Oh kittens. We really wanted to get to this one back during the holidays, since most people consider this a holiday film. But dammit, we were too stuck in Project Runway Land to get to it in time.
When it came time to pick a film for our triumphant return to Musical Mondays, we knew it had to be a Judy pic. Since we CAN'T STAND the ones she did with Mickey Rooney and we're waiting for a special occasion to spring The Wizard of Oz on you, we found ourselves in the musical section of the video store holding this in one hand and A Star is Born in the other. Frankly, we're not sure we're up to the latter. We need to exercise those muscles a bit before we take on THAT little extravaganza. So, St. Louis it is. Onward!
Yes, it's Meet Me in St. Louis! The story of a dysfunctional turn of the century family, complete with proto-slutty teenage daughters, an occasionally non-existent son, a verbally abusive father, a passive-agressive mother, and the smartass maid that everyone puts up with!
Our story starts here in the summer of 1903 in (where else?) St. Louis as matriarch of the Smith family...um...Mrs. Smith, boils corned beef and cabbage with her deserves-to-be-fired domestic, Katie. That kitchen smells like farts. You know it does.
Meanwhile, second daughter Esther (Judy, of course) returns from her job at the ice cream parlour.
Okay, no. Clearly she was playing tennis. In an old munchkin costume.
Oldest daughter Rose arrives shortly thereafter. She's prissy and judgmental and thinks way too highly of herself. We hate her.
Rose and Esther sit on the front porch and flaunt their fin de siecle titties at the new boy next door...
...John Truitt, who smokes a pipe while he plays a little pocket hockey on the front lawn and ignores them, which of course forces Judy to sing.
Meanwhile, youngest daughter Tootie is riding with the ice man, who we find curiously hot, in a toothless rough trade kind of way.
Let's get this out of the way right now: Lorenzo HATES Margaret O'Brien in this role, finding her to be way too precocious and annoying and deserving of at least one good slap. That may color our commentary slightly.
Since the clearly homosexual boy next door paid them no attention, the older girls decide to change into their underwear and sing loudly. Makes perfect sense.
Mr. Smith comes home and verbally abuses everyone in his line of fire. Mrs. Smith frets and fusses and generally makes excuses for his deplorable behavior, thereby ensuring that her children will make several therapists quite wealthy in the decades to come.
Dinner at the Smith's. Mother has spent most of the afternoon drinking herself numb, Rose cries at the sight of food, and Judy acts out by wearing completely ridiculous attention-getting outfits.
Fortunately, a bright spot appears to distract them all from their misery. Rose's beau from New York calls and the family is all grateful for something to pierce the painful silence.
HELLO! About time we saw a little mancandy, wouldn't you say? Anyway, her beau, Mr. Warren Sheffield, does not come through with the hoped-for marriage proposal that would lift the whole family out of their dreary misery, so the girls decide to throw a party and invite Mr. Pocket Pool from next door.
Now we want garters for all our mirrors.
Judy once again tries to draw attention to herself by wearing something completely embarrassing. Her occasional brother manages to wrangle an introduction to Hairy Palms. She pretends not to be moist.
Back then, this was what "horny girl with oral skills" meant.
Even though Lorenzo hates her, we have to admit, this number is adorable. The entire party scene is basically several musical numbers with dialogue sprinkled throughout. This clip is long, but worth it just for the "Under the Bamboo Tree" number:
Call us softies if you want, but knowing what we know about Judy's life, there's something a little endearing about the way she plays off Margaret O'Brien. You can tell she sees a younger version of herself and there's a protective, almost maternal air about her here.
Anyway, back to bitchery.
With the party over and the guests long gone, Rose prissily reminds Esther that Mr. Truitt needs to leave, lest his penis accidentally find itself wedged somewhere it shouldn't be.
To prevent that from happening, Judy sings to him instead.
Later, the rowdy young folk get together to head on out to the partially built World's Fair ground, which should tell you something about the social opportunities in 1903 St. Louis. After this, they take a tour of the new sewer line and then spend the day staring at paint dry. Fortunately, their grandchildren will someday discover marijuana and aerosol huffing.
Anyway, it's the song that makes the movie as Judy flips her wig in a sea of vagina hats and gives us the classic Trolley Song:
Fabulous.
Fast forward and it's Halloween night. Rose helps Tootie and occasional sister Agnes with their costumes and sends them on their way.
HALLOWEEN IS COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL AS THE CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED RIOT IN THE STREET!
Was this what Halloween was like in the old days? No wonder people started slipping razor blades into the candy.
Anyway, something happens to Tootie and she winds up bloody and ranting about how Mr. Truitt beat her up. Everyone looks at Judy and silently blames her.
Judy FLIPS THE FUCK OUT and beats the shit out of Ball Juggler. If there was any doubt about his wussiness, getting beat up by JUDY FRIGGING GARLAND pretty much seals the deal.
