Foray into Classic Musicals

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944)

All I knew about this one going in was that Judy Garland debuted the Christmas standard "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," so I was expecting a Christmas movie. However, this film from director Vincent Minnelli, follows the Smith family through a turbulent year of possible engagements and a move to New York, leading up to the momentous unveiling of the World Fair in St. Louis. The movie was made in 1944, but is set in 1903-1904 and much of the movie involves the character's excitement over the coming World Fair. I'm sure the World Fair was a big deal, and the movie does a good job of capturing the kind of obsessive mania that folks in St. Louis would be feeling, but to a modern viewer like me, I just don't get all the fuss. I live in a state that is frequently mispronounced on "Jeopardy" (it's or-eh-gun, NOT or-eh-gone you halfwits!), but we still have ample state and county fairs to choose from, a large array of Saturday Markets, and we even have the Oregon Jamboree right in my hometown, yet I remain calm. So I just don't understand the convoluted excitement of the World Fair in Meet Me in St. Louis. But I think viewers in 1944 would have, so I can't fault the movie for that.

Most of the action takes place inside the beautiful Smith manor and Minnelli does an excellent job of directing the large family within the small spaces. The house feels lived in, and has a lot of intricate decoration and mise-en-scene that add to the look of the space, and also help it feel authentic and lived in. (Minnelli was well famous for his attention to detail. Also, for those of you wondering about the name, yes, he and Judy Garland married shortly after making this film, and yes, they are responsible for the parentage of one Liza Minnelli. Whether that makes you hate this movie or not, I leave to you.) Garland stars as second-sister Esther who is quietly, but intensely, pining for the boy next door. (She even sings a song called "The Boy Next Door.") Her older sister Rose is waiting for beau Warren Sheffield to propose. However, he is in New York and there is a great scene where she waits for a proposal by phone while her entire family sits listening at the dinner table. Margaret O'Brien plays baby sister Tootie (and won a Child's Academy Award for her performance) and she and yet another sister, Agnes, have a lot of children's misadventures, including a fairly devious Halloween scam. (Tootie tells a lie in this sequence involving Esther's crush, John Truett, that she is never properly punished for, in my opinion.) These harmless escapades are interrupted by the unwelcome news of their father's promotion, which means a hasty move to New York after the holidays. The family puts on a brave face (and there's a touching song between the mother and father called "You and I") but of course are all grieving the loss of their home and city. This is the place in the film where Garland sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to Tootie to comfort her about their impending move. (The lyrics of that song are really sad!)

I really enjoyed most of the music. In addition to the immortalized Christmas ballad, there is a continuous refrain of "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis" throughout the film, sung by almost all of the main characters, meant to express their excitement not only of the coming Fair, but their happiness in their home town. This film is apparently also to blame for that ubiquitous children's song "Skip to My Lou" (performed at a party), and Esther and Tootie perform a song and dance to the rather forgettable "Under the Bamboo Tree." But in addition to Garland's heartfelt renditions of "The Boy Next Door" and the Christmas tune, she also soulfully sings the charming "Over the Bannister" as she's attempting to seduce her crush, and "The Trolley Song" which is an exuberant, fun piece, performed on a trolley with a great ongoing blocking sequence. It's really the highlight piece of the film. (The only problem with any of these songs is that John Truett, the object of Esther's affections, seems hardly worth the while with his slow, not particularly attractive, lumbering ways.)

Overall, the film is an innocent look at small town family life, perhaps nostalgic for a time before WWII (which was in full swing at the time of this film's release). The sets are lovely, the direction assured and accomplished, the performances mostly sweet, and the songs are quite memorable. There was one scene in particular that had me laughing out loud. Rose's beau, Warren Sheffield, barges into the house in the middle of the night, sick of all the waffling between him and Rose, demands they get engaged, and then bellows, "I LOVE YOU!" in a rather antagonistic manner, before storming from the room. It was hilarious. I rewound it several times. I have a small problem with the rather bland and forced ending (that final scene was without purpose and good dialogue) but overall the film was quite enjoyable.



