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:

M-G-M's Musical Romance Of Daring Days!

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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

"Hayride" (music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Johnny Mercer), a duet by Judy Garland and Ray Bolger, was prerecorded but not filmed. The song can be heard on both the soundtrack CD from Rhino and the DVD from Warner Home Video.

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Goofs

There are several references to "Flagstaff" (AZ) as a town further up the line from "Sandrock". It is referred to as a mining town. Flagstaff never had mines and was a lumbering town. Also, the scenery in the movie (agave, saguaro cactus) is typical of southern New Mexico and Arizona, but the ATSF ran across northern New Mexico and Arizona through quite different scenery.

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Quotes

Marty Peters: Where do ya come from, Tex?
Chris Maule: Massachusetts.

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Connections

Referenced in Father of the Bride Part II (1995)

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Soundtracks

In the Valley (Where the Evenin' Sun Goes Down)
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Performed by Judy Garland

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.