Later, she finds out that Tootie made the whole thing up and instead got hurt - we're not kidding here - attempting to derail a trolley car. Judy wants to be mad at her, but she's just so darn cute that they laugh off her attempt to murder dozens of people and instead give her ice cream. That kid's a sociopath and her family's nothing but a bunch of enablers.
Judy goes to apologize to Wimpy Balls but he's never been so turned on in his life.
Later, Father comes home and, in a typical display of self-centeredness, announces that the whole family is moving to New York.
They are not thrilled.
Flash forward to winter and some real ickiness. Let me see if we've got this straight: occasional brother Lon was supposed to take this girl Lucille to the Christmas dance but she's going with Rose's obsession, Warren Sheffield. So, since neither of them have dates, he shyly asks his sister to come to the dance and she blushingly accepts like she's turned on. Then they make out It's a big pile of ew. Katie the maid is totally hot for this scene.
Y'know, if we'd had a maid growing up, we probably would have had elaborate mink-wearing snowmen too.
It's the night of the big Christmas dance and the girls enact a visual representation of Judy's entire tenure at MGM. Sprinkle a couple of pill bottles in the background and the tableau would be complete.
John shows up and tells Judy that he can't make it to the dance because he didn't pick up his tuxedo at the tailor's in time and now it's closed.
That is the lamest excuse we ever heard. Just tell her you're gay. Believe us, she won't mind.
Judy reacts like Judy to the news.
Grandpa is so turned on by the sound of her crying that he asks if he can escort her to the dance. Judy is repulsed, but really wants to wear her new dress. She agrees.
At the dance, the sisters maliciously fill out Lucille's dance card with every nerd and loser in the room. Let's get something straight here, bitches. One of you came as your brother's date and the other one came as your grandfathers. Neither of you have any room to be pulling this mean girl bullshit. Everyone's laughing at you behind your backs.
Warren shows up with Lucille and before she can get lost in space, she quickly assesses the situation and trades Warren off to Rose so she can make out with occasional brother.
Through gritted teeth and a fake smile, Rose tells Judy to lose the fucking dance card. NOW.
Judy is stuck dancing with every fat guy and pervert in the whole place...
...when Ball Puller shows up in a tuxedo without any explanation.
Just go with it. You don't need an explanation an hour and 40 minutes into a musical.
Later, he compliments her on her bedazzled babushka and asks her to marry him. Because the family is leaving in a few days, she's confused and unsure how to answer.
So she goes home and fucks with Tootie's head a bit just for kicks.
It works.
Father looks out the window, sees his youngest decapitating snowpeople in a blind rage and realizes if he takes her to New York, she'll wind up in an institution within a year.
He announces that they're staying in St. Louis and ...HUGS!
Flash forward to summer and the whole family is at the world's fair, where vagina hattery reigns supreme and even 5-year-olds are required to wear one.
All's well that ends well. Judy got the boy next door and she got to stay in St. Louis so she can lose her virginity to him. The nuns do not approve of her vulgar hat.
When it came time to pick a film for our triumphant return to Musical Mondays, we knew it had to be a Judy pic. Since we CAN'T STAND the ones she did with Mickey Rooney and we're waiting for a special occasion to spring The Wizard of Oz on you, we found ourselves in the musical section of the video store holding this in one hand and A Star is Born in the other. Frankly, we're not sure we're up to the latter. We need to exercise those muscles a bit before we take on THAT little extravaganza. So, St. Louis it is. Onward!
Yes, it's Meet Me in St. Louis! The story of a dysfunctional turn of the century family, complete with proto-slutty teenage daughters, an occasionally non-existent son, a verbally abusive father, a passive-agressive mother, and the smartass maid that everyone puts up with!
Our story starts here in the summer of 1903 in (where else?) St. Louis as matriarch of the Smith family...um...Mrs. Smith, boils corned beef and cabbage with her deserves-to-be-fired domestic, Katie. That kitchen smells like farts. You know it does.
Meanwhile, second daughter Esther (Judy, of course) returns from her job at the ice cream parlour.
Okay, no. Clearly she was playing tennis. In an old munchkin costume.
Oldest daughter Rose arrives shortly thereafter. She's prissy and judgmental and thinks way too highly of herself. We hate her.
Rose and Esther sit on the front porch and flaunt their fin de siecle titties at the new boy next door...
...John Truitt, who smokes a pipe while he plays a little pocket hockey on the front lawn and ignores them, which of course forces Judy to sing.
Meanwhile, youngest daughter Tootie is riding with the ice man, who we find curiously hot, in a toothless rough trade kind of way.
Let's get this out of the way right now: Lorenzo HATES Margaret O'Brien in this role, finding her to be way too precocious and annoying and deserving of at least one good slap. That may color our commentary slightly.
