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Simply Perfect

Absolutely Brilliant!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Judy Garland has some of the most memorable scenes in movie history! Judy Sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as a sad, sad reminder that her family will be moving to New York. When I first saw this movie, I was surprised that it was a HOLIDAY movie, a Christmas movie, because one wouldn't know from the title.This movie has incredible costumes, color is everywhere from the houses, to the horse and buggy, to the businesses. This movie makes you yearn for a more glamorous time and also a more simpler time where families really do bond and spend a lot of time together.This is one of the greatest musicals ever made. See Judy Garland in her prime with great performances of "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"This movie was a box office smash, breaking records at the time, rivaling Gone with the Wind.THE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES Boy, so many great performances in this movie.Judy Garland, this is her greatest performance in a movie since "The Wizard of Oz." "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" originated here, and has become a classic Christmas anthem. It has been sung a thousand times by a thousand artists, but no one could ever capture the heartfelt emotion expressed by Judy Garland in this movie. The song will bring tears to your eyes as you listen to her sing the song to little Tootie, trying to cheer her up but doing a terrible job of it.The funnest song in the history of movies is "The Trolley Song" – you will have a ball watching it, and have a ball singing it to yourself in the shower. The fact that this scene was done in ONE TAKE is amazing. Just imagine how hard it would be to do this scene as perfectly as it turned out.The song "You and I" performed by Mary Astor and Leon Ames is truly magnificent. Just a wonderfully delightful performance with Him as the piano and Her shadowing him over his shoulder. Great harmonies.THE DIRECTOR Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland met on this movie, and married soon afterwards. Minnelli is one of my favorite directors. He has a way with the camera especially in capturing a moment in a memorable way. This movie is in Color, and boy does he love to showcase a lot of color in this movie.SUMMARY Judy Garland never looked better in a movie, she is only 22 years old when she made this movie, and it really feels like she is having a lot of fun in this one. This heartwarming musical is a movie you will never tire of, it is one to watch at least once every year at Christmas (if not more often than that!). Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Vincente MInnelli's masterpiece of reminiscence is much the better for its acute awareness of its own time: made when America's wartime involvement was at its height (1944), the film yearns for refuge in a simpler time and finds it at the turn of the century in a growing but still youthful (the streets are yet to be paved) Midwestern city. Minnelli's mastery of editing to coax complicated feelings from his performers is exquisite, particularly in long, gliding takes that completely envelope the audience as the characters experience emotional peaks (falling in love) and valleys (the threat of being uprooted from home) which are then broken through cross-cutting to discuss them. Made with a genuine appreciation for hearth and home, the film ostensibly features Judy Garland; but Minnelli seamlessly incorporates her into his large cast, and also allows ample room for complex performances from the wonderful Leon Ames, Mary Astor and, in the pivotal role of the youngest daughter Tootie, the sublime Margaret O'Brien. Not just a great musical--a great work of art.

Amid the many superior musicals produced by MGM, few were as well-executed and charming as this one. I say that not having seen the film since the old days of black and white television, when I wasn't very impressed. Finally now, in 2012, I am watching it again and wow...what I missed all of these years! In terms of production, Vincente Minnelli did a marvelous job here...not to mention meeting Judy Garland and eventually marrying her. The Technicolor here is truly stunning, although there is some unevenness in the current print shown on TCM.But best of all is a tremendous cast. Perhaps the only time Judy Garland was better was in "The Wizard Of Oz", five years earlier...and I say that as no particular fan of Ms. Garland. Margaret O'Brien, only 7 years old, turns in a remarkable performance. I didn't recognize Mary Astor as the mother; a very different role for her, and well done. Lucille Bremer and Tom Drake do nicely; I never understood why Drake wasn't more successful. I always got a kick out of Marjorie Main until the Ma & Pa Kettle movies, and here she is great as the maid. Leon Ames has a more substantial role here as the father, and does very nicely. Harry Davenport -- always a treat to watch -- plays the grandfather. And June Lockhart is here, also.There is one issue that may be a bit of a downer for some viewers. If you are heavy into plots, you'll be disappointed. There really is no plot to the film. Rather, it's a series of vignettes showing a small child (O'Brien) and a late teen (Garland) growing up. And it's done so nicely, you're likely to excuse the lack of a plot. And then there are the songs, particularly "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas".I rarely give an "8", but here's one!

I saw this film on my mother's recommendation, and my mother's recommendations are usually quite good. Not this time. Feh! This was a lousy movie. Allow me to proudly stand with the elite minority who see this film as dreck.There's so much wrong with it, I hardly know where to start. The plot, if you can even call it that, is so paper thin and obvious as to be a joke. The *instant* that the father announces the move to New York, it is transparent exactly what's going to happen with that. I'm not one to try to out-think a movie while I'm watching it, I seldom pre-figure-out what's going to happen. But in this case, before the father was even done explaining the move, it was painfully obvious that the family would get all weepy about it and eventually he would relent. It was hardly even worth the trouble of going through the motions of carrying out that bit of "story".All the machinations with the two sisters' romances are ridiculous, because these women are *so* concerned about winning the affections of these absolute *nothings*. I mean the male romantic objects are so bland, lifeless, ordinary, it's absolutely impossible to see what these women see in them. One of them has so little function in the movie he's more of a prop than a character. The other is, frankly, a wuss. That may be the worse romance, because Judy Garland's character is clearly made out to be the belle of the ball, who can get pretty much any man around that she wants. And yet all she wants is that nebish next door. Feh, and feh again!As a musical, I didn't find it particularly strong. For the most part, I found the songs ordinary and unmemorable. The title song is OK, I guess, if rather insipid. The only song I really liked was the rather famous one about the trolley, and even that one failed to score a bullseye, as I found it extremely odd to discover how much the lyrics of the song fail to line up with what's actually going on in the movie at the time. It comes off as rather slap- dash film-making.About the only place I can bestow praise is upon the performance of Margaret O'Brien. She certainly does a good job with the role she has, even if that role is a little disturbing.Even the movie's denouement comes off as weak. After all that build up and brouhaha about the amazing world's fair, when they actually get to it, it's pretty anticlimactic. We don't get to see much of anything so wonderful about the fair, yet we see the characters reacting with absolute rapture.