Product Description

St. Louis 1903. The well-off Smith family has four beautiful daughters, including Esther and little Tootie. 17-year old Esther has fallen in love with the boy next door who has just moved in, John. He however, barely notices her at first. The family is shocked when Mr. Smith reveals that he has been transfered to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the St. Louis Fair.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #766 in DVD
• Brand: WEA
• Released on: 2004-04-06
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.20 pounds
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
One of the finest American musicals, this 1944 film by Vincente Minnelli is an intentionally self-contained story set in 1903, in which a happy St. Louis family is shaken to their roots by the prospect of moving to New York, where the father has a better job pending. Judy Garland heads the cast in what amounts to a splendid, end-of-an-era story that nicely rhymes with the onset of the 20th century. The film is extraordinarily alive, the characters strong, and the musical numbers are so splendidly part of the storytelling that you don't feel the film has stopped for an interlude. --Tom Keogh

DVD features
Meet Me in St. Louis has been one of the most anticipated DVDs in the short history of the format, and this two-disc special edition was worth the wait. The chief attraction is the new ultra-resolution transfer, looking sharp with lush, beautiful colors. Judy Garland biographer John Fricke provides an insightful commentary, weaving in archival interviews from Margaret O'Brien and others. There's even an orchestra-only track, and it's nice to hear once you get over the shock of not being able to hear Garland's vocals.

There's a lot of material on the second disc as well. The 30-minute making-of from 1994 is solid and informative, the 1972 hourlong history of MGM is a little unfocused but has some great clips, and "Becoming Attractions" (1996) is a 45-minute look at how Judy Garland was marketed through the movie trailers of the time. You can also see a very young Garland appearing with the other Gumm sisters in a 1930 short, and hear an audio-only version of her "Boys and Girls Like You and Me," a lovely Rodgers and Hammerstein tune cut from Meet Me in St. Louis. A 1946 radio adaptation that includes Garland, O'Brien, and Tom Drake proves surprisingly listenable, and much more entertaining than the charmless pilot of a proposed 1966 TV series. But it's all icing on the cake, really, compared to the satisfaction of finally having Garland's glorious performances of "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on DVD. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

An American Classic In A Memorable DVD Package
Many critics consider MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS the single finest Hollywood musical of the 20th Century. Produced by Arthur Freed, directed by Vincent Minnelli, and sporting a flawless ensemble cast led by Judy Garland, the film was immediately hailed when it debuted in 1944--and time has only added luster to its name. Now, after several home market incarnations, it at last receives the edition it deserves on DVD.

Given its stature, it is ironic that both MGM and Judy Garland originally fought the project. Based on a collection of autobiographical stories by Sally Benson, the script is little more than a series of domestic adventures in the lives of the Smith family of 1903 St. Louis. But it became a thing of wonder: a careful balance of sly but gentle humor, a collection of memorable performances, an understated score shorn of the usual movie-musical affectations, and at the center of it all Judy Garland, one of Hollywood's most memorable talents.

The transfer is excellent, capturing every nuance of the film's meticulously and beautifully designed sets in full Technicolor; the sound elements, remastered in Dolby 5.1, are equally fine and Garland's unique vocal skills are undimmed by time. All in all, it seems safe to say that not even the original 1944 theatrical release could surpass the quality of picture and sound offered here.

Although the bonus package would have better without the awful pilot for a failed television series based on the film, by and large it offers a superior collection. Previously available on VHS, the Roddy McDowell-narrated "making of" documentary is worth revisiting, as is the TCM-produced "Becoming Attractions." While a number of later documentaries surpass it, "Hollywood: The Dream Factory" has never before been widely available and offers an inside glimpse of the famous 1972 MGM auction. The Martins' performance of "Skip to My Lou" a reconstruction of "Boys and Girls Like You and Me," and a collection of Vincent Minnelli movie trailers round out the offerings, all of them entertaining.

The notable audio commentary is led by film historian and Garland scholar John Fricke. I regret to say that I have several issues with Fricke, who seems to rely excessively on Vincent Minnelli's autobiography I REMEMBER IT WELL and who has a tendency to perpetuate certain myths about the film--chief among them the idea that Garland did "The Trolley Song" in a single take. (Garland prerecorded the song, the overall sequence involves at least seven unique camera set-ups, and although Garland performs most of the solo in a single take there is a change in camera set-up toward the end of her vocal.) Even so, Fricke offers considerable insight into the cast, crew, and production of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, and the commentary is laced with remarks (some of them archival) by the likes of Margaret O'Brien, Hugh Martin, and Irving Brecher; in spite of my occasional misgivings, it really is everything one could wish an audio commentary to be.

These aside, the bonus package contains one significant and unique prize: the short film "Bubbles" and a notable audio commentary led by Hollywood and Garland historian John Fricke. Long thought lost, "Bubbles" is one of several shorts made in the early 1930s that include The Gumm Sisters, the youngest of whom would become better known as Judy Garland--a true rarity indeed.

Given the beauty of the transfer and the generally exceptional bonus package, it is difficult to imagine a better edition of this uniquely American classic. I strongly recommend it.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

fantastic musical
Judy Garland gives one of her finest performances in the delightful period musical MEET ME IN ST LOUIS, still one of the best-loved movies of all time.

Esther Smith (Garland) is in love with "The Boy Next Door", and when she discovers that the Worlds Fair is coming to her town, everyone in St Louis is thrilled.

Her enchantment only grows when she discovers the feeling of love is mutual, but when her father announces that the family is moving to New York, the romance could be finished before it even began...

Margaret O'Brien steals every scene she's in as Esther's little sister Tootie, while the supporting cast, led by Lucille Bremer, Mary Astor and Leon Ames is first-rate.

Initially more popular at the box-office than THE WIZARD OF OZ, the evergreen MEET ME IN ST LOUIS continues to be loved by generations of movie-lovers.

A beautiful timeless movie loved by people of all ages.
Meet Me In St. Louis is a lovely film, based on episodes in the life of a large family living in early 20th Century St. Louis at the time of the World's Fair. Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien are both amazing in this film and are very strongly supported by the rest of the cast.

My 6 year old daughter is hooked on it too now (and I guess that's about the age when I first saw it) and we often watch it together for a treat. I have watched it countless times and am always happy to watch it again.

Meet Me in St. Louis is essentially a "pastoral" musical that celebrates the values of small town America, a popular theme in MGM musicals, especially those directed by Minelli. The so-called delights of the big metropolis New York are exposed as undesirable and compared unfavorably with the simple "purer" family life of St. Louis - which is a big city too but "doesn't seem big, out here where we live".

But it is not just a chocolate box movie, in spite of the beautiful music, romantic theme and gorgeous costumes and photography. Of course it is full of great musical set pieces - such as The Trolley Song and Skip to My Lou - but it has many "dark episodes" as well. The best is when Vincente Minelli borrows very sucessfully from the horror genre for the Halloween scene, and the dark disturbing scene when the snow people are decapitated by Tudy who would rather destroy them rather than leave them behind for strangers. Also, I'm not sure what the two nuns at the Fair mean in the final scenes, but I'm sure they are significant because the camera focuses on them rather than the lead characters who are actually talking in that scene. Maybe I'll need to watch it a few hundred times more to decide.