Since the clearly homosexual boy next door paid them no attention, the older girls decide to change into their underwear and sing loudly. Makes perfect sense.
Mr. Smith comes home and verbally abuses everyone in his line of fire. Mrs. Smith frets and fusses and generally makes excuses for his deplorable behavior, thereby ensuring that her children will make several therapists quite wealthy in the decades to come.
Dinner at the Smith's. Mother has spent most of the afternoon drinking herself numb, Rose cries at the sight of food, and Judy acts out by wearing completely ridiculous attention-getting outfits.
Fortunately, a bright spot appears to distract them all from their misery. Rose's beau from New York calls and the family is all grateful for something to pierce the painful silence.
HELLO! About time we saw a little mancandy, wouldn't you say? Anyway, her beau, Mr. Warren Sheffield, does not come through with the hoped-for marriage proposal that would lift the whole family out of their dreary misery, so the girls decide to throw a party and invite Mr. Pocket Pool from next door.
Now we want garters for all our mirrors.
Judy once again tries to draw attention to herself by wearing something completely embarrassing. Her occasional brother manages to wrangle an introduction to Hairy Palms. She pretends not to be moist.
Back then, this was what "horny girl with oral skills" meant.
Even though Lorenzo hates her, we have to admit, this number is adorable. The entire party scene is basically several musical numbers with dialogue sprinkled throughout. This clip is long, but worth it just for the "Under the Bamboo Tree" number:
Call us softies if you want, but knowing what we know about Judy's life, there's something a little endearing about the way she plays off Margaret O'Brien. You can tell she sees a younger version of herself and there's a protective, almost maternal air about her here.
Anyway, back to bitchery.
With the party over and the guests long gone, Rose prissily reminds Esther that Mr. Truitt needs to leave, lest his penis accidentally find itself wedged somewhere it shouldn't be.
To prevent that from happening, Judy sings to him instead.
Later, the rowdy young folk get together to head on out to the partially built World's Fair ground, which should tell you something about the social opportunities in 1903 St. Louis. After this, they take a tour of the new sewer line and then spend the day staring at paint dry. Fortunately, their grandchildren will someday discover marijuana and aerosol huffing.
Anyway, it's the song that makes the movie as Judy flips her wig in a sea of vagina hats and gives us the classic Trolley Song:
Fabulous.
Fast forward and it's Halloween night. Rose helps Tootie and occasional sister Agnes with their costumes and sends them on their way.
HALLOWEEN IS COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL AS THE CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED RIOT IN THE STREET!
Was this what Halloween was like in the old days? No wonder people started slipping razor blades into the candy.
Anyway, something happens to Tootie and she winds up bloody and ranting about how Mr. Truitt beat her up. Everyone looks at Judy and silently blames her.
Judy FLIPS THE FUCK OUT and beats the shit out of Ball Juggler. If there was any doubt about his wussiness, getting beat up by JUDY FRIGGING GARLAND pretty much seals the deal.
Later, she finds out that Tootie made the whole thing up and instead got hurt - we're not kidding here - attempting to derail a trolley car. Judy wants to be mad at her, but she's just so darn cute that they laugh off her attempt to murder dozens of people and instead give her ice cream. That kid's a sociopath and her family's nothing but a bunch of enablers.
Judy goes to apologize to Wimpy Balls but he's never been so turned on in his life.
Later, Father comes home and, in a typical display of self-centeredness, announces that the whole family is moving to New York.
They are not thrilled.
Flash forward to winter and some real ickiness. Let me see if we've got this straight: occasional brother Lon was supposed to take this girl Lucille to the Christmas dance but she's going with Rose's obsession, Warren Sheffield. So, since neither of them have dates, he shyly asks his sister to come to the dance and she blushingly accepts like she's turned on. Then they make out It's a big pile of ew. Katie the maid is totally hot for this scene.
Y'know, if we'd had a maid growing up, we probably would have had elaborate mink-wearing snowmen too.
It's the night of the big Christmas dance and the girls enact a visual representation of Judy's entire tenure at MGM. Sprinkle a couple of pill bottles in the background and the tableau would be complete.
John shows up and tells Judy that he can't make it to the dance because he didn't pick up his tuxedo at the tailor's in time and now it's closed.
That is the lamest excuse we ever heard. Just tell her you're gay. Believe us, she won't mind.
Judy reacts like Judy to the news.
Grandpa is so turned on by the sound of her crying that he asks if he can escort her to the dance. Judy is repulsed, but really wants to wear her new dress. She agrees.
At the dance, the sisters maliciously fill out Lucille's dance card with every nerd and loser in the room. Let's get something straight here, bitches. One of you came as your brother's date and the other one came as your grandfathers. Neither of you have any room to be pulling this mean girl bullshit. Everyone's laughing at you behind your backs.
