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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Meet Me In St. Louis" is the quintessential teenager in love, feel good movie of the 1940s and despite the fact that the film is sixty years old, it sparkles like vintage champagne from the canons of MGM's illustrious musical film heritage. Judy Garland is Esther Smith, a girl pining for the affections of the boy next door (Tom Drake) while lamenting the fact that her father (Leon Ames) is about to move the family to New York. Moreover, all this before young Esther and her siblings have a chance to see the World's Fair. What's the critical desperation of youth to do? Well, if you're Judy Garland you warble one effervescent tune after the next. From "The Trolley Song" to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," truly, this movie is a veritable potpourri of golden memories. Margaret O'Brien and Lucille Bremer costar as Garland's sisters. Mary Astor and Harry Davenport are ideally cast as mother and grandfather respectively. One of the great joys of cinema, Marjorie Maine, surfaces as the Smith's gregarious housekeeper.
It's really no surprise that Warner's high resolution digital mastering has made "Meet Me in St. Louis" look and sound as it never has before. In the mid 1990s MGM home video gave us a very smart looking laserdisc box set. This DVD improves upon the resolution of the old format and provides a smooth, rich and textured visual presentation of one of Vincente Minnelli's greatest achievements. Colors are bold, rich and fully saturated. Contrast and black levels are bang on. Fine detail can be seen in even the darkest scenes. The audio has been remixed to 5.1 (as it was on the laserdisc) and is very well represented. There is nothing to complain about in this presentation.
Extras include the same documentary as was previously available from MGM, narrated by Roddy McDowell and chronicling the saga of bringing this film to life plus several short subjects particularly produced for this 2-disc special edition.
This classic is an absolute must for anyone who loves movies -- period! |
