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The Harvey Girls
Judy Garland had one of her biggest hits at MGM with a 1946 romp called The Harvey Girls which works thanks to a clever story, some terrific songs, and a solid cast.
Garland plays Susan Bradley, a young mail order bride traveling by train to a western town called Sand Rock where she's agreed to marry a man she's never met (Chill Wills). She meets a group of young women who are moving to the same town to work as waitresses in the expanding Fred Harvey Restaurant chain. Susan's engagement doesn't work out partially because she learns the letters that made her fall in love were actually written by a man named Ned Trent (John Hodiak).
Susan decides to join the the Harvey waitresses whose new restaurant gets involved in a turf war with the saloon across the street, owned by Trent. Trent finds himself attracted to Susan, much to the chagrin of a hardened saloon singer named Em (Angela Lansbury) who is also crazy for Trent, even though she might be in denial about it.
MGM pulled out all the stops for this elaborate western musical romp, anchored by a surprisingly meaty story from screenwriters Edmond Beloin and Nathaniel Curtis that has an almost West Side Story sensibility to it as we watch the battle between the good girls at the restaurant and the rowdy girls at the saloon and their battle which starts with the saloon boys stealing the restaurant's meat but escalates pretty quickly.
The musical numbers serve the story and never interfere with it. Highlights include a couple of Garland solos "In the Valley" and "My Intuition", a trio with Garland, Virginia O'Brien and Cyd Charisse called "It's a Great Big World", O'Brien's "The Wild Wild West" and of course the big production number "On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe", which features elaborate vocal arrangements by Kay Thompson and effective staging by Robert Alton and also won the Oscar for Best Original Song of 1946.
Garland is backed by a first rate cast here. John Hodiak was an offbeat choice as a leading man for Garland, his rugged good looks and toothy Don Ameche-type grin were most appealing. Garland is reunited with her Wizard of Oz co-star Ray Bolger here who has an incredible tap solo that is also worth the price of admission. Virginia O'Brien's deadpan delivery still works and a very young Cyd Charisse shows a glimpse of the star she would become. Needless to say, Angela Lansbury steals every scene she's in (though her singing is dubbed). A joyous and nearly forgotten gem from the MGM dream factory.
Judy Garland had one of her biggest hits at MGM with a 1946 romp called The Harvey Girls which works thanks to a clever story, some terrific songs, and a solid cast.
Garland plays Susan Bradley, a young mail order bride traveling by train to a western town called Sand Rock where she's agreed to marry a man she's never met (Chill Wills). She meets a group of young women who are moving to the same town to work as waitresses in the expanding Fred Harvey Restaurant chain. Susan's engagement doesn't work out partially because she learns the letters that made her fall in love were actually written by a man named Ned Trent (John Hodiak).
Susan decides to join the the Harvey waitresses whose new restaurant gets involved in a turf war with the saloon across the street, owned by Trent. Trent finds himself attracted to Susan, much to the chagrin of a hardened saloon singer named Em (Angela Lansbury) who is also crazy for Trent, even though she might be in denial about it.
MGM pulled out all the stops for this elaborate western musical romp, anchored by a surprisingly meaty story from screenwriters Edmond Beloin and Nathaniel Curtis that has an almost West Side Story sensibility to it as we watch the battle between the good girls at the restaurant and the rowdy girls at the saloon and their battle which starts with the saloon boys stealing the restaurant's meat but escalates pretty quickly.
The musical numbers serve the story and never interfere with it. Highlights include a couple of Garland solos "In the Valley" and "My Intuition", a trio with Garland, Virginia O'Brien and Cyd Charisse called "It's a Great Big World", O'Brien's "The Wild Wild West" and of course the big production number "On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe", which features elaborate vocal arrangements by Kay Thompson and effective staging by Robert Alton and also won the Oscar for Best Original Song of 1946.
Garland is backed by a first rate cast here. John Hodiak was an offbeat choice as a leading man for Garland, his rugged good looks and toothy Don Ameche-type grin were most appealing. Garland is reunited with her Wizard of Oz co-star Ray Bolger here who has an incredible tap solo that is also worth the price of admission. Virginia O'Brien's deadpan delivery still works and a very young Cyd Charisse shows a glimpse of the star she would become. Needless to say, Angela Lansbury steals every scene she's in (though her singing is dubbed). A joyous and nearly forgotten gem from the MGM dream factory.