Warren shows up with Lucille and before she can get lost in space, she quickly assesses the situation and trades Warren off to Rose so she can make out with occasional brother.
Through gritted teeth and a fake smile, Rose tells Judy to lose the fucking dance card. NOW.
Judy is stuck dancing with every fat guy and pervert in the whole place...
...when Ball Puller shows up in a tuxedo without any explanation.
Just go with it. You don't need an explanation an hour and 40 minutes into a musical.
Later, he compliments her on her bedazzled babushka and asks her to marry him. Because the family is leaving in a few days, she's confused and unsure how to answer.
So she goes home and fucks with Tootie's head a bit just for kicks.
It works.
Father looks out the window, sees his youngest decapitating snowpeople in a blind rage and realizes if he takes her to New York, she'll wind up in an institution within a year.
He announces that they're staying in St. Louis and ...HUGS!
Flash forward to summer and the whole family is at the world's fair, where vagina hattery reigns supreme and even 5-year-olds are required to wear one.
All's well that ends well. Judy got the boy next door and she got to stay in St. Louis so she can lose her virginity to him. The nuns do not approve of her vulgar hat.
91 comments:
Wow, this timing is amazing.
Working all night at my computer, I stop for a moment to take a break and look for something interesting online. Nothing turns up on my usual sites. Then I remember, "hey, TLo promised us a Musical Monday this week!"
And there it is, just in time! And Meet Me in St. Louis, too! Definitely the better choice for musical wackiness.
Thanks, boys. You saved my poor, work-addled brain.
Oh my God! You have so completely outdone yourselves with this one (yet another Musical I have never seen).
Literally: tears in my eyes from laughing. I couldn't even begin to point out the best lines - there are just too damn many. Top form!
and thanks for bringing back the term "pocket hockey" - I haven't heard that in years.
Yay! Hilarious!
I'm always a little creeped out in the beginning of the movie when Agnes comes in the house from what?, running in the sprinkler?, spending the day down at the old fishing hole?, singing Meet Me In St Louis wearing nothing but soaking wet, thin cotton underwear. Instead of telling her to put some clothes on, her Mother just scolds her for dripping water on the kitchen floor!
I remember reading in one of Judy's biographies that when she filmed this she was having marital troubles and she and Tom Drake, aka John Truitt, attempted to have an affair. According to the book, the trouble was he was looking a guy too. I've always wondered if it was true.
Wonderful, funny commentary, an excellent way to bring back Musical Mondays!
BrianB
thank you
thank you
thank you
thank you
thank you
This was worth the wait.
Those nun vagina hats are MUCH worse than Judy's!
Man, I have got to find some way to work "It's a big pile of ew" into my conversation today (well, that and "bedazzled babushka").
I'm so glad Musical Mondays is BACK! The week is off to a great start. Thanks, guys!
...can't....stop....laughing....
the snowman is wearing fox, not mink.
and i loved the reference to 'lost in space' for june lockhart.
But no mention of how Vincent Minnelli made Judy just radiantly gorgeous in the whole movie, bad bangs and vagina hattery notwithstanding?
So glad to have Musical Mondays back! Thanks TLo!!
"Judy flips her wig in a sea of vagina hats" Ha! Oh, how I've missed this.
"That is the lamest excuse we ever heard. Just tell her you're gay. Believe us, she won't mind." Mind? Hell, wouldn't Judy marry you if she found that out? She met director Vincent Minnelli on the set (she was 21, he was 40ish & gay) and they married a year later.
"Warren shows up with Lucille and, before she can get lost in space..." Perfect! I forgot that June Lockhart was in this flick.
"You don't need and explanation an hour and 40 minutes into a musical." The insanity of musical plotlines make TLo dissection that much more delicious.
With the exception of Judy and dear annoying Margaret, the careers of the other Smith kids went no where.
TLo - your 'hunky' ice man is Chill Wills. He made about a zillion Westerns.
Big time labor organizing going on with the older men of the Smith family. The father was played by Leon Ames (who was in, well, everything on TV & in the movies through a very long career). Ames was also one of the organizers of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Not to be outddone by his screen son-in-law, Harry Davenport, the actor who played Grandfather, was one of the co-founders of the Actors Equity Association, the union for stage actors.
The movie was inspired by the autobiographical stories of writer Sally Benson in The New Yorker magazine. She was called Tootie as a child, thus O'Brien's insufferable character's name. In real life, Papa Benson DID move the family to New York and they never made it back to the World's Fair. Oddly enough, Benson would go on to write the classic Elvis/Ann-Margret musical "Viva Las Vegas." She also wrote the atrocious "The Singing Nun" with Debbie Reynolds.
After the rip-roaring success of "Meet Me in St. Louis" (it was huge), MGM planned on doing a series of Smith Family movies. There was a "Meet Me in Manhattan" planned since the real family did end up there. The idea never came to fruition.
