YMMV / The Harvey Girls

• Awesome Music: "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", a brilliant Crowd Song that was apparently nailed by all the performers on the first take. It was released a year before the film and completely dominated the charts.
• Crosses the Line Twice: The magnificent scene of Susan trying to force the saloon to give the restaurant their meat back. She's a Naïve Everygirl who's never held a gun before, and she goes into a crowded room holding two pistols. She lets two of them off accidentally, only avoiding hitting someone through sheer luck. It's also a Moment of Awesome for her, considering she uses this to establish that Harvey House is here to stay.
• One-Scene Wonder: Kenny Baker really makes the most of his one song "It's About Time".
• Padding:
  • "Wild Wild West" serves no real purpose to the story, except to showcase Virginia O'Brien with a solo song. The fact that Alma disappears after this (due to her actress's pregnancy) makes it more extraneous.
  • There is also an extended dance sequence in the ball scene that again just showcases Ray Bolger and puts the plot on hold. Egregious because there was a song centered around Susan's backstory ("March of the Doagies") cut in favor of this one.
• Questionable Casting: To this day, people are left scratching their heads at why Angela Lansbury of all people was dubbed in her singing. Word of God is that her voice was "too good" for such a character. According to Lansbury herself, her singing voice at the time was more of a soprano, and was deemed inappropriate for the character of Em. So the studio opted to dub her over with the throaty tones of Virginia Rees.
• Retroactive Recognition: Cyd Charisse made her film debut here. She'd later become known for her dancing alongside Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: "It's a Great Wide World" - a soft and soothing three part harmony where Susan, Alma and Deborah sing about their backgrounds and ambitions. Fittingly enough, they sing it right before bed.
• Values Resonance:
  • Susan gives Em a little speech at the end that says there's nothing wrong with either of their lifestyles, and that each form of entertainment has its own audience and market. While Em and her girls are Family Friendly Strippers or maybe burlesque performers, if you interpret them as prostitutes or strippers, then it's a rather nice moral on not demonizing sex work. Notably Deborah said early on she wanted to be a dancer, but couldn't because her family thought it wasn't respectable. Em also has a Heel–Face Turn.
  • Susan also chooses not to get married to a man she has no chemistry with and barely knows; instead choosing to take up a career at the Harvey House restaurant. Rather than demonising the waitresses or showing it as a Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job, the movie shows them as hard workers who are dedicated to customer service. Susan likewise refuses to make Ned give up everything just for her, pointing out that relationships are about compromise.