Happy Holidays! I’ve got one of my favorite Christmas movies to share with you!
OK, Meet Me in St. Louis isn’t *technically* a Christmas movie as only part of the story takes place during x-mas, but it’s got strong holiday vibes, so here we are. I saw this movie for the first time a few years ago. One of the characters in The Family Stone says the Christmas ball scene is one of her favorites, so I figured if the movie was good enough to be associated with not one, but two Sarah Jessica Parker movies, it might be worth checking out. I immediately fell in love with it – Judy Garland is so flipping charming, I found myself grinning every time she was on screen. The rest of the cast that plays her loud and interesting family are similarly entertaining and hilarious. I promise, if you love musicals, or are a fan of Steel Magnolias, this will work its way into your seasonal holiday movie rotation. Also, if it weren’t for this movie, Liza Minnelli might not exist, so respect should at least be paid for that.
Picture it: St. Louis, 1903. The city is all abuzz for the World’s Fair that is set to open in the next year. The Smith family, consisting of Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Son Lon, and 4 daughters (Rose, Ester, Agnes and Tootie respectively) are losing their collective minds because Warren Sheffield is placing a long distance call to Rose from New York City that evening, and that call may or may not contain a marriage proposal. Or, at least everyone except Dad is excited about this, because the family are desperately trying to hide this event from him.
We’re given a glimpse into the family dynamic based on how each member reacts to this call. Dad is a much-respected member of the household, but the family tends to exclude him from decisions because of his tendency to want to steer a ship they would prefer to guide themselves. Rose is casually waiting for the phone to ring, insisting boys are the last thing on her mind, while alternatively Esther (played by Judy Garland) is excitingly talking up the possibility of a marriage. The younger daughters, Agnes and Tootie, are free spirits that are just so incredibly dramatic that most of the other family members roll their eyes every time they speak. Also, I’m pretty sure Tootie is a psychopath who is legitimately fascinated with killing off her dolls. Grandpa is a supportive sweetheart willing to go along with his granddaughter’s schemes, along with their housekeeper Katie, who inherently disagrees with the idea of someone proposing over an invention, but decides to lie to the family anyway about having to visit her sister that evening in an attempt to move dinner forward. There’s much discussion about eating an hour earlier so the family isn’t at the dinner table eavesdropping on Rose’s conversation, but Dad is a fussy king that insists on taking a bath while the sun sets before he can even think of noshing on corned beef.
Sidenote: My father proposed to my mother over the phone, so maybe I should write a strongly worded letter to Alexander Graham Bell for facilitating my birth?
When Esther isn’t gassing up Rose’s romantic prospects, she spends her time ogling her dishy next door neighbor John. The two girls parade outside in order to see if they can’t attract his attention, but as this endeavor proves to be unsuccessful, Esther retreats to pine from the comfort of her window.
I’m fairly certain I didn’t discuss this in the Easter Parade post, but I adore Judy Garland’s distinctive voice. The first time I heard it was out of the mouth of a cartoon cat in Gay Purr-ee, so it’s always a bit disarming for me to see it come out of this stunning angel. Judy Garland’s beautiful face makes me think buying an orange-red lipstick is a good idea even though it’d look like garbage on me. Also, the number of times I’ve watched Gay Purr-ee immediately after watching Meet Me in St. Louis is about 100%.
Anyway, to the great disappointment of Rose and all 9 family members loitering in the dining room, Warren doesn’t propose during his short call from NYC. Esther remarks how blessed Rose is to have a man call long distance only to inquire about her well-being, and the family echoes the sentiment which helps to lift Rose’s spirit.
With the call out of the way, Esther decides to pivot her nervous energy from Rose’s potential proposal to luring John into the fold. Esther invites John to a party at their house celebrating their brother’s graduation in an effort to force an introduction between the two of them. She tells Rose of her intention to make out with John’s face, and Rose’s protest leads to one of the best lines of the movie.
Once at the party, Esther feigns interest in John in order to not come off too strong. She also keeps her actions understated and polite by performing a song and dance number with Tootie and hiding John’s hat in the breadbox so he can’t leave without talking to her.
After everyone leaves, Esther guides John around the house while she turns off all the gas lights in order to set the mood. They shake hands to say goodnight, and John gives Esther a compliment every woman longs to hear, “You’ve got a mighty strong grip for a girl.” This interaction is enough to fuel Esther’s desires, as she compares the beating of her heart to the clang of the trolley in a song that I can never remember the words to, but hum constantly.