The movie was made into a stage musical in 1989 and ran about 8 months on Broadway. George Hearn (of Brodway's "Sunset Boulevard" & "Sweeney Todd" fame) played Dad and Betty Garrett (from every other MGM musical and "All in the Family" & "Laverne & Shirley") played Katie, the maid. The stage musical just had a very well-reviewed run at the Paper Mill Playhouse in NJ.
Oh man, I have missed Musical Mondays! And one of my faves for sheer technicolor but color-coordinated fabulosity. And I haven't seen it in years - will have to find it somewhere.
They put Judy in so many overdone dresses, I just don't understand. And the red wig here just makes her look, well, they just hardly ever knew what to do with her, did they, other than just let her sing?
Now, I have to take a little umbrage at the Margaret O'Brien dislike. While Vincent may not have kept her very strictly under control she was an adorable little actor and not one of the ones who were just pretty little girls with no talent.
Thanks, TLo, for making my morning clang clang clang just a little!
Oh Bill, and you're back with film history, too, yay! Your posts are so enjoyable!
"Now we want garters for all our mirrors."
PERFECT! I've been wondering what to get you boys for Easter!
Thank you for a superb return to Musical Mondays -- I've missed these posts.
Too bad there isn't an overhead shot of Judy's hat at the end. You can tell that from the top, it's vagina-errific.
Ooh. Just thought of this. Mary Astor, who kicked Norma Shearer's ass in the Dames & Divas Deathmatch and was then trounced by Susan Hayward, played Margaret O'Brien's mother in this movie and also in "Little Women."
It's the June Allyson (ecch), Liz Taylor, Janet Leigh version of Little Women. It's great because O'Brien is Beth (spoiler alert!!!) so all you MO'B haters can see her die.
Were Judy's costumes-of-questionable-taste another attempt to disguise a few pounds? Jeez, there are worse things than looking a bit curvy.
Wonderful recap of a wonderful film, boys. My girl-crush on Marjorie Main just grows and grows every time I see her. If she were my maid I'd spend all my time drinking coffee in the kitchen with her.
Hooray! Thank you for this. Horny girl with oral skills. Mwah hah hah.
Great post Boys and welcome back! All I can think of when I hear "The Trolley Song" is Nora Dunn and Jan Hooks as the Sweeney Sisters on Saturday Night Live. So, A Star Is Born is up soon, right?? And not that Streisand mess version of it I hope!
So glad you're back, wonderful, as always! I love this movie, and I have never been able to figure out why. It really is a silly mess. Judy did look awfully pretty in this one, though.
Hey, Chill Wills was in Harvey Girls, too, wasn't he?
I didn't even recognize Mary Astor, my fantasy world alcoholic mother. She's so mousy here!
The best comment, no doubt? This little gem: 'Later, she finds out that Tootie made the whole thing up and instead got hurt - we're not kidding here - attempting to derail a trolley car. Judy wants to be mad at her, but she's just so darn cute that they laugh off her attempt to murder dozens of people and instead give her ice cream. That kid's a sociopath and her family's nothing but a bunch of enablers.' Everytime I've seen this film, I've thought the same thing. Personally, in my family, we'd have been in some big ass trouble. Assuming we could find a trolley car in the first place.
I can't stop laughing!
Lorenzo is right--Margaret O'Brien is insufferable.
Now I'll be singing "clang, clang, clang went the trolley!" all damn day.
So good to have MM back! You bitches are histerical as always. It sure beats season 4 of PR (so far).
"Back then, this was what "horny girl with oral skills" meant."
Thank you.
--GothamTomato
P.S.- Another great thing about the return of Musical Mondays is the return of Bill's encyclopedic commentaries.
Mirror garters and vagina hattery!
LOL
Welcome Back, Musical Mondays! I've missed your hilarious commentary, and Bill's encyclopedic knowledge of all things cinema.
Thanks for making my day!
Thanks for the return! I can watch Marjorie Main in anything.
I remember an interview with Judy regarding the "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" song and how she felt that she would be seen as a monster for singing that to a little girl. EW.com had a great story on that last year:
"In 1943, Martin and Ralph Blane were an already successful songwriting team hired to pen the songs for the movie musical Meet Me in St. Louis, which would pair Judy Garland with her future husband, director Vincente Minnelli. Though Martin and Blane shared credit for the tune, Martin was actually the sole writer of ''Merry Little Christmas,'' and a stubborn one. For the now-famous scene in which Garland and her little sister, a 7-year-old Margaret O'Brien, are despondent over the prospect of moving away from their cherished home, he wrote an initial set of lyrics that were almost comically depressing. Among the never-recorded couplets — which he now describes as ''hysterically lugubrious'' — were lines like: ''Have yourself a merry little Christmas/It may be your last.... Faithful friends who were dear to us/Will be near to us no more.''
