The Harvey Girls (1946)

On a train trip West to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley (Judy Garland) meets a cheery crew of young women travelling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Edmund Beloin (screenplay), Nathaniel Curtis (screenplay)

Stars:

Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, John Hodiak

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judy Garland	...	Susan Bradley
John Hodiak	...	Ned Trent
Ray Bolger	...	Chris Maule
Angela Lansbury	...	Em
Preston Foster	...	Judge Sam Purvis
Virginia O'Brien	...	Alma from Ohio
Kenny Baker	...	Terry O'Halloran
Marjorie Main	...	Sonora Cassidy
Chill Wills	...	H.H. Hartsey
Selena Royle	...	Miss Bliss
Cyd Charisse	...	Deborah Andrews
Ruth Brady	...	Ethel
Jack Lambert	...	Marty Peters
Edward Earle	...	Jed Adams
Morris Ankrum	...	Rev. Claggett

Storyline

On a train trip West to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley (Judy Garland) meets a cheery crew of young women travelling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop to provide good cooking and wholesome company for railway travellers. When Susan and her bashful suitor find romance daunting, she joins the Harvey Girls instead. The saloon across the street with its alluring worldly-wise women offers them tough competition, fair and foul, and Susan catches the eye of the Ned Trent (John Hodiak), the distant but intense proprietor of the bar.

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Plot Keywords:

saloon | mail order bride | atchison topeka and santa fe railway | camp | campy | 

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Taglines:

Hear Judy sing "On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe"

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The setting of the story in "Sandrock" and the design of the Harvey House sets that stood on MGM's backlot number three and on the soundstage for this movie, were inspired by the Castaneda Harvey House in Las Vegas, New Mexico, which still stands as a National and State Historic Landmark of New Mexico, along the old Santa Fe tracks and just to the north of that town's current Amtrak station. Amtrak's Southwest Chief still stops at the station, but the Castaneda is vacant and fenced off. Although the studio sets were constructed of wood, elements from the Castaneda's basic exterior architecture and of the interior dining room were applied to the set designs for this movie. A few of the historic incidents that had occurred at the Castaneda were incorporated into the script. A large outcrop of rock such as that where Susan Bradley (Judy Garland) and Ned Trent (John Hodiak) meet can be seen from the Castaneda across a small prairie. The balcony upon which Garland, Cyd Charisse, and Virginia O'Brien share a song is a replication of the Castaneda's street-side second-floor balcony. Also, a saloon once existed directly across the street from the Castaneda in a building which is now abandoned. All of the sets from this movie were built in Culver City, California; most of them utilizing existing western street buildings on the backlot; using the Castaneda and Las Vegas, New Mexico, only as a blueprint for elements in the script and for set design. However, the Castaneda and much of Las Vegas, New Mexico, was used as an actual location in Red Dawn (1984).

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Goofs

In the "Wild, Wild West" song, Alma is pounding a red hot horseshoe. She then picks it up, caresses it, and throws it in the water barrel where is gives off steam. The horseshoe would have burned her hand if it were really hot. This is a sight gag in the film.

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Quotes

Alma: [singing] Yeah, they say they have hair on their chest, the only thing I've seen is just a fancy vest. Holy smackers, milk and crackers, but it's wild in the wild, wild West.

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Connections

Referenced in Jerry and Jumbo (1953)

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Soundtracks

On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung by Ben Carter, Marjorie Main, Ray Bolger, Judy Garland and chorus
Danced by Ray Bolger

User Reviews

Good Light Entertainment

This works quite well as light entertainment. It has a good cast, with Judy Garland giving a lively performance in the lead role. The setting is rather stylized, but it is interesting, and it provides some good story material. The story has quite a few amusing moments, with just enough substance to keep it moving. There is also the top-notch "Atchison, Topeka, & the Santa Fe" number, which would almost make a musical worth watching all by itself.

The story of the conflict between the "Harvey Girls" and their rivals across the road is sometimes a little exaggerated, but it is relatively interesting and it makes for some good sequences. The female cast members get most of the best moments, and they generally use them well. Angela Lansbury seems quite natural as Garland's disagreeable nemesis, Virginia O'Brien has some good lines, and Marjorie Main is quite lively. There's more than enough to make it an enjoyable, if light, feature.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1946 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Harvey Girls

Filming Locations:

Monument Valley, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,524,315 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1