November 22, 1944: The film Meet Me
In St. Louis premieres, in its title city. It includes the title song (which makes it clear that, at least in the film, the city's name is pronounced "Saint LOU-ee," not "Saint LOU-iss"), and introduces "The
Trolley Song" (You know: "Clang-clang-clang went the trolley…"), and "Have
Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Soon, the film's star, Judy Garland, and
its director, Vincente Minnelli, would marry. (Their daughter, Liza Minnelli, was born on March 12, 1946.)
The film is set in St. Louis, from Summer 1903 to the Spring of 1904, and the start of a World's Fair, celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase.
Supposedly, the hamburger, the hot dog, the waffle-style ice cream cone, peanut
butter, cotton candy and iced tea were all introduced at that Fair. None of
that is true, although it did popularize them all, along with the soft drink Dr. Pepper. The
1904 Olympics were also conducted in connection with the Fair.
Among the other stars were Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart and Hugh Marlowe. As of November 22, 2022, only Lockhart is still alive.
CBS remade it for television in 1959, with Jane Powell, Tab Hunter, Jeanne Crain, Patty Duke, Walter Pidgeon, Ed Wynn and Myrna Loy. A non-musical TV version aired in syndication in 1966, with Shelley Fabares, Celeste Holm and Morgan Brittany. And a Broadway musical based on it was staged in 1989.
*
November 22, 1944 was a Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, traditionally a day when studios release films in the hope of a big opening long weekend. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And no games were scheduled in the NHL. So there were no scores on this historic day.
No comments:
Post a Comment