Thursday, December 22, 2005

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

For those of you about to leave for holiday excursions: Have a good one. I didn't want you to be off without hearing a Happy Holidays "Merry Happy Christmahan-- akwanzukkah" from The Film Experience.

My favorite Christmas song is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and there's nothing better than hearing Judy Garland sing it. In lieu of sound, here is a lovely photo to gaze on from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) which contains both this cherished song and Judy's second best film performance. Her best, the one that should have brought her a slam dunk Oscar 10 years later, was in A Star is Born (1954). In what was possibly the kick off of the torturous "de-glam" Oscar-Bait gimmick Grace Kelly took the prize that year. She won for playing a longsuffering frumpy wife in The Country Girl. "Look I'm pretty. But I look crappy! If that's not award worthy, what is?!" This gimmick has won umpteen Oscars since and is like annual salt poured on my filmgoing wounds. Or at least fuel poured on the fire of doubts about AMPAS aesthetic discernment skills. Judy's performance is roughly 87 times more impressive. Don't even trust me on this one. See both for yourselves. You'll weep for the injustice.

Ooh, sorry got sidetracked there --Meet Me in St. Louis.

Back to Meet Me in St. Louis! Its riches don't end with Garland's beautifully sung and heartfelt star turn. It's also a heck of a movie, one of Vincent Minelli's best. It's exquisitely shot by George Folsey (who was Oscar nominated. Nobody ever made Judy look lovelier), with a fine ensemble cast. If Christmas isn't your bag, the film takes time for other holidays as well. Consider this a holiday week edition of "Classic Movie of the Week."

...and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nat,

Funny that you mentioned "Meet Me in Saint Louis" because it's listed as Movie of the Day on IMDb. Coincidence, no? Excellent choice, most def!

Merry Christmas!

Marco

russtifer said...

Merry Christmas, Nathaniel. ;)

Anonymous said...

Yes, and Merry Christmas back atcha Nat. And on behalf of, well... me, thanks for another year of online greatness (the gift that keeps on giving all through the year!)

Now get those chestnuts off the open fire. It's a hazard.

Rob

Anonymous said...

Thanks for clarifying what Garland clip was featured in The Family Stone. I'll have to watch Meet Me in St. Louis some time. Besides The Wizard of Oz I've yet to see a Judy Garland performance.

Glenn Dunks said...

Same here Dave.

Clearly the best Christmas song ever is "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey, duh!

lol, Merry XMas and all that it entrails.

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas, Mr. Rogers.

Marcelo.

par3182 said...

trust you to pick my fave festive tune.

'meet me in st louis' and 'a christmas story' are the only christmas films that don't make me want to barf.

and on that classy note - happy festivus nate.

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