History Trivia / MeetMeInStLouis

-->"She was recording at night and playing in the picture in the day, and people got annoyed when she was late on the set, and when she got jittery and weepy with fatigue."

* BillingDisplacement: Margaret O'Brien is billed second, despite Lucille Bremer (Rose) and Tom Drake (John) having more prominent roles. This is because she was at the height of her child star popularity - coming off ''Literature/JaneEyre'' and ''Journey For Margaret''.

* TroubledProduction: Creator/JudyGarland proved to be very difficult on set. Initially she didn't care for the role, and would often read the lines in a self-depricating way as if she were poking fun at the material. She also tried to skip many of the rehearsals for the dance numbers. She was frequently late to the set and delayed filming. Vincente Minnelli was eventually able to coax a good performance out of her, and she grew to love the role. She later called Esther one of her favourite characters to play.

** Garland reportedly disliked Lucille Bremer. Garland felt that Bremer's acting was subpar and tried to have her removed from the film. Nevertheless, Garland was unsuccessful, as Bremer had many allies in the upper management at Creator/{{MGM}} who considered her a bright and up-and-coming talent (she was also romantically involved with producer Arthur Freed at the time). Additionally, Garland's many missed days of filming and late arrivals weakened her position when it came to the situation involving Bremer.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Mildly. Creator/MaryAstor gave Creator/JudyGarland a talking to after she was repeatedly late to set and kept everyone waiting for hours. She later admitted she had no idea that Judy was being overworked:

** Garland reportedly disliked Lucille Bremer. Garland felt that Bremer's acting was subpar and tried to have her removed from the film. Nevertheless, Garland was unsuccessful, as Bremer had many allies in the upper management at Creator/{{MGM}} who considered her a bright and up-and-coming talent. Additionally, Garland's many missed days of filming and late arrivals weakened her position when it came to the situation involving Bremer.

* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/JudyGarland met Creator/VincenteMinnelli on the film and they later married. They were already living together when the film entered post-production.

-->''Meet Me in St. Louis'' is my personal favourite. I got along wonderfully with Judy, but the only time we were ever on the outs was when we did this film. She didn't want to do the picture. Even her mother came to me about it. We bumped into some trouble with some opinions – Eddie Mannix, the studio manager, thought the Halloween sequence was wrong, but it was left in. There was a song that Rodgers and Hammerstein had written, called Boys and Girls Like You and Me, that Judy did wonderfully, but it slowed up the picture and it was cut out. After the preview of the completed film, Judy came over to me and said, "Arthur, remind me not to tell you what kind of pictures to make." [It] was the biggest grosser Metro had up to that time, except for ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''.

--> "She was recording at night and playing in the picture in the day, and people got annoyed when she was late on the set, and when she got jittery and weepy with fatigue."

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Songs:
*** #26, "The Trolley Song"
*** #76, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
** AFISGreatestMovieMusicals: #10

* AFIS100YearsSeries:

* DeletedScene: A scene after "The Trolley Song" was filmed where Esther and John walk through the fairgrounds under construction - set to the Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein song "Girls And Boys Like You And Me". This is why John says near the end "I liked it better when it was just a swamp, and it was you and me."

* CreatorBacklash: Composer Hugh Martin didn't enjoy his time working on the film, due to clashes with producers and disliking the "one-upmanship" of the MGM hierarchy.
* CreatorsFavoriteEpisode: Creator/JudyGarland regarded this film as one of her favourites.
** Arthur Freed named this as his favorite of the many musical films he produced for MGM.
* CutSong: "Boys and Girls Like You and Me", which was supposed to take place after "The Trolley Song". It was originally written for ''{{Theatre/Oklahoma}}'' but was cut there too. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoNgPQiB7QA Here's the audio]].

* EnforcedMethodActing: In order to get Margaret O'Brien to cry when it was required, her mother would whisper something in her ear before the take. Vincente Minnelli later found out it was saying someone was going to kill her pet dog. Margaret however denied the story years later, claiming "my mother never would have allowed that."

* HostilityOnTheSet: Mildly. Mary Astor gave Judy Garland a talking to after she was repeatedly late to set and kept everyone waiting for hours. She later admitted she had no idea that Judy was being overworked:

* NonSingingVoice: Producer Arthur Freed dubbed the singing voice for Leon Ames in the song "You and I," which was written by Nacio Herb Brown and Freed, who had begun his career as a lyricist. Creator/MaryAstor's voice was dubbed by Denny Markas..

** Judy Garland recorded "The Trolley Song" in one take.

* PropRecycling: The four-horse fountain seen at the fair was later used in ''Film/AnAmericanInParis''.

