Shirley	....	re-recording & effects mixer (uncredited)
Newell Sparks	....	re-recording & effects mixer (uncredited)
William Steinkamp	....	re-recording & effects mixer (uncredited)
Michael Steinore	....	re-recording & effects mixer (uncredited)
John A. Williams	....	re-recording & effects mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Mark Davis	....	camera operator: matte paintings (uncredited)
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	minatures and transparency projection shots (uncredited)
Donald Jahraus	....	miniatures assistant (uncredited)
Warren Newcombe	....	matte paintings (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert J. Bronner	....	second camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene	....	costume supervisor
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Roger Edens	....	musical adaptation
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator
George Stoll	....	musical director (as Georgie Stoll)
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Robert Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Lennie Hayton	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Wally Heglin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Calvin Jackson	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
M.J. McLaughlin	....	music mixer (uncredited)
Joseph Nussbaum	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Herbert Stahlberg	....	music mixer (uncredited)
George Stoll	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Robert Tucker	....	vocal arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Henri Jaffa	....	associate Technicolor color director
Natalie Kalmus	....	Technicolor color director
Charles Walters	....	dance director
Sally Benson	....	adviser: settings (uncredited)
Paul Jones	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Rose Paidar	....	voice double: Mary Astor (uncredited)
Gwen Vernon	....	assistant choreographer (uncredited)
Ellen Wilson	....	voice double: Mary Astor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)
• Loew's (produced by) (as Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Loew's (1944) (USA) (theatrical) (uncredited)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Central Motion Picture Exchange (1951) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm and 16mm prints)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1946) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1946) (France) (theatrical)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vidéo (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Iceland:L | Canada:G (Ontario) | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #10050) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Germany:o.Al. (DVD rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | France:U | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

La Grande Station, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland met on this movie, and married soon afterwards. Minnelli was the director for the film. Garland claimed she married him because she felt extremely beautiful during the film.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: It is often incorrectly claimed that an off screen male voice calls out "Hiya, Judy" (referring to actress Judy Garland instead of her character, Esther). The voice actually says "Hiya, Johnny". This refers to Tom Drake' s character, John Truett, who has been trying to catch the trolley and apparently just made it. As soon as the line is delivered Esther looks expectantly screen right but we do not see John until the end of the trolley song sequence.

Quotes:

Rose Smith, Esther Smith:[singing] Meet me in St. Louie, Louie, meet me at...
Mr. Alonzo Smith:For heaven's sake, stop that screeching!
Rose Smith:We're sorry, Papa.
Mr. Alonzo Smith:The fair won't open for seven months, and that's all anybody ever sings about or talks about. I wish they would all meet at the fair and leave me alone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Hollywood Christmas (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Trolley Song

Judy Garland never looked better

This is such a sweet, wonderful movie - a slice of 1900's America that probably was never so perfect, but we would like to think that it was. The storyline is not a love story between Esther (Garland) and "The Boy Next Door" (one of the three timeless classic songs found in this movie). The storyline is really about the whole Smith family, based on an actual family who lived in St. Louis at the turn of the century. The real-life "Tootie" Smith (played by Margaret O'Brien) wrote stories of her life for the NewYorker. These stories were bought and compiled into this classic musical.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" originated here, and has become a classic yuletide song. It has been sung a thousand times by a thousand artists, but no one could ever capture the heartfelt emotion expressed by Judy Garland. If it doesn't bring a tear to your eye as you listen to her sing the song to little Tootie, I would have to wonder if you have a heart at all.

The most fun song is "The Trolley Song" - you can even see that Judy herself had a ball singing it. That scene was done in one take.

Judy Garland never looked better in any of her films as she did in this one. Perhaps it was one of the happiest times in her life? It is well-known that she married director Vincent Minelli after this picture.

Beautifully directed, depicting with accuracy the passing of the seasons of one year in the life of the Smiths of St. Louis. What a fun, charming, movie. I could never tire of it.