''I often wondered what would it have been like if those lyrics had been sung in the movie,'' laughs O'Brien, now 69. ''But about a week before we were to shoot the scene where Judy sings it to me, she looked at the lyrics and said, 'Don't you think these are awfully dark? I'm going to go to Hugh Martin and see if he can lighten it up a little.'''
As Martin tells it, he initially balked at changing the words. ''They said, 'It's so dreadfully sad.' I said, 'I thought the girls were supposed to be sad in that scene.' They said, 'Well, not that sad.' And Judy was saying, 'If I sing that to that sweet little Margaret O'Brien, they'll think I'm a monster!' And she was quite right, but it took me a long time to get over my pride. Finally, Tom Drake [the young male lead], who was a friend, convinced me. He said, 'You stupid son of a b----! You're gonna foul up your life if you don't write another verse of that song!'''
See the rest of the story here:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1569872,00.html
"That kitchen smells like farts. You know it does."
Oh, You blindsided me with that one. I didn't see it coming at all. I think I'm going to be laughing about that line til the day I die.
THANK YOU!
I've been bemoaning the lack of Musical Monday-age for a few months now. You boys broke my little icy heart when you announced your break.
BUT NOW YOU'RE BACK!
And what a way to come back. DAYUM. I've laughed for hours over this. I'm loving it.
Looking at all these costumes with their poofy little cap sleeves, I kept thinking that perhaps Christian was one of the designers. But his parents probably hadn't been born when this movie was made.
Such joy is in my heart! Musical Mondays have made a triumphant return!!!!
"Now we want garters for all our mirrors."
I'll make them for you, darlings. In different colors for every season!
"That is the lamest excuse we ever heard. Just tell her you're gay. Believe us, she won't mind."
LOL!
I'm not that into musicals (I KNOW! Makes your wonder how I managed to get my gay license!) but I have actually seen this one. I don't remember all the attempted homocide, though.
"The nuns do not approve of her vulgar hat."
The nuns are in no position to be judging the head wear of others.
Oh, there's too much fun in this recap, I don't know where to start! Thanks for bringing the goods!
Oddly enough, I've never seen this movie in color! I guess that shows how long it's been since I last watched it. As a child, it was a favorite. Pretty gay, huh?
thanks boys. i just realized how much i missed musical mondays and you didnt miss a beat!
LOVE IT!
I absolutely love you for this. I have been wanting to see Meet Me in St. Louis up here forever- it is my father's and my favorite, and I just saw it. Amazing job- especially pointing out the nuns that have baffled me for years. Thank you so much!
(...But no comments on Rose's zoot suit complete with Zebra tie?)
Mondays are worth getting out of bed for again! Yeah! And you guys are back in great from (ok, how long did it take to come up with "this is what horny girl with oral skills used to mean"?)
As an added bonus, Musical film history with Bill is back, too!
"With the party over and the guests long gone, Rose prissily reminds Esther that Mr. Truitt needs to leave, lest his penis accidentally find itself wedged somewhere it shouldn't be."
Ok...I'll admit I LOST IT with this one. FABULOUS. I've missed these!
"horny girl with oral skills"
Geniosity, boys. It was worth the wait!!
Thanks for another memorable MM. You guys are beyond fabulous. Judy's outfits for the film are not. It's as if MGM had Scarlett O'Hara strip the drapes from every window in St. Louis to make them.
can i just say i LOVE this movie.
the only thing i didn't like about it was their pronunciation of the word ice CREAM.
the emPHAsis was on the word syLABble.
Suggest for next Monday :: Calamity Jane (one of my FAVORITES)
Awesome commentary. I just love this movie. I have it saved on DVR and watch it all the time. Clang, clang, clang goes the trolley.....
"Horny girl with oral skills" .....Jesus Christ on a bicycle, you bitches kill me. INSANE.
And duh, Judy thought she was seeing a younger version of herself. There's even a documentary about MMISL made in the mid-'90s where one of the extras in the cast was talking about Judy Garland telling the vagina-hatted extras how she pitied Margaret O'Brien because "she's no having any life/I've been there and I know what I'm talking about."
...I bet BILL knows about that!!!!
Also, I was *waiting* for you guys to bring up gay Vincent Minelli, especially when you kept poking fun of Judy's gay boyfriend on screen. Why didn't you seize that opportunity? For shame!
I'm a bit stunned some people have not seen this movie.
Great job, guys. This is one of my favorites.
This whole movie is like Tootie's character: half precious and half psychotic.
Where was Anna Freud in 1903? Because she needed to get to St. Louis STAT!
I can't believe you didn't mention MOB's character's truly psychotic behavior. What was the deal with all the dead dolls? And then talking about digging all the dolls up from around the yard to rebury in NY? "It's going to be a lovely funeral?" Ew.
