Tag Archives: Meet Me In St. Louis

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Song of the Day #6,238: ‘Over the Bannister’ – Judy Garland

I like to have a movie watching project in the works at pretty much all times. That might mean diving into a genre (like horror, most recently) or knocking out a curated list (I’m currently working my way through Sight & Sound’s top 100 poll). Or it could take the form of a chronological viewing of a director’s whole filmography (as I’ve done in recent years with Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, and David Lynch).

My latest challenge was to work my way through the filmography of director Vincente Minnelli, the versatile aesthete best known for his celebrated MGM musicals. Unlike those other directors, Minnelli was largely unknown to me — I believe I had seen only three of his 33 films prior to kicking off the marathon.

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Song of the Day #4,354: ‘You and I’ – Leon Ames and Mary Astor

Of all the classic musicals I’ve watched as part of my quarantine project, the one that most surprised and delighted me is 1944’s Meet Me in St. Louis, directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Judy Garland. The two met on the set of this film and later married.

Meet Me in St. Louis is based on a series of short stories written by Sally Benson and published in The New Yorker. The film follows a year in the life of a St. Louis family, the Smiths, during the run-up to the 1904 World’s Fair.

It’s a heartfelt helping of warm nostalgia, like a scene from Disney’s Carousel of Progress come to life, but it has a compelling dark streak and a hint of sensuality. AFI places it at #10 on their list of the 25 greatest musicals of all time.

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Song of the Day #2,498: ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ – Judy Garland

meet_me_st_louis_have_yourselfHere’s another song I didn’t realize originated in a film.

Some memorable Christmas songs first appeared in movies. Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ is perhaps the best-known example. The Rudolph TV special, while not technically a movie (and not eligible for Academy consideration, certainly) gave us ‘Silver and Gold,’ ‘The Most Wonderful Day of the Year’ and ‘A Holly Jolly Christmas.’

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