Meet Me in St. Louis
This article is about the 1944 film. For the song of similar name featured in the film see Meet Me in St. Louis, LouisMeet Me in St. Louis is a
1944 romantic
musical from
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of four sisters living in
St. Louis at the time of the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in
1904. It stars
Judy Garland,
Margaret O'Brien,
Mary Astor,
Lucille Bremer,
Leon Ames,
Tom Drake,
June Lockhart, and
Marjorie Main.
The movie was adapted by
Irving Brecher and
Fred F. Finklehoffe from a series of short stories by
Sally Benson, originally published in
The New Yorker. It was directed by
Vincente Minnelli. Minnelli and Garland met on the set and married the next year. In this film, Garland debuted the standards "The Trolley Song" and "
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the
Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry. In 2005, Time.com named it one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years.
The backdrop for
Meet Me in St. Louis is
St. Louis, Missouri on the brink of the
1904 World's Fair. The story centers on the middle-class Smith family, who lead a comfortable and happy life. The family has four daughters, Rose, Esther, Agnes and Tootie and a son, Lon. Esther, the 2nd eldest daughter (Garland), is taken aback by the boy next door, John Truitt (Drake), although he does not notice her at first. Life seems perfect for the family until Mr. Smith (Ames) reveals that he has earned a position at a
law firm in New York and the whole family will have to leave St. Louis before the Fair.
It was nominated for
Academy Awards for
Best Cinematography, Color,
Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture,
Best Music, Song (
Ralph Blane and
Hugh Martin for "The Trolley Song") and
Best Writing, Screenplay.
Meet Me in St. Louis was
remade in
1959 for
television, starring
Jane Powell,
Jeanne Crain,
Patty Duke,
Walter Pidgeon,
Ed Wynn,
Tab Hunter and
Myrna Loy. It was directed by
George Schaefer from the original Brecher and Finklehoffe
screenplay.
Meet Me in St. Louis was
remade again for television in
1966. This was a non-musical version starring
Shelley Fabares,
Celeste Holm,
Larry Merrill,
Judy Land,
Rita Shaw and
Morgan Brittany. It was directed by
Alan D. Courtney from a script written by Sally Benson herself. This was to be a pilot for a TV series, but no network picked it up.
*A
Broadway musical based on the film was produced in 1989, with additional songs.
Benson, Sally.
The New Yorker*"5135 Kensington: January, 1904" Jan 31, 1942 - Tootie and Grandpa visit the fairgrounds
*"5135 Kensington: February, 1904" Feb 8, 1942 - Mr. and Mrs. Smith go out and the girls have a gay time at home
*"5135 Kensington: March, 1904" Mar 28, 1942 - The family visits the World's Fair
*"5135 Kensington: April, 1904" Apr 11, 1942 - Not moving to New York
*"5135 Kensington: May, 1904" May 23, 1942 - A last look at the Fair
*
Meet Me In St. Louis at the Museum of Modern Art*
The Judy Room Meet Me In St. Louis Section 