The RunGay stuff is fab, but "Musical Mondays" are fucking GENIUS. Boys, you were sent to this Earth to enlighten gay-babies about camp and the fabulosity of homoculture. Keep up the good work!
Ha! Hilarious!! I'm soooo happy Musical Mondays has returned. I'm e-mailing this to my adoptive lesbian moms right now!!
My husband really loves this movie. Me, only in tiny bits and pieces.
I'm a beard, aren't I?
ps - thank you, bill, for the color commentary! Would it titillate you to know that my children went to the same grade school as Vincente and I have an office in the building that was his family's home and dance school? No ghosts, though. I checked.
My stomach hurts from laughing and my 14yo son just shook his head and left the room.
I'm late to the party - have you done "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" yet?
My eyes are glazing over at the thought of what you could do with that one...
I live for the moment during The Boy Next Door when Judy flips up her wig hair, and when she lets it go every single strand falls exactly back into place. It's my favorite movie moment ever.
it reminds mew of thew "gay test" in "Some of my best friends" tv series...
Clang clang clang went the_______
I think there were enough sly smiles and winks to indicate that the grandfather had SOMETHING to do with The Gay Next Door showing up at the Ball. I always thought he'd gotten the suit from the grandfather, for some reason. Mothballs. How creepy.
That picture of Robert Sully a.k.a. Warren Sheffield looks EXACTLY like James Marsden to me. Which is odd, because in the film, I don't remember him having a face. He was supremely bland.
atonement for the turn of the century midwestern crowd!
yipee!
but i seriously love this movie. I must suggest Calamity Jane again.
I haven't seen vagina hats in MONTHS! Thank you for posting them again!
'way too amused said...
I'm late to the party - have you done "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" yet?
Yes, we have. Check here.
XO
T&L
Oh, sweeties....
This is all too much fun.
I'd say the little blue dress was the best use of draperies since Scarlett O'Hara!
You've inspired me to change into my underwear and sing loudly, too. Of course, I'm hoping that a penis will wedge itself somewhere it shouldn't be because of this, which is totally odd since it'll have to magically appear tonight. Ah, well...a girl can always hope, can't she?
"Horny girl with oral skills"...LMAO! I can think of several ways to work that into my next inappropriate conversation with strangers.
agnes gooch said...
thank you, bill, for the color commentary! Would it titillate you to know that my children went to the same grade school as Vincente and I have an office in the building that was his family's home and dance school? No ghosts, though. I checked.
You're welcome, agnes gooch. Color me titillated re: your office. Ok, no ghosts. But did you find any of Mr. Minnelli's green eye shadow?
TLo said...and we're waiting for a special occasion to spring The Wizard of Oz on you,
I can hardly wait for that. I really loved those ruby slippers and Glinda... bet I'm the only one, right?
Which brings me to my next question. Has anyone seen the show Wicked? It's coming to town,and I'm wondering if it is suitable for children. I know people take kids to it, but I've read the book (which i liked) but....
For those of you who feel that the Trolley Song isn't gay enough, it should be known that a disco/techno remix does exist.
Sorry I can't post it.
Ok, I can see I need to save this to savor on Thursday morning as there will be PR episode this week. This will be my Christmas morning..thank you!
I'm so glad I have you guys to watch musicals with - my boyfriend refuses to be in the same room with one. Perils of being a straight girl . . .
sewing siren said...Has anyone seen the show Wicked? It's coming to town,and I'm wondering if it is suitable for children. I know people take kids to it, but I've read the book (which i liked) but....
Read the book and enjoyed it quite a bit. Was pumped for the musical. Huge let down for me because it didn't include a lot of what I liked about the book (the Time Dragon, the politics). I did not care for most of the music in the show (though I really like most of Schwartz's other shows). Ed, however, liked the show very much. I would think it perfectly accpetable for anyone 10 or older. Tween girls LOVE it. My sister and niece (13) saw it and raved. You get a lot of bang for your buck as far as costumes, sets & effects. I found it quite empty under all the flash, but I am definitely in the minority.
Ah my favorite bizarre musical gets the TL touch. Thanks so much ..what a great read.
flour, not flower
Speaking of psychotic --- what about when they ring that poor old man's door and then throw flower in his face....little bitch
Aww, I love "Meet Me In St. Louis"!
How about doing "Till The Clouds Roll By" which also features Judy and Lucille Bremer some time in the future.
sewingsiren, Wicked is an interesting show, but bears very little resemblance to the book. One of my daughters just couldn't deal with all the differences, and disliked the show as a result. The other said, "Well, as long as I didn't expect to see the book's plot during the musical, I enjoyed it."
The musical is seriously different from the book. More cute, less political -- though the political is still there. It also compresses the time frame of the book considerably.
There's one semi-sexy scene that may make kids under 12 or so roll their eyes, but the costumes and special effects are a lot of fun. We were lucky enough to see the original cast on Broadway way back when the show was new -- great fun.
