Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Christmas-Reviewer BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 300 HOLIDAY FILMS & SPECIALS. I HAVE NO AGENDAThe backdrop for Meet Me in St. Louis is St. Louis, Missouri in the year leading up to the 1904 World's Fair.It is summer 1903. The Smith family leads a comfortable upper-middle class life. Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames) and his wife Anna (Mary Astor) have four daughters: Rose (Lucille Bremer), Esther (Judy Garland), Agnes (Joan Carroll), and Tootie (Margaret O'Brien); and a son, Lon Jr. (Henry H. Daniels, Jr.). Esther, the second eldest daughter, is in love with the boy next door, John Truett (Tom Drake), although he does not notice her at first. Rose is expecting a phone call in which she hopes to be proposed to by Warren Sheffield (Robert Sully).Esther finally gets to meet John properly when he is a guest at the Smiths' house party, although her chances of romancing him don't go to plan when, after all the guests are gone and he is helping her turn off the gas lamps throughout the house, he tells her she uses the same perfume as his grandmother and that she has "a mighty strong grip for a girl".Esther hopes to meet John again the following Friday on a trolley ride from the city to the construction site of the World Fair. Esther is sad when the trolley sets off without any sign of him, but cheers up when she sees him running to catch the trolley mid journey.Even though the there is barely a story-line the film works. IT gets a tad slow here and there but Margret O'Brien steels every scene she is in. Judy Garland however is always a delight to watch. If you like her in this then make sure to see "In the Good Old Summertime". This film was beautifully filmed. If you can watch it on a Blu-ray.

CinemaDude1 Yeah, I know, me and all the rest who give this film its deserved one star will never convince the 10 star folks who gush with love for Judy of the vapidness and schmaltzyness of this dog (you can hear it barking all the way from St. Louis to my theatre in Brooklyn). Sure, it is slick, Minnelli was in his prime paying excruciating detail to what turns out, stuff that in the end, doesn't really matter or make a particularly good film. MGM threw plenty of money and the top technical talent in their employ at it and gave it the high-end Technicolor process, but none of that slickness does an outstanding movie make. The story is about an America that people would like to believe actually existed, but nothing even remotely resembling it ever did so it's really a lie from start to finish, and while that may make lots of people feel good, it can't make up for the banal story consisting of the silly, flirty mores that the writers of the 1940s project onto these fictional characters living in this make-believe turn-of-the-century fantasy world. Worse, even if you put aside the Pollyanna view of the period, there is no semblance of any recognizable human condition, be it 1890, 1940 or anything in between. If there were, if there was a focus on anything we could relate to as real, that would have been the saving grace, but there isn't. Thing is, I actually am a fan of musicals. I have no problem with people breaking into song -- you accept that when you sit down to watch a musical the same as you do for opera. It's the genre...accept it or just move on. I accept it, but only when the songs move the story along, when the music is memorable and when the lyrics are somewhat intelligent, and if we are lucky, even clever and witty. The paucity of such songs here barely rises to the level of a full fledged musical, most songs eschewing the above-mentioned criteria completely. One of them got turned into a traditional Christmas song, and whereas I might like musicals, I have come to HATE Christmas "favorites" because there are only about 20 of them and they are now played incessantly from October to the end of December, which means you can hear each of them about ten thousand times before the season is over...enough to make anyone hate ANY song or any season for that matter. Needless to say, that leaves me with only three or so songs in this movie that I might entertain as marginally tolerable and barely at that. That's a sad situation for a movie with the top of the pyramid, super "A List" star of MGM's musical stable. Also, why did I keep thinking I was hearing strains of GONE WITH THE WIND in the incidental music playing under some scenes? In fact, the dance party not only sounded like I was listening to the soundtrack of GWTW, but even LOOKED like it as well. And given that there was Harry Davenport reprising his identical GWTW role, it was a likness not difficult to miss...I guess Minnelli figured mimicking the biggest blockbuster of the era couldn't hurt his effort. Turns out, this is no GONE WITH THE WIND...or MY FAIR LADY or OKLAHOMA or CAROUSEL or CAMELOT or even THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. Again, I understand it's a futile cause trying to get the Garland fans to tone down the adulation they give to this film, and fine, I never ever want to rain on anyone's parade -- if a movie makes anyone feel good on whatever level, far be it for me to tell them they shouldn't enjoy it; all I am saying is, as objectively as one can be with such things, this isn't one of the greatest, 10 star-worth musicals of all time as is claimed in so many of these posts. If it makes anyone feel good -- wonderful. But it's still horse-meat and grizzle served up as filet mignon.

gavin6942 In the year before the 1904 St Louis World's Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York.This film took me a while to warm up to. Judy Garland, the star of the film, is dressed horribly with awful hair, and frankly I find her singing voice quite atrocious. How can this be? In others films ("Wizard of Oz" and "A Star in Born") she sings so nicely. Of course, the songs in general are pretty awful in this one... not fun like other musicals (e.g. "State Fair").I would have rated the film lower, but the Halloween scene redeemed it. Kids starting fires, dumping in old furniture, and smashing people in the face with flour? Priceless.

ClassicMovieGuy.com (Todd Morgan) Judy Garland has some of the most memorable scenes in movie history! Judy Sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as a sad, sad reminder that her family will be moving to New York. When I first saw this movie, I was surprised that it was a HOLIDAY movie, a Christmas movie, because one wouldn't know from the title.This movie has incredible costumes, color is everywhere from the houses, to the horse and buggy, to the businesses. This movie makes you yearn for a more glamorous time and also a more simpler time where families really do bond and spend a lot of time together.This is one of the greatest musicals ever made. See Judy Garland in her prime with great performances of "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"This movie was a box office smash, breaking records at the time, rivaling Gone with the Wind.THE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES Boy, so many great performances in this movie.Judy Garland, this is her greatest performance in a movie since "The Wizard of Oz." "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" originated here, and has become a classic Christmas anthem. It has been sung a thousand times by a thousand artists, but no one could ever capture the heartfelt emotion expressed by Judy Garland in this movie. The song will bring tears to your eyes as you listen to her sing the song to little Tootie, trying to cheer her up but doing a terrible job of it.The funnest song in the history of movies is "The Trolley Song" – you will have a ball watching it, and have a ball singing it to yourself in the shower. The fact that this scene was done in ONE TAKE is amazing. Just imagine how hard it would be to do this scene as perfectly as it turned out.The song "You and I" performed by Mary Astor and Leon Ames is truly magnificent. Just a wonderfully delightful performance with Him as the piano and Her shadowing him over his shoulder. Great harmonies.THE DIRECTOR Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland met on this movie, and married soon afterwards. Minnelli is one of my favorite directors. He has a way with the camera especially in capturing a moment in a memorable way. This movie is in Color, and boy does he love to showcase a lot of color in this movie.SUMMARY Judy Garland never looked better in a movie, she is only 22 years old when she made this movie, and it really feels like she is having a lot of fun in this one. This heartwarming musical is a movie you will never tire of, it is one to watch at least once every year at Christmas (if not more often than that!). Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!