Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 10-June-07
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

I admire storytellers who can turn average lives into entertaining fiction. That seems to me a harder task than relating spectacular or lurid tales about extraordinary or messed-up people. Stories such as "Little Women" and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" use keen observation and plain sentiment to achieve real impact. They tend to age well, too, because their historical setting becomes part of their appeal. These qualities are evident in "Meet Me in St. Louis," for which I now hold director Vincente Minnelli and writers Irving Brecher and Fred Finklehoffe in high regard.

To be honest, the lives shown in "Meet Me in St. Louis" are too cinematic to be strictly average. The movie is a musical, for one thing, although it favors melodic flourishes over show-stopping numbers as befits its simple charm. It takes place between 1903 and 1904 among the Smith family, a respectable clan of the usual suspects: a business-minded father (Leon Ames), a soft but practical mother (Mary Astor), a kindly grandpa (Harry Davenport), a son off to Princeton, two older daughters after husbands, two younger daughters after fun, and an integral cook. (Plus a cat.) They dwell in a picture-perfect Victorian house which would imbue any movie with magic.

The action centers on the romantic pursuits of older sisters Rose (Lucille Bremer) and Esther (Judy Garland), and on the adventures of the youngest girl Tootie (Margaret O'Brien). St. Louis must have a wholesome clime, for all the Smith kids are as hearty and clever as can be. Garland warbles nicely when contemplating the boy next door (Tom Drake), which is Esther's favorite pastime, and she's equally engaging when uttering teen philosophy like "I think I have too much bloom." O'Brien is a minor ham, but hers is a role into which an actress ought to sink her baby teeth. Tootie cultivates a full understanding of the neighborhood, its inhabitants, and its rituals, including a Halloween hazing most unlike our modern, candy-fueled shenanigans. She strikes me as a fascinating sociological study and a refreshingly personal depiction of a child. She has a weird love of burying dolls, for example, which doesn't stop her from being cute or carrying a tune like most of the rest of the cast.

The story's only driving source of tension (for one can't doubt the inevitability of marriage) comes from Mr. Smith's decision to relocate to New York — right during Christmastime and before the St. Louis World's Fair! This gives everyone a common concern and emphasizes the nature of the family as bound to each other and the place they call home. If "Meet Me in St. Louis" pitches a theme, it's connection. But the picture is primarily a visit with an everyday family seeking common happiness in a bygone time.

Copyright © 2007 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.