Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 American Technicolor musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer….which divided into a series of seasonal vignettes….while starting the Summer of 1903….as it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis…..after leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition….which was more commonly referred to as the World’s Fair in the spring of 1904….as the picture stars Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart and Joan Carroll.
The film was adapted by Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe from a series of short stories by Sally Benson…..which was originally published in The New Yorker magazine under the title “5135 Kensington” ….and later in novel form as Meet Me in St. Louis…..as the film was directed by Vincente Minnelli….who met Garland on the set and later married her. It was the second-highest grossing picture of the year, only behind Going My Way. In 1944, the film was deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress….and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Garland debuted the music standards “The Trolley Song”, “The Boy Next Door”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Meet Me In St Louie, Louie”….of which all became hits after the film was released.
As seen in this video herewith….“Meet Me In St Louie, Louie” is performed by members of a Broadway Musical at halftime of the 1988 Orange Bowl Classic between # 1 Oklahoma Sooners vs. # 2 Miami Hurricanes.