* ThoseTwoActors: Leon Ames and Mary Astor starred together in ''Any Number Can Play'' and the 1949 version of ''Literature/LittleWomen'' - which also starred Margaret O'Brien.

* ActorAllusion: Creator/MaryAstor had played Creator/JudyGarland's mother in ''Listen, Darling'' six years previously.

** Judy Garland was 21 playing a 17-year-old (She almost didn't do the film because of that).

* HollywoodHypeMachine: Lucille Bremer, who played Rose, made her film debut and MGM were testing her as a potential star. She was however blamed for the failure of ''Yolanda & the Thief'', MGM lost interest quickly, and she eventually quit acting in 1948.

* NonSingingVoice: Leon Ames was dubbed by Arthur Freed for the song "You and I".

* StillbornFranchise: There was supposed to be a sequel called ''Meet Me in Manhattan'', but it never got past the planning stages. In 1966, there were plans for a ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' SitCom. It got as far as a {{Pilot}}, which starred Shelley Fabares as Esther and traded the songs for a LaughTrack. No network picked it up, but it's included as an extra on the film's DVD release.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Sally Benson based the stories on her own experiences as a little girl in St Louis. She was called "Tootie" as a little girl, her maiden name was Smith, and she sometimes published under the pseudonym "Esther Evarts".

* FatalMethodActing: A near miss. A lighting man who was annoyed that his daughter had been passed over for the role of Tootie intentionally dropped a heavy spotlight near where Margaret O'Brien was standing. It narrowly missed her, and the man was later admitted to a mental hospital for his action.s

* DawsonCasting: Judy Garland was 21 playing a 17-year-old (She almost didn't do the film because of that).

* RomanceOnTheSet: Creator/JudyGarland met Creator/VincenteMinnelli on the film and they later married.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Sally Benson based the stories on her own experiences as a little girl in St Louis. She was called 'Tootie' as a little girl, and her maiden name as Smith.

* ActorAllusion: Mary Astor had played Creator/JudyGarland's mother in ''Listen, Darling'' six years previously.

* DeletedScene: A scene after "The Trolley Song" was filmed where Esther and John walk through the fairgrounds under construction - set to the Music/RogersAndHammerstein song "Girls And Boys Like You And Me". This is why John says near the end "I liked it better when it was just a swamp, and it was you and me."

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Sally Benson based the stories on her own experiences as a little girl in St Louis. She was called 'Tootie' as a little girl.

* AFIS100Years100Songs:
** #26, "The Trolley Song"
** #76, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
* AFISGreatestMovieMusicals: #10
* ActorAllusion: Mary Astor had played Judy Garland's mother in ''Listen, Darling'' six years previously.

* RomanceOnTheSet: Judy Garland met Vincente Minnelli on the film and they later married.

* TroubledProduction: Judy Garland proved to be very difficult on set. Initially she didn't care for the role, and would often read the lines in a self-depricating way as if she were poking fun at the material. She also tried to skip many of the rehearsals for the dance numbers. She was frequently late to the set and delayed filming. Vincente Minnelli was eventually able to coax a good performance out of her, and she grew to love the role. She later called Esther one of her favourite characters to play.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** The first lines of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" went ''Have yourself a merry little Christmas/it may be your last''. Judy Garland found it too depressing and refused to sing it to little Margaret O'Brien.
** A scene after "The Trolley Song" was filmed where Esther and John walk through the fairgrounds under construction - set to the Rogers & Hammerstein song "Girls And Boys Like You And Me". This is why John says near the end "I liked it better when it was just a swamp, and it was you and me."

* StillbornFranchise: There was supposed to be a sequel called ''Meet Me in Manhattan'', but it never got past the planning stages. In 1966, there were plans for a ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' SitCom. It got as far as a {{Pilot}}, which starred Shelley Fabares as Esther and traded the songs for a LaughTrack. No network picked it up, but it's included as an extra on the film's DVD release.

* StillbornFranchise: There was supposed to be a sequel called ''Meet Me in Manhattan'', but it never got past the planning stages.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In 1966, there were plans for a ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' SitCom. There was a {{Pilot}}, which remade the movie as a half-hour show without songs, a [[DawsonCasting new cast]], and a LaughTrack. No network picked it up, but it's included as an extra on the film's DVD release.

* StillbornFranchise: There was supposed to be a sequel called ''Meet Me in Manhattan'', but it never got past the planning stages.

* DawsonCasting: Judy Garland was 21 playing a 17-year-old (She almost didn't do the film because of that).

* BreakawayPopHit: How many people actually know that "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" was written for this film?