The Harvey Girls (1946)

On a train trip West to become a mail order bride Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a " Harvey House " restaurant at a remote whistle stop to provide ... See full summary »

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 meets a cheery crew of young women traveling 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, Susan 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, the distant but intense proprietor of the bar.

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Plot Keywords:

restaurant | train | saloon | mail order bride | dancing | 

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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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1946 (UK)

Also Known As:

Las chicas de Harvey

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Virginia Davis's final feature film.

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Goofs

The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe spur from Lamy, NM to Santa Fe, NM was built in the late 19th century. It is true that Santa Fe, due to rough surrounding terrain, was not on the original line, which made Lamy the nearest station in 1880. The song was written in 1945. The spur is now known as the Santa Fe Southern Railway, while the ATSF is now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF).

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Quotes

Alma: [talking to Susan Bradley] I sent my picture into one of those Lonely Hearts Clubs and they sent it back, saying "We're NOT that lonely!"

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Connections

Featured in Kisses (1991)

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Soundtracks

Wait and See
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung by Angela Lansbury (dubbed by Virginia Rees)
Sung also by Kenny Baker

User Reviews

No Vincente Minelli -- and it shows

The first person you see is Judy Garland singing an infinitely forgettable song.

For the most part it goes up from there.

This is a film that Vincente Minelly did not direct and even though it shows Judy at her demure best he had a knack for bringing out the best in her performances.

Surprisingly enough, this is not an entirely inaccurate history of the women that opened up the West -- just as much as the men did.

For those that do not know -- Fred Harvey was a railroad tycoon and visionary that realized that the United States could only expand Westward -- and he was there to help fulfill that dream.

His chain of "Railroad Hotels" (some of which still exist) and the women that staffed them, helped to civilize parts of the United States that were raw and uncultured.

This is one of those incredible films that has every face you have ever seen in a movie -- even if you do not always know their names: Ray Bolger, Preston Foster, Virginia O'Brien, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills and even Cyd Charisse.

This is cameo paradise and there is a character and face there for everyone.

The songs, the costumes, the sets and everything BUT the dialogue and story are top notch. But who needs a good script when you have a cast of STARS! (Especially Judy Garland.)

Take the good parts from this movie and try to pretend the rest never happened.