I always wondered what they were doing cooking ketchup? Did people really do that? Had french friends been invented yet?
I love it when the prissy sister says, "men don't want the bloom rubbed off."
Frankly, they could have all used a bit of bloom-rubbing, IMO.
That was a brilliant commentary for my favorite movie! THANK YOU!
I've seen this movie probably 20 times and never noticed the YARD GNOMES behind Mr. Pocket Pool in the first scene.
Wonderful! Thank you.
Please please please do "The Opposite Sex" next!
Lol, perfect!
I saw this one for the first time this Christmas. I just loved it. I agree that O'Brien was a little irritating, but I kind of got a kick out of the character. Kids like that are funny, and often turn out to be really interesting and much less psychotic adults.
You know what, honey-pies? I love that I can feel the love here on this one. We all know that there's some highly mockable crap in a lot of these old musicals, but we love them anyway, in spite of (because of?) it all. Some of the MMs before were feeling maybe a little imbalanced on the derision/adoration ratio, but this one feels just right. Good work, m'ijos!
the nun's vagina hats have labia.
Darn you, Tom and Lorenzo! Now my kids and I are running around the house singing "The Trolley Song." My wife is begging us to stop.
Of course, I probably didn't help matters by finding other versions of it on YouTube.
Disney actress Christy Carlson Romano does a decent (if slightly under pitch) live version.
But nothing beats Lainie Kazan's jazzy version from an old Dean Martin show. (This clip combines "Trolley" with a separate clip of her belting "I Loves You Porgy").
Wow. Who knew the woman from "My Favorite Year" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" had such pipes?
Thanks Bill (I knew I could count on you) and TWC, for the "Wioked" reviews. Even though two of the monsters are under 10, I think I will risk it. They are pretty familiar with the more obscure characters, as I have read them most of the books in the series. I think they will be fine with it being all about the costumes and music, but I hope they don't take out the underline theme of the preception of good and evil.
sewing siren, Wicked has got a great friendship, girl-power groove running through it. Let's you look at the good & bad (and perceptions of each) in both Elphaba and Galinda. A little too pat and treacly in the end, but, hey, it's a musical.
thanks TLo. I'm home sick and this was just what I needed to cheer me up !
I had a fantastic moment of confusion for the first few lines as I mentally mixed and matched the family members from Meet Me in St. Louis with Shadow of a Doubt...then I remembered that they aren't the same movie. Not quite sure how those wires got mixed in my brain, but it was fun while it lasted!
potty mouth princess:
"I've seen this movie probably 20 times and never noticed the YARD GNOMES behind Mr. Pocket Pool in the first scene."
I know, seriously, I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I saw this at TLo!
potty mouth princess:
"I've seen this movie probably 20 times and never noticed the YARD GNOMES behind Mr. Pocket Pool in the first scene."
I know, seriously, I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I saw this at TLo!
I don't know which is worse. Reading this at work because my hard drive at home is dead, and trying not to laugh too loudly (I'm choking to death in the corner, here)... or knowing that when I get home I won't be able to read it in the privacy of my apartment and howl like a banshee.
This was one of your best. I still say you should write a book "reviewing" musicals as only you can. Instant best seller.
This is kind of random but I was wondering if you take Musical Monday requests? I'm sitting here watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and it would be absolutely hilarious and awesome if you would do a Musical Monday for it. Please take it into consideration!
I love you guys!
OMG!! That was hilarious and made my day.
I think the costumers used the same inspriation piece as Christian did for last night's PR challenge. :)
Can't wait to read more. A book PUL-Leez.
Utterly, utterly, faaaaabulous!!
You guys are unbelievably hilarious! I don't think I stopped laughing the whole time I was reading.
I am at work on a dreary Saturday and saw about this blog from Rolling Stone. I laughed my head off, which isn't necessary for today's work anyway. Thank Yo uand Bravo!
I had to LAUGH when Carrie's assistant gave this to Carrie in the SATC movie. Too Funny!
-burnsie
so i am watching this on tcm right now and judy's outfit for halloween made me think of jeffrey's outfit for the final 4...the red white and blue one...i dont know why, i think it was the colors and the random dots, balls?, that he put on the top that made me think of it. but i felt the need to comment since it was a weird project runway moment while watching meet me in st louis
-rachel
OMFG -- funniest fucking thing I have read on the 'tubes in a long time... and to think I was just searching for a picture of "Tootie", the deranged little bitch (and my hero of the film!)
You almost made me spit-take Diet Pepsi all over my laptop. Thought you were mean to Grandpa for no damn reason other than you are some catty bitches, but otherwise, hilarious.
Ahhh another one of my favorite movies and you guys just made it THAT much better! Now Im off to go watch it!
I think youre right about Tootie being a sociopath though!!
Keep up the good work!
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