Overlooked Classics: Music For Millions (1944)

 In 1944 Margaret O'Brien won a special Academy Award for Outstanding Child Actress. One look at her output that year and it is not hard to see why. After all it was the year she played her most famous role, as Tootie in Meet Me in St. Louis. That same year she also acted in Jene Eyre, The Canterville Ghost, Lost Angel and this overlooked gem Music For Millions. There is little need to state that she plays a big hand in making this movie so delightful.

This movie also marks the first time she played sisters with June Allyson. They would later play sisters again in the 1949 film version of Little Women. Their chemistry is very apparent in this film, and in fact so was there chemistry off screen. The two became very close and June Allyson always kept a picture of little Margaret on her dresser. They had even more in common too. They were considered the best actresses at crying at this time and had earned the nickname "The Town Criers". Director Henry Koster (who is best remembered today for directing The Bishop's Wife (1947) and Harvey (1950)) even remembered Margaret O'Brien being able to control how much of her tears would be visible for the camera.

This film boasted another excellent team behind the camera as well. Henry Koster and producer Joe Pasternak. They had previously both helped save Universal from financial problems, with a series of successful musicals starring Deanna Durbin. This was the first film the team had made together after moving to MGM. It was also Koster's first MGM movie. However, it was Pasternak's sixth.

The story revolves around little Mike (Margaret O'Brien) visiting her sister Barbara (June Allyson). Barbara is a member of an orchestra and many of the women in that orchestra take Mike in. Meanwhile though Barbara is waiting for a letter from her husband (who is fighting in World War 2) but no letter comes. 

This film is a tearjerker, but it never feels forced. The storyline always feels real because the characters feel real. This is achieved through a great script (by Myles Connolly) and great performances from the whole cast.

The main stars of the film aren't the only ones who put on great performances. The whole cast does. However Jimmy Durante stands out here as being at his best. His slowly growing to love Mike is very heartwarming. One of the highlights of this film is him preforming a song number called Umbriago. His performance of this song is just dripping with pure energy and enjoyment of what he is doing. I don't see how anybody can not like this scene.

Adding to the musical fun is real life conductor and pianist José Iturbi. He and his orchestra help treat us to some great renditions of various classical music standards including an especially good finale of Handel's Messiah.

Overall this movie is a must see.

  Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2704/Music-for-Millions/articles.html

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

The story of the film is extremely simple. The Smith family lives in St. Louis and loves it there. Esther (played by Judy Garland) is in love with John Truett, the boy next door (played by Tom Drake). Rose (played by Lucille Bremer) is in love with Warren Sheffield (played by Robert Sully), but he has trouble proposing to her. Meanwhile Tootie (played by Margret O'Brien) gets in as much trouble as humanly possible. The father (played by Leon Ames) gets a chance to be promoted, but he must move to New York. The whole family is naturally very upset about this.

This film was directed by one of MGM's best directors of musical films, Vincente Minnelli, who also directed such classics as Cabin in the Sky, The Pirate and An American in Paris. He would also direct such great non-musical movies as The Long Long Trailer, Lust For Life and I Dood It. This film began his romance with the film's star Judy Garland. It was the first film they worked on together and they fell deeply in love. They married the next year and the year after that they gave birth to a daughter Liza Minnelli. Interestingly Judy Garland almost didn't do the movie because, she didn't want to be typecast.

Despite how tight and simple this movie feels, things had to be cut out. In an early draft a subplot about Esther getting blackmailed existed. There was also a song called Boys and Girls Like You and Me that was actually shot for the film but later cut. This song came directly after The Trolley Song.

The songs for this movie were written by Ralph Blaine and Hugh Martin. The song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas originally had darker lyrics. These included "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last". Judy Garland felt it was horrible to sing this to such a small child as Tootie and that Esther should try to cheer her up with this song. The song writers listened and came up with the lyrics that remain in the film (and all the subsequent recordings). Speaking of the songs my fellow Tom and Jerry fans will recognize The Trolley Song, even if they had never seen this movie and that is because Scott Bradley, who did the scores for Tom and Jerry films, used the song as background music in those cartoons often (since they were also made for MGM).

This film is incredibly good. The songs are fantastic, the performances are great, the story is very good and just everything works about this film. Along with the great music and romance, this film also stands up so well because of the characters and humor. The scenes with Tootie talking about her dead dolls, never fail to make me laugh. The characters here feel real and far from the movie stereotypes they could have easily been. When the films over I almost feel sad to leave these characters. Overall, this film just has an amazing charm that to me is irresistible. That is why it has become one of my personal favorite movies. 

Meet Me in St. Louis became a huge hit both critically and at the box office. It remains as much of a classic today as it did in 1944.

The Film Daily, 1945

The Independent Film Journal, 1944

Showman's Trade Review, 1944

For more Michael's Christmas Movie Guide click here.

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/310/Meet-Me-in-St-Louis/articles.html

TCM Big Screen Classics: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Thanks to TCM and Fathom Events, yesterday I was able to watch one of my all time favorite movies on the big screen.

Meet Me in St. Louis is pure movie magic at its best. Everything is as close to perfection as movies get. The songs are incredible, technicolor has never looked better, the performances are perfect, the humor is fantastic and there is a special charm in every second. Judy Garland is as perfect as ever, but in my opinion the show was stolen by Margert O'Brien as the very disturbed 5 year Tootie. She not only gives the film its best laughs, but she truly brings to life one of my favorite movie characters. There is often times a bias against sentimentality and sweetness with today's movie fans. However a film like this proves that when done right these things can make a great movie. These things have never been done better than in Meet Me in St. Louis, and here they help create a cinematic masterpiece.

Speaking of cinematic, there is no better way to see this film than in a theatre. On the big screen the vibrant colors and incredible performances truly come to life, creating an incredible sense of movie magic.

So I know this is a brief post but I just want to state again that if you are a movie fan these TCM Big Screen Classics are incredible experiences you can't miss. Next month is another fantastic technicolor musical from the same director (Vincente Minnelli), An American in Paris (1951).

-Michael J. Ruhland