MY FAIR LADY (1964)

While elegantly crafted, opulently dressed, well-acted, and containing some of the greatest musical songs I've ever heard, this film frequently pissed me off. I'm sure you all know the plot: lingual expert Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison, also an Academy Award winner in this role) hears the horrendous speech patterns used by poor flower-girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) and offhandedly offers her speech lessons. She takes him up on it and comes to live with him in his fancy house. She becomes the pet project of Higgins and fellow friend and linguist Colonel Pickering (Wilfred Hyde-White), as they toil, day after day, to rectify her Cockney tones into proper Queen's English. Once the transformation is complete, they congratulate each other to kingdom come, and forget that poor Eliza, whom they have not congratulated and who actually did all the hard work, is now a person without a place in the world. She no longer fits into her lower-class life, and yet she doesn't have the connections or pedigree to enter the life to which her new speech and manners should lead. Add to this the fact that she has fallen in love with confirmed bachelor Higgins, who seems oblivious to her infatuation, and we have a problem.

While the actions and behaviors of Eliza in the first half of the film are probably accurate, her ignorance is so irritating. She bellows, and screams and rants whenever faced with a situation, speech, or request which she doesn't fully understand and let me tell you, her screeching is ghastly to listen to. I can't really blame Henry Higgins for his impatience or snobbery, however much I'd like to for he has them in abundance, because she gets on my nerves too. So I'm faced with two protagonists that I don't really like. One's too loud and ignorant, the other an oblivious fop, full with his own arrogant self-worth to the point of bursting. I know this is the point; through this experiment, Eliza will become a more intelligent, cultured individual, and Higgins will be taught that value lies in things beyond speech patterns and pedigrees. I get it. But it was awfully frustrating at times.

This film was obviously given full reign of Warner Brothers studio, lot, and funding because it is really extravagant. The sets are huge, crammed full of props, extras dance in and out of frame, often wearing expensive costumes and behaving in a stiff, stylized manner meant to evoke the snobbery and boredom of the elite class. Every set is furnished to the hilt, and Audrey Hepburn's magical transformation from guttersnipe to classy lady is carefully evinced by an ever-more expensive selection of designer gowns and architectural hair-dos. And it's all great. Sometimes perhaps a bit much, but well done. I feel certain an intricate examination of the costume and mise-en-scene would reveal a plethora of subtle subtext and commentary on the war between the classes, but I'm not going to make it. That film is 3 hours.

The performances, though often lost in the design, are spot on. Harrison is believable as a smart, gruff gentleman and the way he approaches "Eliza the Project" is full of geeky glee and self-satisfying wit. Hepburn performance was criticized by many at the time, but I see nothing to complain about. It's true her songs were dubbed with the voice of Marti Nixon, and Eliza herself can be annoying, but Hepburn fully immerses herself in the crass, eratic flower-girl, and contrary to what I'd read, I don't think her performance is at odds with her usually elegant self. Once emerging from her cocoon, it's true that Hepburn is the picture of class and grace and handles these sections flawlessly; her comic timing at the races is wonderful. Although Eliza has mastered speech intonations, everything she actually says is still in the language, if not the elocution, of her Cockney birth. So when she every so artfully describes her aunt's potential murder, it is with the perfect accent she says "She were done in!"

The songs are some of the best and most memorable I'd ever heard; I found I already was quite familiar with many of them. Most of Harrison's are kind of spoken songs, but "Why Can't the English" and "Ordinary Man" are clever and good indications of Higgin's inherent snobbery. Though not her voice, Hepburn acts out "Wouldn't it Be Loverly" and "Just You Wait" as the feisty, pre-change Eliza with a great amount of physical aggression. My favorites were her romantic "I Could Have Danced All Night" and "On the Street Where You Live" sung by a smitten beau of Eliza's. Hepburn also performs the sad, yet impassioned "Show Me" which I've had stuck in my head for days. So despite my intended frustrations with the plot, I found the film fun to look at, containing great performances, and full of songs I wouldn't be ashamed to listen to again. Maybe next time I'll just fast-forward through the unnecessary scenes.