Meet Me in St. Louis

Vincente Minnelli directs and Judy Garland stars in this charming 1944 musical based on Sally Benson's series of "Kensington Stories," which originally appeared in the New Yorker, sketching out four concurrent seasons (summer-to-spring) in the daily lives of the middle-class American, St. Louis-based Smith family, circa 1903. When patriarch Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames) receives an offer of promotion to his company's New York office, not only are the younger children in the family (including the show-stealing Margaret O'Brien, who won a special Oscar for her performance as “Tootie” Smith) horrified they will miss the upcoming World's Fair, there's also a budding romance between older daughter Esther (Judy Garland) and a neighbor boy named John Truett (Tom Drake) threatened by the proposed move. Sixty years later, Meet Me in St. Louis still has laugh-out-loud funny lines and outrageous scenes (many revolving around the semi-incorrigible preschooler Tootie, who not only throws flour in a neighbor's face on Halloween--part of an extraordinarily weird sequence in which neighborhood children in costume merrily burn furniture in a street bonfire--but also sabotages a streetcar), and wonderful music, including such Garland staples as the title song, “The Trolley Song,” and the now-classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Bowing on DVD in one of Warner's characteristically top-notch double-disc special editions, Meet Me in St. Louis boasts a sharp, colorful digital transfer, sparkling Dolby Digital 5.0 sound, and a slew of extras, including a five-minute introduction by Liza Minnelli, an excellent commentary track by Garland biographer John Fricke (with comments by O'Brien, composer Hugh Martin, screenwriter Irving Brecher, and Barbara Freed-Saltzman, who was married to legendary MGM producer Arthur Freed), the 1994 half-hour retrospective making-of “Meet Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic,” the 51-minute 1972 MGM studio profile “Hollywood: The Dream Factory” (a clip-filled nostalgic tribute narrated by Dick Cavett), and the 47-minute 1996 TCM-aired “Becoming Attractions: Judy Garland” (a rather weak career retrospective built around trailers). In addition, the set includes the 27-minute 1962 pilot episode for the unproduced TV series Meet Me in St. Louis (starring Celeste Holm), the audio version (accompanied by archival stills) for the cut Garland song “Boys and Girls Like You and Me” (which also had the distinction of being cut from Take Me Out to the Ballgame and Oklahoma!), and a 57-minute Lux Radio Theater presentation featuring Garland, O'Brien, and Drake. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—Dec. 6, 2011—Warner, 113 min., not rated, $35.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis sports a fine transfer with DTS-HD 5.0 sound. Blu-ray extras include an introduction by Liza Minnelli (5 min.), a commentary track by Garland biographer John Fricke (with additional comments by costar Margaret O'Brien, composer Hugh Martin, screenwriter Irving Brecher, and Barbara Freed-Saltzman, wife of MGM producer Arthur Freed), the 1972 MGM studio profile “Hollywood: The Dream Factory” (51 min.), the 1996 TCM-aired “Becoming Attractions: Judy Garland” (46 min.), the 1994 retrospective “The Making of an American Classic” (31 min.), a 1962 pilot episode for the unproduced TV series Meet Me in St. Louis starring Celeste Holm (27 min.), the 1930 short “Bubbles” featuring Garland (8 min.), the 1941 short “Skip To My Lou” (3 min.), the audio version (accompanied by archival stills) of the deleted song “Boys and Girls Like You and Me,” a Lux Radio Theater presentation (featuring Garland, O'Brien, and Drake), a music-only audio track option, a four-song audio sampler, a 40-page booklet, and trailers. Bottom line: a beloved classic musical makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]