I've been watching this movie for over 40 years and it continues to be a favorite. I used to really get annoyed by Tootie; throughout the whole movie. I never understood her morbid streak although I did love the "Cake Walk Song/Dance" that she does with Judy Garland's Esther. As an adult I think she's a lot cuter and her peculiarities are more cute than before. The only issue I have with this film is their attitude to Tootie and Agnes's behavior on Halloween. They put a stuffed dress, that looked like a real lady in the dark, on the trolley tracks in the hopes that the trolley would go off the tracks. To minds that young I know they wouldn't have thought much about the people they could've hurt or killed if there had been an accident but the adults certainly knew better and other than Rose getting after Agnes briefly and their Mother scolding Tootie very briefly for lying they not only don't punish her for lying and trying to derail the trolley but they actually give Tootie extra ice cream because she cut her lip and had to have stitches and she didn't cry. I'm sure that if their plan had succeeded and someone had been injured or killed that those affected would have been just fine with Tootie and Agnes not getting punished because Tootie didn't cry about having a couple of stitches. I now skip that part as it infuriates me. They were young but as my Mother always told me when she was punishing me for something and my defense was that I didn't know, she'd always reply, "Well, now you do."
Now that my rant is over, I really do love this movie. It brought us some beautiful songs, especially the classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which thankfully Judy Garland insisted on changes to the original which was extremely depressing and certainly not something you want to sing at Christmas time. I'm also amazed at the extent of Mary Astor's career. She was a star during the age of Silent films and was one of the few who made the change to "Talkies," but she even made it into color, this film actually being the second time that she played Judy Garland's Mother.
The songs are delightful, the costumes fun, the sets lovely and the storyline a simple bit of uncomplicated, peaceful fluff that certainly can cheer you up anytime you need it.
Now that my rant is over, I really do love this movie. It brought us some beautiful songs, especially the classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which thankfully Judy Garland insisted on changes to the original which was extremely depressing and certainly not something you want to sing at Christmas time. I'm also amazed at the extent of Mary Astor's career. She was a star during the age of Silent films and was one of the few who made the change to "Talkies," but she even made it into color, this film actually being the second time that she played Judy Garland's Mother.
The songs are delightful, the costumes fun, the sets lovely and the storyline a simple bit of uncomplicated, peaceful fluff that certainly can cheer you up anytime you need it.