Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
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A family in St. Louis navigates the joys and trials of life leading up to the 1904 World's Fair.
The story
In the summer of 1903, the Smith family lives a comfortable upper-middle class life in St. Louis. The story follows the family's experiences over a year, including the romantic lives of the daughters, Esther and Rose, as they navigate their relationships and the upcoming 1904 World's Fair. The narrative is structured as a series of seasonal vignettes, capturing the domestic life and personal milestones of the family members as they prepare for the future.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film follows the Smith family in St. Louis during the year preceding the 1904 World's Fair. In 1903, the daughters Esther and Rose deal with their respective romances with John Truett and Warren Sheffield. After a series of events, including a Halloween prank and a tense Christmas Eve ball where Esther and Rose attempt to manipulate social situations, the family faces a crisis when Mr. Smith is offered a job in New York. The family is initially devastated by the prospect of moving, but after a series of emotional moments, Mr. Smith decides to stay in St. Louis. The film concludes in the spring of 1904 at the World's Fair, where the family gathers to see the lights of the grand pavilion.
- First release year
- 1944
- Runtime (minutes)
- 113
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Vincente Minnelli
- Writers
- Irving Brecher · screenplay; Fred F. Finklehoffe · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Judy Garland · Esther; Margaret O'Brien · Tootie; Mary Astor · none; Lucille Bremer · none; Tom Drake · none; Marjorie Main · none; Leon Ames · Mr. Alonzo Smith; Harry Davenport · Grandpa; June Lockhart · Lucille Ballard; Henry H. Daniels Jr. · Lon Smith Jr.; Joan Carroll · Agnes Smith; Robert Sully · Warren Sheffield
- Genres
- musical; comedy
- Themes
- family; nostalgia
- Tone and mood
- warm; whimsical
- Setting
- St. Louis, Missouri, in the year preceding the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair.
- Premise and plot tags
- musical; period piece; holiday
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Kensington Stories by Sally Benson
- Content notes
- children
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming MGM's most successful musical of the 1940s and being selected for the National Film Registry.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 99% · scale: Fresh · review count: 81
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Song · 1944 · Nominated; Academy Juvenile Award · screen work · 1944 · Won
- Production trivia
- The film's producer, Arthur Freed, performed one of the songs.; The film was inspired by the play 'Life with Father'.; The film was selected for the National Film Registry in 1994.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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