Meet Me In St. Louis

[knitwit45]

Yep, that's her. Moraldo swears he saw her in The Pirate as one of Judy's friends or servants, but I saw her in the very first number Gene Kelley does, in the streets of the city. She's the slinky 'native' woman who dances around him, then disappears (as usual!). If you watch closely in the musicals of the mid 40's from MGM, you can usually spot her. She's always prominently placed, but never ever any dialog. She's in Good News, in the finale only, and she must have fallen out of favor, you barely see her dance by.

[mrsl]

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These still photos are great for seeing things you don't see as the camera is moving. The last photo, where little Margaret is singing I was drunnnnkkk lassst niiiighttt deeeeeaarr muuuuutherrr,and everybody is standing around watching her. All of them are smiling as if to say, isn't she cute? Now I'm sure this is what they were supposed to put across, but, now take a look at Lucille Bremmer's face . . . is that anger at her little co-star sister, called for in the script, or is that jealousy of the cute little child star who steals the scene? hhhmmmmm???

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[knitwit45]

Anne,
Rose and Esther are supposed to be shocked at their little sister's knowledge of the song, while Lon is smirking, because he taught it to her. The expressions are appropriate to the scene, I believe.

[mrsl]

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You're 100% right. I hadn't even noticed Judy's face, and it's the same as Lucilles. If I had seen her, I wouldn't have said a word, but when I looked, all I saw was Lucille, and Margaret had said in one interview that generally everybody was really nice to her, but every now and then, she would run into someone who gave her a hard time, and I thought I had found one of those people.
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[pvitari]

Oh, I just adore the boy and girl next door...

I also adore their set, costume and lighting design!

[mrsl]

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I'm going to be a traitor and admit that this is the one song/sequence in the whole movie I could easily do without. I just thought it was so silly. I wish they had done a song of some kind for the Halloween section. I love this movie and have it on both video and DVD, and it's one of the ones I curl up with when I'm feeling bad or sad and want to cheer up. So don't get me wrong and think I'm knocking the whole movie - just that one song. I don't know why, but the whole idea of asking him to walk around with her while she turns off the lights is lame, especially when she turns them all back on when he leaves because she's angry at what he said about his grandmother's perfume. For Pete's sake, she had to drop down to this level just to get the dingbat to stay for a while to be alone. If he had to be tricked into that, did she expect wise phrases from him about the birds and the bees? She's too smart for that. Plus the fact that he lives right next door and saw the lights coming back on, which, in the end, makes her look like the foolish one.
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[pvitari]

ARRGHH! I wrote up a reply and it disappeared! Let's see if I can reconstruct it. :(

The song plays a vital role in the film. Esther and John are attracted to each other immediately, but after the initial attraction, there has to be something more to make this the beginnings of real love. When John sees Esther on the staircase bathed in the copper glow of the dimmed lights, he is overwhelmed by her loveliness and feels a need to express those emotions, and he thinks of the lyrics to the song, and tries to recall them. He has an appreciation of her beauty, and furthermore, an appreciation for language used to describe such beauty. When Esther sings, she is acknowledging that they have this song and this sensibility in common and that she understands what he is trying to say. Meet Me In St. Louis is not a fluffy film. Mere "boy meets girl and falls in love" won't cut it. There has to be a deeper and genuine connection between Esther and John and the song creates that connection.

That said, an actual song at that very delicate moment does seem a bit intrusive. I probably would have had John grasping for a line of poetry he had liked, and then Esther completing the poem. But either song or poem, something needs to be there, and early on in the film, so we *really* root for Esther and John as a couple not because the movie says they are a couple, but because they truly belong together.

As for the business with the lights, that is no trick. *Both* Esther and John know it's a lame excuse, but it's a perfect one for the situation. It's 1903 St. Louis and no proper young lady would entertain a young man in the house late at night when the parents are both out and everyone else has gone to bed. Esther's request provides an excellent reason, no matter how flimsy, for John to linger. In fact, he would be a cad to refuse. ;) And if he did see the lights go back on after he left, if anything, he would have been amused.

Besides, the lights have to be turned down low so we can have exquisite pictures like this, with the moonlight suddenly coming through the etched, colored staircase window:


Or this...


Esther's on the trolley but she's not jolly because John is missing.




Mystery Girl alert! There she is on the right. But the real mystery is, who came up with the color combination on that girl in the middle? Puce with PINK buttons and bows? Ugh! In fact, there is a lot of puce in this movie. On the other hand, Esther's simple black velvet jacket and lack of hat make for the perfect contrast to all the pastel ruffles and furbelows on the other girls, and the audience's eye is drawn straight to her.


Prominent moment for our Mystery Girl.


He made it!


It's Hallowe'en so Tootie is up to mischief.


My bulldog Charlie insisted I post the next two pictures.

[moirafinnie]

Thank you for the Tootie on Halloween shots, Paula. Could you make one form the kids throwing stuff on the bonfire?

The clarity and richness of your screencaps makes me think that a Mac might be worth the cost.

[pvitari]

Moira, I have a whole bunch of bonfire pics but they're on my home computer and not uploaded yet to anything. I'll post some for you here tonight. :) Once I'm done with this movie, there will be literally thousands of screencaps. ;)

The bad thing about Macs is they won't do blu-rays. Steve Jobs refuses to put blu-ray drives in them because for him the future of movies is in downloading or streaming, i.e., he hopes to get a cut of everything you watch that comes in via your computer or iTunes.

[mrsl]

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Beautiful photos of Judy so I can't argue your thought process.

Just a quick off topic note here. Anything Steve Jobs gets, he deserves, in a nice way. After his Apple idea was stolen by Bill Bates and turned into Windows, Bates certainly made enough money, so now it's Steve's 'job' as it rightly should always have been.
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[pvitari]

Do you mean Bill Gates?

Anyway, I have no objections to Steve Jobs making even more bazillions -- I use his products every day and my husband also has an iPhone and an iPad -- but I just wish he'd put blu-ray drives into his computers, dang it! :) :)

[pvitari]

Burn, baby, burn!

[mrsl]

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Yes, I did mean Gates, sometimes my fingers type faster than my brain thinks.

Sorry about that off topic thing. I just think that was one of the worst pieces of big business crookedness ever.

Again, though, thanks again for more cute photos.
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[pvitari]

I don't think anyone minds you digging a bit on Bill Gates. He can take it. :) He and his wife have done very good things with their money and the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation. Maybe a guilty conscience? :) Now if only he'd pick up the phone, call up Steve Jobs and tell him there's this lady who REALLY wants you to add Blu-ray drives to your Macs... :)

"Steve? Steve? I'm calling on behalf of Paula, she wants Blu-ray drives in her Mac..."

[pvitari]

Tootie has just claimed that John Truitt tried to kill her


You'd think Esther would take such an outlandish claim by Tootie -- especially if it's Tootie's-- with a grain of salt, but no, she goes all Mamma Grizzly on poor John


We KNOW this adorable imp is thinking up the next bit of mischief


More puce!


Ah, nothing like a good fight to make John and Esther...


Go all "Sam and Diane"!


Just to get a little personal... I know just how Esther feels ;) I'm sure I'm not the only one. :)


That jack o'lantern on the table TERRIFIES me. I can't keep my eyes off it. It's evil and it's casting a spell on me.