They’re showing Meet Me in St. Louis on TCM. I’ve got mixed feelings about this MGM musical but I’ve got no such conflict over Judy Garland’s incredible performance in the movie.
There’s one little bit of trivia that occurs to me every time I watch the movie. Many years ago I heard a radio interview with the lyricist for Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Ralph Blane. He said that the original (rejected) opening lines for the song are:
Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
It could be the last.
From now on we’ll all be living in the past.
Now that’s cheery, isn’t it? But it does fit in better with the dialogue leading up to the song.
It also seems to match rather nicely with the battle over Christmas in our society… that important part of the overall war on culture so many deny exists.
I love that one. Especially that part, how she sings the song as I’ve always thought it should be, sad and wistful, not at all happy.
I’ve never seen it, but her rendition of that song is lovely