Directed by vincente minnelli, it was filmed in spectacular technicolor and received four oscar nominations and a academy juvenile award for a superb performance from. Louis lux radio theater broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on december 2, 1946 with judy garland, margaret obrien and tom drake reprising their film roles. Louis tv series closing the loop on the film s sitcom connection. The house from the classic movie cheaper by the dozen. Audiences get the best seat in the house in the comfort and convenience of their local movie theater for live and prerecorded concerts, worldclass opera, sporting events, comedy acts, original programming featuring the biggest names in radio and.
And even today there are precious few films that can so expertly give us that special warm feeling that meet me in st. It was a lavish adaptation of sally bensons autobiographical stories about a st. Louis, american musical film, released in 1944, that provided judy garland with one of the best roles of her career, as well as several of her signature songs. The film would go on to be nominated for 4 academy awards. Louis, starring judy garland and directed by vincente minnelli, is coming out in a new bluray edition. Louis theatergoers packed loews state theater on washington avenue for the world premiere of meet me in st. Dec 01, 2019 a movie legend in her own right, margaret obrien is one of the few living actors who worked with judy garland during her career. Louis and follows them from summer of 1903 until the 1904 worlds fair. Fathom events is the home of cinematic experiences that offer high quality, affordable entertainment events broadcast to the big screen. Louis of 1903, who live in a stylish edwardian home at 55 kensington avenue.
A musical, it was given to arthur freeds unit which specialized in musicals. The trolley song was inspired by a caption in a book about the history of st. A virtual tour of the old mgm back lots silver screen. The film would inspire imitations summer holiday another freed effort in 1948. According to the listing, this secondempire style home is the former residence of a famous ballet professional and artist. Dec 23, 2011 turn on the radio at this time of year, youre bound to hear have yourself a merry little christmas. Louis worlds fair, the four smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to new york.
St louis is on the prairie and does not have any mountains. Louis could just as well have been filmed in saratoga springs, new york a small city renowned for its victorian architecture. For a detailed account, the reader is referred to andrew brittons smith, or the ambiguities in the australian journal of screen theory, one of the most. Louis 1944 is considered essential christmas eve viewing. This isnt exactly a christmas movie, but christmas does make a spectacular appearance when judy garland debuts the nowclassic. Louis, leading up to the opening of the louisiana purchase exposition more commonly referred to as the worlds fair in the spring of 1904. Louis 1944 is a delightful, classic, nostalgic, poignant, and romanticized musical film and one of the greatest musicals ever made. Louis is a 1944 musical film directed by vincente minnelli, starring judy garland, margaret obrien, mary astor, tom drake, lucille bremer, leon ames, marjorie main, joan carroll and june lockhart. The film takes place in 1903 and opens with several characters singing the song meet me in st louis. Suggest me movie is a free webbased film recommendation service.
Louis house looked in 1970, just before it was demolished. Louis family experience when they learn their father has been. The houses were not complete houses but fronts and sides with partial roofs. By the time minnelli started editing the film in postproduction, according to his autobiography, he and judy garland were living together. Nearpeak judy garland under the stylish direction of her future husband, vincente. Judy garland was 22 years old when she made this film though she easily passes for a 17yearold and it was this. On may 2, the missouri history museum hosted a meet me in st. Images courtesy of hooked on houses, which also features a long and wonderful post about the house.
Even though the first few minutes linger for the most part on undiluted period details, such as ice trucks and homebottled ketchup, underneath lies a. Louis is a 1944 american technicolor musical film made by metro goldwynmayer. He is best remembered for playing father figures in such films as meet me in st. Louis family amid the opening of the 1904 worlds fair. Louis in the fall of 1943, director vincente minnelli had a very specific vision in mind to bring sally bensons quaint childhood reminiscences to life on the big screen. Original soundtrack recording soundtracks and music by bermuda425 meet me in st louis 1944 film soundtrack 11 boys and girls like you and me. As charming as those film are, none have that special magic that meet me in. But minnelli also enlisted songwriting duo hugh martin.
