MEET
ME IN ST. LOUIS ($27) is oftentimes referred to as a cinematic
valentine from director Vincente Minnelli to the film’s leading lady
Judy Garland. Looking at how meticulously photographed is photographed and
how MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS is perfectly crafted around her, Minnelli’s
infatuation with Garland become rather obvious. Although this
collaboration between Minnelli and Garland also ignited a spark that lead
to matrimony for the pair, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS was an artistic and
commercial success that eventually became one of best loved classic movies
of all time. Additionally, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS provided Judy
Garland with her most memorable screen role at MGM, next to Dorothy Gale
in that enduring classic- THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Garland’s
performance in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS as Esther Smith is the perfect
combination of maturity and innocence- Garland deftly playing the dramatic
moments, the intertwining comedy and the movie’s delightful musical
numbers (including The Trolley Song, Have Yourself A
Merry Little Christmas, Under the Bamboo Tree and The
Boy Next Door. Set at the turn of the century in the title city, MEET
ME IN ST. LOUIS follows the lives of Smith family over the course of a
year. While little actually happens to the Smiths during that period of
time, a series of seasonal vignettes sets up the impending arrival of the
World’s Fair, various romantic entanglements, as well as how the family
deals with the news that a job opportunity for the family patriarch will
transplant them from their beloved home in St. Louis to New York City. The
cast of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS also features Margaret O'Brien, Mary
Astor, Lucille Bremer, Leon Ames, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main, Harry
Davenport, June Lockhart, Henry H. Daniels Jr., Joan Carroll, Hugh Marlowe
and Chill Wills.
Warner
Home Video has made MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS available on DVD in an
utterly superb looking transfer that frames the film in its proper 1.37:1
full screen aspect ratio. For this release, Warner has employed their
ultra-resolution process, which pulls as much detail and vibrancy out of
the original three strip Technicolor elements as possible. I have never
seen MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS look anywhere near as good as it does on
this DVD; in fact, previous home video and broadcast versions are pale
imitations of this marvelous release. The image is usually rather sharp
and nicely defined, although there are places where the cinematography
appears mildly filtered and just a hair soft. Colors really pop during the
presentation, yet they are rendered with complete stability and no
fuzziness. Blacks are velvety, whites are very clean and the contrast is
wonderfully smooth. The film elements have been well scrubbed in the
digital domain, with only the most minor of blemishes remaining. There is
a bit of a noticeable grain structure left to the image, but it serves to
create a nice, film-like quality for the picture. Digital compression
artifacts are always nicely concealed.
For
this presentation, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS comes with a remixed Dolby
Digital 5.0 channel soundtrack. The remixed track does maintain the
integrity of the film’s monaural origins, but it does open up the sound
across the entire soundstage, without introducing artificial
directionality or overt pseudo-stereo effects. In 5.0, MEET ME IN ST.
LOUIS has more depth, breath and warmth than monaural, which certainly
helps the musical numbers. Speaking of the music, the fidelity is
excellent for nearly six-decade-old recordings, certainly not up to modern
recording standards, but still very pleasant to listen to. Additionally,
Judy Garland vocals are really well rendered in this presentation, as are
the film’s completely understandable speaking voices. Background hiss
and surface noise have been cleaned up in the mastering process, leaving a
generally smooth quality to the sound. The film’s original monaural
soundtrack is also provided, as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as the nice array of supplemental materials,
which are spread across both disc of the set. Starting things off is An
Introduction By Liza Minnelli, who spends five minutes talking
about the film that brought her parents together. Next, we have a running
audio commentary track by Judy Garland biographer John Fricke, as well as
additional comments from actresses Margaret O'Brien & June Lockhart,
plus composer Hugh Martin, screenwriter Irving Brecher, Barbara Freed-Saltzman.
This is an interesting and very detailed track that will appeal to movie
buffs and Garland fans. Disc one also features a Music Only Track,
as well as a Vincente Minnelli Trailer Gallery that includes
the following films: MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE BRIDE,
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER, GIGI,
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, BRIGADOON, DESIGNING WOMAN.
Moving
on to disc two, we find the remainder of the supplemental programming. Meet
Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic is a
thirty-minute program, created several years back, which looks at the film’s
production through a series of vintage and newer interviews with the
participants. Hollywood: The Dream Factory is a fifty-minute
profile of MGM Studios and its stars that is narrated by Dick Cavett.
Hosted by Robert Osborne, Becoming Attractions: Judy Garland
is a forty-six minute program from Turner Classic Movies that interweaves
thirteen of the actress’s movie trailers with biographical information
on her life and career. From 1966, is the pilot episode of a short-lived
TV version of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. Bubbles is a 1930
Vitaphone short that features one of the earliest of Judy Garland’s film
performances (as one of The Three Gumm Sisters). Songwriter Hugh Martin
and Ralph Blane are featured in Skip To My Lou, 1941 "Soundie"
in which they perform as part of a quartet called The Martins. The Audio
Vault provides the Garland’s rendition of cut musical number Boys
And Girls Like You And Me, as well as the Lux Radio Theater
broadcast of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS from December 1946. Lastly, disc
two offers up a rather nice Still Gallery of production
photos.
MEET
ME IN ST. LOUIS is indeed one of the best-loved classic movies of all
time. Warner has done a tremendous job with the film’s presentation on
DVD, as well as including an excellent complement of supplemental
materials. Absolutely recommended.