Much like Checkov’s Gun, the trolley is introduced only to become a major character in the subsequent Halloween-based incident. Agnes and Tootie, dressed up like murderers, go out on the town to burn furniture, throw flour at people, and cause general havoc. When they return later that night, Tootie is wailing because she has a split lip and a missing tooth. When the doctor asks her what happened, she tells everyone John tried to kill her. This sends Esther into a well-justified frenzy, storming over to John’s house and slapping him around on his own front porch. When she returns to the house reveling in biting Tootie’s attacker, Agnes reveals that John did not in fact attack a child. See, Tootie and Agnes had the great idea to play a prank by throwing a stuffed dress in front of a moving streetcar, which almost derails it when it tries to brake in order not to run it over. John witnessed this colossally dangerous incident and dragged Tootie and Agnes into the woodshed in order to hide them from the police. When Esther wanders back over to John’s house to apologize for lashing out at him, he surprisingly accepts the apology, and is apparently so turned on by the abuse he tries to swallow Esther whole.
Esther only has a moment to appreciate she has finally attracted John’s attention before her entire world comes crashing down. Dad reveals at the end of the year the entire family will be moving to New York City so he can follow a job opportunity. This is devastating for everyone, and after some initial snark directed at daddy dearest, mother eventually appeals to the strength of the family unit by singing a duet with her husband that definitely doesn’t make me tear up, how dare you suggest that?
I love the several instances of miming playing musical instruments in this movie – it’s truly remarkable how distracting it is.
Time marches on, which is illustrated in the next scene by the blanket of snow that consumes every square inch of the set. The family has almost concluded packing up their belongings for an eventual move, with each child finding a different thing to focus on in order to distract them from leaving. Tootie digs up all her dolls from the cemetery and builds a truly disturbing menagerie of snowpeople, while Esther, Lon and Rose are fully immersed in planning who to go to the Christmas ball with.
Esther is going with John, of course, but Lon’s crush Lucille is attending with Rose’s crush Warren, to their mutual chagrin. Esther convinces Lon and Rose they should go as each other’s dates. They reject this proposal until Esther assures them how much of a good time they’d have with each other without the pressure of participating in a romantic date.
With everyone set to attend the dance, John visits Esther last-minute to confess he cannot escort her to the ball because he has nothing to wear. Esther reacts to this news in a calm and measured manner.
When Rose suggests that Esther also go with her and Lon, Esther admits how ridiculous and pathetic it would be to show up at the dance with your brother. When Rose storms off, MVP Grandpa swoops in and saves the situation by inviting Esther as his date and she gleefully accepts.
At the dance, Esther decides to play a cruel trick on Lucille by taking the liberty to fill out Lucille’s dance card with a bunch of undesirable men, some of which I’m fairly convinced were actual children? When Lucille arrives, she’s mature enough to admit her date with Warren is a ruse, and she’d much rather be there with Lon. Warren agrees he’d rather be with Rose, and they swap dates. Esther, realizing what a queen Lucille is for speaking her mind (and also getting the evil eye from Grandpa), gives her own dance card to Lucille and prepares herself for an evening of truly awkward interactions with the people she had recruited to dance with Lucille. She is fortunate enough to share her last dance with Grandpa, and she laments it may be their last in St. Louis. Just when things are starting to look their darkest, John swoops in wearing a suit he obtained somewhere out of thin air, and they share a romantic dance around the Christmas tree.
John proposes to Esther on the way home, and she bursts into tears, because although they love each other and plan to get married, the logistics of them staying together while he lives in St. Louis and she lives in New York City make things seem impossible. She heads up to her bedroom and notices Tootie is still awake and completely distressed with the prospect of leaving the St. Louis. Esther sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in order to alleviate her anxieties.
Judy’s rendition of this song brings me to tears every time I hear it. It’s so beautiful and pushes all of the holiday nostalgia buttons. Unfortunately, Tootie is not comforted by this song, and instead runs out screaming into the night to murder all her snow creations, because if she can’t take them to NYC with her she doesn’t want anybody else to enjoy them.
Seriously, Tootie is a psychopath. If the family focuses on anything important during the new year, it better be getting this child to a therapist. Also, the actress who plays her is phenomenal – those tears are fucking real and they hurt to watch.
Her father witnesses Tootie’s violent rage and finally realizes the impact this move is going to have on his family. He decides then and there that the family is going to stay in St. Louis and he’ll just have to find some other way to make money. The family’s jubilation is interrupted momentarily by an outburst from Warren, who storms into the household to yell a marriage proposal to Rose.
If someone proposes to me and doesn’t use the line “I have positively decided that we’re going to get married at the earliest opportunity,” or sings Charlie’s Dayman song at me, I’m saying no.
The family unpacks their belongings, the World’s Fair comes to St. Louis, and the family revels at being located at the best fair a soundstage can house for the foreseeable future. The end.
I love this movie, it’s so fucking good. The story, even though it’s not about a whole lot, is super engaging, the music is superb, and it fills me with good time vibes, which is especially helpful during the holiday season where I’m like one fragile moment away from bursting into tears all the time. Please check out this masterpiece of a film and bask in its comforting glow.
Merry Christmas <3