Louis had all the ingredients to be a wonderful film. In real life, tooties older sister agnes pulled most of the pranks attributed to tootie in the film. Louis has none of the dark, foreboding tone of ambersons. Dec 23, 2011 but the biggest problem for me was the fact that the muchlauded studio muscle behind meet me in st. Below is a photo a reader took of the house in the 1970s before it was razed. In the year before the 1904 st louis worlds fair, the four smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to new york. Judy garland and margaret obrien star in this heartwarming tale of the emotional trauma the colorful members of an early 20th century st. Louis 1944 with judy garland as one of his daughters, little women 1949, on moonlight bay 1951, and by the light of the silvery moon 1953. The interiors sets were filmed in the sound stages. Louis contains a number of hit songs, from the upbeat trolley song to the beautiful but sombre have yourself a merry little christmas.
The film is broken up into story segments such as summer, fall of 1903 with halloween, winter of 1903 with christmas and. Louis family is shaken to their roots by the prospect of moving to new york, where the father has a better job pending. Louis dvd comes in a doubledisc edition, with the second disc devoted to a storehouse of curios, the most remarkable being the smart 1972 documentary overview of mgms history, hollywood. Louis 1944, regarded by many as one of the greatest film musicals and as minnellis greatest film.
Louis is a 1944 american technicolor musical film made by metrogoldwynmayer. Louis was used again in the movie cheaper by the dozen although the cptd movie was originally filmed in black and white, i prefer the colorized version because it give the sets alone more life. It was nominated for four academy awards although it didnt win any oscars. Nov 26, 2019 this is a scene from the award winning 2001 biopic life with judy garland.
Meet me in st louis is a story musical during the summer and winter of 1903 when the mundane city of st. Louis 1944 in the year before the 1904 st louis worlds fair, the four smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to new york. It tells the story of a turnofthecentury family in suburban, midwestern st. In 1970, mgm auctioned off most of its property, including st. Finklehoffe from a series of short stories written by sally benson that was originally published in the new yorker magazine under the.
Judy garlands former costar reflects on renee zellwegers. Louis, is a classic hollywood musical that will never be forgotten, because it is fun, enjoyable and timeless and warner home video presentation of the film is close to perfection and nothing short of a stunning bluray release, that cannot be beaten. The sliceoflife musical was only minnellis third film after the allblack musical cabin in the sky 1943 and the musicomedy i dood it 1943 with red skelton. Sung by judy garland, its from the 1944 mgm movie meet me in st. Louis where the holiday home of your dreams awaits.
Louis from the first time i saw it was the luxurious colour in the film, as well as the costumes and the settings. The film is unrated probably g with a run time of 1 hour, 53 minutes. The stage version opened on broadway at the gershwin theatre on november 2, 1989, starring betty garrett, george hearn, charlotte moore and milo oshea. This classic musical is cheesy, sappy, and often times corny. Louis is a fresh breath of stale air, a tart ode to nostalgia. Louis one of the finest american musicals, this 1944 film by vincente minnelli is an intentionally selfcontained story set in 1903, in which a happy st. Louis backdrops theatreworld backdrops has scenic imagery perfect for your production of meet me in st. Mgm was determined to make one of their best films ever in 1944 and assigned all of their top talent to it. Dec 05, 2019 the star of such 40s favorites as meet me in st. Louis 1944 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. St louis street, the mgm back lot where the streets were lined with victorian homes built for meet me in st. Meet me in st louis 1944 film soundtrack 14 you and i. Louis film screening and singalong in conjunction with the films 70th anniversary and their 250 in 250 exhibit. Louis is one of the most idealized views of family life ever produced for the.
Louis and little women was only 6 years old when she almost became the victim of onset sabotage. Louis, a colorful musical that ranks among the finest films of the 1940s, is an almost perfect example of nostalgic turn of the century americana. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. Louis returning to select theaters for a special 75th anniversary event. Sure, its beautifully filmed, and the colors leap off the screen especially on the new bluray. Louis tcm presents 75th anniversary a valentine to the good old days, and all they stood for. Now, 100 years after the era it portrays, meet me in st. Dec 11, 2015 the street and the houses were designed in the art department under cedric gibbons. Louis and on the highenergy square dance routine skip to my lou. Louis is wholesome in story from the book by sally benson, colorful both in background and its literal technicolor, and as american as the worlds series.
Louis is a lot to unpack, and yet its all wrapped around one prime location for the twohour runtime, so apologies for the brief plot synopsis. Louis lies some of the best cinematic cheese you shall ever encounter. With judy garland, margaret obrien, mary astor, lucille bremer. Louis union station wrapped up a big week with a free movie night featuring the classic film meet me in st.
