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Vincente Minnelli's 1944 MGM musical delivered wartime uplift, but its sadness for time passing also helps nail its ‘Christmas classic’ status. Sepia scenesetting snapshots burst into Technicolor, setting a tone of romantic reflection for the 1903-04 tale of a family rocked by dad’s threat of an NYC move.
A poignant Judy Garland blazes like a bauble singing ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ in MGM’s first musical to interweave songs and plot. Meanwhile, Margaret O’Brien’s wittily morbid Tootie ‘kills’ her snowmen, adding spice to help the sugar go down in this bittersweet and beautiful hymn to homefront joy and pain.
