Meet Me in St. Louis

Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 American Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis, leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (more commonly referred to as the World's Fair) in the spring of 1904. The film stars Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart, and Joan Carroll.

The film was adapted by Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe from a series of short stories by Sally Benson, originally published in The New Yorker magazine under the title "5135 Kensington", and later in novel form as Meet Me in St. Louis. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli, who met Garland on the set and later married her. Tony Award winning designer Lemuel Ayers served as the film's art director.

Upon its release, Meet Me in St. Louis was both a critical and a commercial success. It became the second-highest grossing film of 1944, only behind Going My Way, and was also MGM's most successful musical of the 1940s. In 1994, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Garland debuted the standards "The Trolley Song", "The Boy Next Door", and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", all of which became hits after the film was released. Arthur Freed, the producer of the film, also wrote and performed one of the songs.

Plot
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family. 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 transferred to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the St. Louis Fair.

Cast

 * Judy Garland as Esther Smith
 * Margaret O'Brien as "Tootie" Smith
 * Mary Astor as Mrs. Anna Smith
 * Leon Ames as Mr. Alonzo Smith
 * Lucille Bremer as Rose Smith
 * Tom Drake as John Truitt
 * Marjorie Main as Katie
 * Harry Davenport as Grandpa Joe
 * Henry H. Daniels Jr. as Alonzo "Lon" Smith Jr.
 * Joan Carroll as Agnes Smith
 * June Lockhart as Lucille Ballard
 * Robert Sully as Warren Sheffield
 * Hugh Marlowe as Colonel Darly
 * Chill Wills as Mr. Neely the iceman
 * Darryl Hickman as Johnny Tevis, neighbor boy
 * Donald Curtis as Dr. Girard