An early draft of the screenplay for Meet Me in St. Louis included a subplot in which Judy Garland's character, Esther, is blackmailed.
The character of Tootie, played by Margaret O'Brien in the film, was based on Meet Me in St. Louis author Sally Benson when she was a child.
There was a number called "Boys and Girls Like You and Me" that was shot for Meet Me in St. Louis, but was cut before the film's release since the film was running too long. The number was sung by Judy Garland to John Truett following "The Trolley Song" as the two visit the construction site for the World's Fair. The song had originally been cut from the 1942 Rodgers and Hammerstein stage musical Oklahoma!.
While MGM wanted director Vincente Minnelli to use their Andy Hardy street set for the film, Minnelli convinced them to have an entirely new St. Louis street set constructed on the backlot for Meet Me in St. Louis.
Director Vincente Minnelli and star Judy Garland fell in love while making Meet Me in St. Louis. They married in 1945, had their daughter Liza Minnelli, and divorced in 1951. In the introduction to Stephen Harvey's 1990 book “Directed by Vincente Minnelli,” Liza Minnelli said, "You can see his love for her in every frame of Meet Me in St. Louis. That's the film where they met and would ultimately fall in love. It's my favorite, for when all is said and done, I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for that movie."
MGM producer Arthur Freed provided the singing voice for Leon Ames in the "You and I" number in Meet Me in St. Louis. Minnelli wanted the father's singing voice to sound real, and not professional.
Reportedly, actor Van Johnson was originally hired to play Judy Garland's beau, John Truett, in the film. However, the role was ultimately played by Tom Drake.
The original lyrics to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," written for Meet Me in St. Louis went: "Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last." The dark tone of the words was too much and was later changed to the more appropriate "Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Make the yuletide bright." The song went on to become a holiday classic.
The songs "Skip to My Lou" and "Under the Bamboo Tree" were old turn-of-the-century period favorites used with new arrangements in Meet Me in St. Louis.
In the film Meet Me in St. Louis the Smith family, based on author Sally Benson's own family, decides at the last minute to stay in St. Louis and not move to New York. In reality, Benson's family did move to New York and missed the St. Louis World's Fair.
The "St. Louis Street" that was built especially for the film on MGM's back lot was torn down in 1970.
Author Sally Benson's father, Alonzo Smith, bought the actual house located at 5135 Kensington Avenue in St. Louis for his family in 1891. The family moved to New York in 1910. The house was torn down in 1994. Several bricks from the original home were kept and sold as commemorative items with a plaque attached explaining their unique history.
Co-star Mary Astor, who played the Smith family matriarch, loved making Meet Me in St. Louis, but loved it even more when she was able to get out of her restrictive period costume every day. "It was indeed a lovely picture," said Astor in her 1967 memoir “A Life on Film,” "but I think I remember most clearly the end of the day when I could remove my high-button shoes, and get out of the heavy clothes and finally–bliss!–get out of the damned corset!"
When a rough cut of the film was shown to MGM executives, the general consensus was that it was running too long. Some suggested that the lengthy Halloween sequence was slowing the film down and should be cut. Minnelli was dismayed at this idea since the Halloween sequence was the entire reason he had signed on to make Meet Me in St. Louis in the first place. Minnelli agreed to show the film to the executives without the Halloween portion, but argued strongly that removing it would change the whole mood of the film. To his immense relief, following a screening of the film in which the sequence had been removed, the executives agreed that the footage should remain. Meet Me in St. Louis simply wasn't the same film without it. Instead, the Rodgers and Hammerstein number "Boys and Girls Like You and Me," which Judy Garland sang following "The Trolley Song," was cut.
Meet Me in St. Louis was released in late 1944 to great critical acclaim and a warm response from the public, who made it one of MGM's highest-grossing films of the year.
