Meet Me in St. Louis is a rather ridiculous "good old days" movie. Told episodically, it focuses on a family's problems, which mainly involve daughters trying to get husbands and decisions on where to live.While silly, the movie has charm to spare, supplied mainly by the always riveting Judy Garland and by Margaret O'Brien, giving her best performance as an anti-Shirley Temple.O'Brien's performance is surprising. While most of the movie is artificial even by the standards of the times, O'Brien offers a surprisingly id-based child obsessed with death and provocation. It is far more real than the simpering children who inhabit most 40s films.While the story is slight, the movie gets buy on tremendous moments, all involving Garland and O'Brien, as when Garland's heartbreaking rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is followed by O'Brien's surprising reaction.While it's no more realistic than Sleeping Beauty (even though Republicans often act as though this white, patriarchal, upper middle- class world is a thing we could actually "return" to), it is utterly charming.

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.

This review won't be long because I do not have too much to say about this movie. So here it is. "Meet Me in St. Louis" is about the Smith family that are living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904. I don't find anything groundbreaking about this movie, because of the amount of praise it gets. Don't get me wrong, I like the movie but I don't think its a masterpiece or anything like that. For what it is, I think its fine and it is indeed watchable. The cast in this movie are good, especially for Judy Garland; although I like her more when she was in "The Wizard of Oz." I do love the film's cinematography and its setting. I really do enjoy the atmosphere of St. Louis as you go on out and have a wonderful time. The movie is also well directed and well written. The movie itself is not really a Christmas movie, but at the end, it does somehow leave you that Christmas feeling as Garland sings wonderfully with the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas;" the songs in the film are fine too. Again, there is nothing groundbreaking about it but I do think it is a fine relaxation of a movie as you just want to enjoy the atmosphere of St. Louis. So that is what I thought of "Meet Me in St. Louis," and I give it an 8 out of 10.

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!