If you look up the United States’ most dangerous cities St. Louis is at the top of the list. What happened between now and the events of Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)? Also, I was told by the internet that this was very much a Christmas film, but for the first hour or so there was no Christmas to be seen. And people try and say Die Hard (1988) isn’t a Christmas film. It eventually gets there but I was worried for a good while there.
This is a true classic of film, especially in that Hollywood golden age where musicals were prevalent. Despite this, outside of ticking it off my 1001 films to see before you die book, I didn’t really have any interest in seeing it. I love me a classic, but period pieces like this aren’t really my bag. However, it is rather enjoyable. The whole mise-en-scene is great. The costumes and sets are very much of the age and glamourous. While not exactly my thing, for the film they are in it really works. The musical numbers are also all really solid, and like when I watch a lot of older musicals, I didn’t realise that a lot of the songs in it our ones I had heard before. Judy Garland being your lead is obviously going to be a big benefit to it, and she is great throughout. She has great screen presence about her and she steals every scene she is in. But she is helped by a great supporting cast, Leon Ames and Harry Davenport who I think are great in each and every scene they are in. Narratively I do feel the film is lacking a little. It goes through each season and is a collection of scenes and vignettes rather than an overarching storyline. There are a couple of narrative threads that string everything together, but with being a film of its time you know fully well where they’re going and how it’s going to end up. I can’t put too much criticism to the film based on that, after all being cliches came from somewhere and they don’t drag the film down to a level where it is annoying or hard to get into. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. It’s not going to be anywhere near my favourite film’s lists, and honestly, I’m not sure I would recommend it as a Christmas film as there is very little focus on it. But I can see why it is a classic and if you are into classic films its worth a watch.
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