The success of the film firmly established Vincente Minnelli's reputation as a fine director, as he went on to make some of MGM's best films over the course of his 30-year career. For his future bride, Judy Garland, Meet Me in St. Louis helped firmly transition her into adult roles as she maintained her position as the top female musical star of her generation. It also positioned MGM, already the most powerful studio in Hollywood, as the creator of the biggest and best film musicals in the world-a reputation that stayed with MGM for the next 20 years.
Famous Quotes from MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
"Well, Papa, if losing a case depresses you so, why don't you quit practicing law and go into another line of business?" – Esther Smith (Judy Garland) to her father, Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames)
"You've just ruined Rose's chance to get married, that's all! That was Warren Sheffield calling long-distance to propose." – Esther Smith (Judy Garland) to her father, Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames)
"Well, I'll bet there isn't another girl in St. Louis who's had a Yale man call her long-distance just to inquire about her health." – Esther Smith (Judy Garland), referring to a phone call received by her sister Rose (Lucille Bremer)
"What do you mean hitting a 9-year-old child? The next time you want to hit somebody, pick on somebody your own size. If there's anything I hate, loathe, despise, and abominate, it's a bully." – Esther Smith (Judy Garland) to John Truett (Tom Drake)
"You're the most deceitful, horrible, sinful creature I ever saw, and I don't want to have anything to do with you again." – Esther Smith (Judy Garland) to Tootie (Margaret O'Brien), after discovering she has lied about being struck by John Truett.
"You're the first human being I've danced with all evening. It's our last dance in St. Louis. I feel like I'm going to cry." – Esther Smith (Judy Garland) to her grandfather (Harry Davenport)
"New York is a wonderful town. Everybody dreams about going there. But we're luckier than lots of families because we're really going. Wait until you see the fine home we're going to have and the loads and loads of friends we'll make. Wonderful friends. But the main thing, Tootie, is that we're all going to be together just like we've always been. That's what really counts. We could be happy anywhere as long as we're together." – Esther Smith (Judy Garland) to her sister Tootie (Margaret O'Brien)
"My dear, when you get to be my age, you'll find out there are more important things in life than boys." – Rose Smith (Lucille Bremer) to Esther (Judy Garland)
"It'll take me at least a week to dig up all my dolls in the cemetery." – Tootie (Margaret O'Brien), when she learns about having to leave St. Louis and move to New York
"For heaven's sake, stop that screeching! That song! The fair won't open for seven months. That's all everybody sings about or talks about. I wish everybody would meet at the fair and leave me alone." – Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames) to his daughters as they sing the song "Meet Me in St. Louis."
"Just when was I voted out of this family?" – Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames)
"You don't need any beauty sleep." – John Truett (Tom Drake) to Esther (Judy Garland)
"A lie's a lie, and dressed in white don't help it." – Katie, the Maid (Marjorie Main)
"She may be loathe to say the things a girl's compelled to say to get a proposal out of a man."
"Personally, I wouldn't marry a man who proposed to me over an invention."
–Esther (Judy Garland) and Katie (Marjorie Main) discussing Rose's pending long-distance phone call from Warren Sheffield
"I expect she won't live through the night. She has four fatal diseases."
"And it only takes one."
"But she's gonna have a beautiful funeral in a cigar box my Papa gave me, all wrapped in silver paper."
"That's the way to go if you have to go."
"Oh, she has to go."
–Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) speaking about her doll to Mr. Neely (Chill Wills)
"I'm going to let John Truett kiss me tonight."
"Esther Smith!"
"Well, if we're going to get married, I may as well start it."
"Nice girls don't let men kiss them until after they're engaged. Men don't want the bloom rubbed off."
"Personally, I think I have too much bloom. Maybe that's the trouble with me."
–Esther (Judy Garland) and Rose (Lucille Bremer)
"Money! I hate, loathe, despise, and abominate money!"
"You also spend it."
–Rose (Lucille Bremer) and her father Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames)
"If there ever was a time we definitely needed every ounce of allure, it's tonight. If we're going to wreck Lucille Ballard's evening, we've simply got to be a sensation."
– Rose (Lucille Bremer) to Esther (Judy Garland)
