12 days of blogging: Day 8- Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Meet Me in St. Louis was the second Judy Garland film I had ever seen and one of my favorites (though it wasn't until I bought Love Finds Andy Hardy on a whim that I was then hooked). This film came in one of the first box sets I ever bought, at the time I thought it was extortionate to pay £10 for a nine film magical musicals collection, but oh how that has changed and I am so glad I took the leap to part with my money for that set. It opened me up to a world of films that would captivate your soul. Anyway I have been trying to get my family hooked on the film for over a year but it is discouraging when you show your mum it for the second time and she insists she has no recollection of it. I guess it just didn't touch them as it did me, which is sad. Though this film doesn't revolve around Christmas it is shown and from this film came the birth of the song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" so I though it qualified.

Synopsis
The rich Smith family have four daughters one of the daughters, 17 year old Esther (Judy Garland), has fallen in love with the boy next door (Tom Drake) though he doesn't seem to notice her at first. During this time her younger sister, Tootie (Margaret O'Brien), is causing mischief and being cute. When the father of the family has decided to take a new job opportunity in New York it the family turns chaotic as love-lives are turned upside down and tears are shed and even a snowman or two are killed. Mostly the family are worried whether they will miss the St. Louis fair of which they have eagerly awaited.


Facts

• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was originally about war until Judy Garland refused to sing it to Margaret O'Brien because she thought it would upset her, so the lyrics were changed.
• Judy Garland met her future husband, director of the film,Vincente Minelli during this production.
• A lightning guy of the film intentionally dropped a heavy spotlight on Margaret O'Brien, narrowly missing her. He did this because His daughter had gotten the part after Margarets mother asked for more money though this was later changed and Margaret was then cast as Tootie, the lighting guy was actually institutionalized for a short period of time after this.
• The trolley song was apparently filmed in one take, though I find this hard to believe as they would usually do an extra take for safety.