Louis revolves around the smith family who lives in st. Three quarters of a century later, the film still beckons the miracles of love and family. The entire cast and crew were immediately impressed with minnellis attention to detail in every shot. Louis still grabs us and makes us believe in the idealized world of the smith family of st. Directed by 1 writing credits 7 cast 45 produced by 2 music by 2 cinematography by 1 film editing by 1. Aug 20, 2019 filler from turner classic movies on the restoration of meet me in st louis, the 1944 classic mgm musical starring judy garland, directed by vincente minnelli. Louis of 1903, who live in a stylish edwardian home at 55 kensington. Like orson welles the magnificent ambersons, meet me in st. The dream factory, as well as the dopey 1966 pilot for a proposed meet me in st. The lives of the smith family in the year before the opening of the st.
Directed by vincente minnelli during wwii, meet me in st louis is a delightful, classic, nostalgic, poignant, and romanticised musical film and one of the greatest musicals ever made. A lovely old ballad sung by the parents in the film meet me in st. Its a lovely, weird movie, so if you like musicals, or judy garland, or vincente minnelli, or strange halloween interludes, or 1940s versions of turnofthecentury garb, this is the film for you. Its a wellacknowledged fact that i dont care for the work. Louis, missouri on the eve of the 1904 worlds fair the musical varied from the film with additional songs and some additional character development.
May 22, 2014 on a more serious level, when meet me in st. Louis also became a broadway musical in 1989 and ran for 252 performances. Judy garland scoffed at the idea of portraying yet another teenager she was 21 when filming began and wanted nothing to do with the film. Louis marked the golden age of musicals for mgm and was the second most successful film for the studio, gone with the wind, being the first.
Louis is warm, engaging, fun and a classic in every way. Louis was filmed during wwii in the 1940s, and set four decades earlier, during the beginning of the 20 th century. Louis is a 1989 musical based on the 1944 film of the same title, about a family living in st. Some of her film appearances during this period include roles in meet me in st. The two eldest daughters grapple with life, love, and their dread of the familys impending move to new york city. Me and my shadows based on the book written by her daughter lorna luft. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with. Louis, then, must be read not as a simple celebration of family life but as the point of intersection of some of the major ideological tensions in american culture. Tom drake the object of garland s affections in the film pairs up for the poignant waltz ballad over the banister. Louis worlds fair, the smith family get lessons in life and love. Louis was filmed at mgm studios in 1944, america was in the midst of a devastating war. Most of the designing for the meet me in st louis house and street was done by jack martin smith. Louis, american musical film, released in 1944, that provided judy garland with one of the best roles of her career, as well as several of her. This heartwarming, exuberant musical is one of the very best ever made, and mgm knew exactly what it was doing in terms of box office success.
Louis premiered on november 28, 1944, starring judy garland, margaret obrien, mary astor, lucille bremer, tom drake and marjorie main. Louie louie, meet me at the fair we grow up hearing that song here in st. She is joined by lucille bremer on the familiar reprise of the theme meet me in st. Judy garland, margaret obrien, mary astor, marjorie main, lucille bremer, leon ames. Louis incorporates a number of songs that were popular circa 1903, when the film takes place. Dec 16, 20 this week, in honor of the season and, lets face it, one of the best christmas movies ever, i invite you to meet me in st.
Remembering the magic of judy garland and meet me in st. Louis 1944, the harvey girls 1946, easter parade 1948, and summer stock 1950. V incente minnellis most acclaimed musical, meet me in st. Louis is obriens bestknown film, but her mother initially turned it down because she didnt think her daughter was being offered adequate pay. Louis worlds fair of 1904 are appealingly sweet and sentimental.
Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the smith family in st. The trolley song gives the worlds fair location as huntington park. It sounds like a michael haneke nightmare, but its vincente minnellis muchloved 1944 classic, meet me in st louis, now rereleased nationally as part of. Dec 16, 2019 based on a series of short stories from new yorker magazine, meet me in st. Louis 1944 starring judy garland and margaret obrien on dvd and bluray. Louis, was released by mgm, filmed in technicolor and was directed by vincente minnelli whom judy garland married in 1945. With a talented cast, a firstrate screenplay and a handful of charming new songs, meet me in st.
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