MEET
ME IN ST. LOUIS ($27) is oftentimes referred to as a cinematic
valentine from director Vincente Minnelli to the film’s leading lady
Judy Garland. Looking at how meticulously photographed is photographed and
how MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS is perfectly crafted around her, Minnelli’s
infatuation with Garland become rather obvious. Although this
collaboration between Minnelli and Garland also ignited a spark that lead
to matrimony for the pair, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS was an artistic and
commercial success that eventually became one of best loved classic movies
of all time. Additionally, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS provided Judy
Garland with her most memorable screen role at MGM, next to Dorothy Gale
in that enduring classic- THE WIZARD OF OZ.
Garland’s
performance in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS as Esther Smith is the perfect
combination of maturity and innocence- Garland deftly playing the dramatic
moments, the intertwining comedy and the movie’s delightful musical
numbers (including The Trolley Song, Have Yourself A
Merry Little Christmas, Under the Bamboo Tree and The
Boy Next Door. Set at the turn of the century in the title city, MEET
ME IN ST. LOUIS follows the lives of Smith family over the course of a
year. While little actually happens to the Smiths during that period of
time, a series of seasonal vignettes sets up the impending arrival of the
World’s Fair, various romantic entanglements, as well as how the family
deals with the news that a job opportunity for the family patriarch will
transplant them from their beloved home in St. Louis to New York City. The
cast of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS also features Margaret O'Brien, Mary
Astor, Lucille Bremer, Leon Ames, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main, Harry
Davenport, June Lockhart, Henry H. Daniels Jr., Joan Carroll, Hugh Marlowe
and Chill Wills.
Warner
Home Video has made MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS available on DVD in an
utterly superb looking transfer that frames the film in its proper 1.37:1
full screen aspect ratio. For this release, Warner has employed their
ultra-resolution process, which pulls as much detail and vibrancy out of
the original three strip Technicolor elements as possible. I have never
seen MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS look anywhere near as good as it does on
this DVD; in fact, previous home video and broadcast versions are pale
imitations of this marvelous release. The image is usually rather sharp
and nicely defined, although there are places where the cinematography
appears mildly filtered and just a hair soft. Colors really pop during the
presentation, yet they are rendered with complete stability and no
fuzziness. Blacks are velvety, whites are very clean and the contrast is
wonderfully smooth. The film elements have been well scrubbed in the
digital domain, with only the most minor of blemishes remaining. There is
a bit of a noticeable grain structure left to the image, but it serves to
create a nice, film-like quality for the picture. Digital compression
artifacts are always nicely concealed.
For
this presentation, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS comes with a remixed Dolby
Digital 5.0 channel soundtrack. The remixed track does maintain the
integrity of the film’s monaural origins, but it does open up the sound
across the entire soundstage, without introducing artificial
directionality or overt pseudo-stereo effects. In 5.0, MEET ME IN ST.
LOUIS has more depth, breath and warmth than monaural, which certainly
helps the musical numbers. Speaking of the music, the fidelity is
excellent for nearly six-decade-old recordings, certainly not up to modern
recording standards, but still very pleasant to listen to. Additionally,
Judy Garland vocals are really well rendered in this presentation, as are
the film’s completely understandable speaking voices. Background hiss
and surface noise have been cleaned up in the mastering process, leaving a
generally smooth quality to the sound. The film’s original monaural
soundtrack is also provided, as are English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as the nice array of supplemental materials,
which are spread across both disc of the set. Starting things off is An
Introduction By Liza Minnelli, who spends five minutes talking
about the film that brought her parents together. Next, we have a running
audio commentary track by Judy Garland biographer John Fricke, as well as
additional comments from actresses Margaret O'Brien & June Lockhart,
plus composer Hugh Martin, screenwriter Irving Brecher, Barbara Freed-Saltzman.
This is an interesting and very detailed track that will appeal to movie
buffs and Garland fans. Disc one also features a Music Only Track,
as well as a Vincente Minnelli Trailer Gallery that includes
the following films: MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, FATHER OF THE BRIDE,
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE’S FATHER, GIGI,
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, BRIGADOON, DESIGNING WOMAN.
Moving
on to disc two, we find the remainder of the supplemental programming. Meet
Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic is a
thirty-minute program, created several years back, which looks at the film’s
production through a series of vintage and newer interviews with the
participants. Hollywood: The Dream Factory is a fifty-minute
profile of MGM Studios and its stars that is narrated by Dick Cavett.
Hosted by Robert Osborne, Becoming Attractions: Judy Garland
is a forty-six minute program from Turner Classic Movies that interweaves
thirteen of the actress’s movie trailers with biographical information
on her life and career. From 1966, is the pilot episode of a short-lived
TV version of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. Bubbles is a 1930
Vitaphone short that features one of the earliest of Judy Garland’s film
performances (as one of The Three Gumm Sisters). Songwriter Hugh Martin
and Ralph Blane are featured in Skip To My Lou, 1941 "Soundie"
in which they perform as part of a quartet called The Martins. The Audio
Vault provides the Garland’s rendition of cut musical number Boys
And Girls Like You And Me, as well as the Lux Radio Theater
broadcast of MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS from December 1946. Lastly, disc
two offers up a rather nice Still Gallery of production
photos.
MEET
ME IN ST. LOUIS is indeed one of the best-loved classic movies of all
time. Warner has done a tremendous job with the film’s presentation on
DVD, as well as including an excellent complement of supplemental
materials. Absolutely recommended.