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Monday, July 04, 2005
The Harvey Girls DVD Review
The Harvey Girls is a big, over-the-top musical released in 1946. It's based on the novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams about the true story of the girls hired to travel west and work as waitresses in Fred Harvey's "Harvey Houses". Judy Garland stars and sings Johnny Mercer's song "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" which won an Academy Award for Best Song (and which I had to learn in 6th grade music class.)
Angela Lansbury plays the heavy, the madam of the girls who work the saloon across the street from the Harvey House. Of course, I know Angela Lansbury mainly from "Murder, She Wrote," so it was great to see her in a completely different kind of role. She was only about 20 when this movie was made (a few years younger than Judy Garland), but she has such a great menacing screen presence. (I could barely tie my shoes when I was 20.) Among Angela Lansbury's many talents is a fine singing voice, but (according to the director's commentary) her singing was dubbed in this movie, much to her chagrin.
The man she's singing to is Ned Trent played by John Hodiak. Hodiak, a veteran of many films, died in 1955 at the age of 41 from a heart attack. Men, get your blood pressure checked! There are a lot of other well-known faces in this movie: Ray Bolger (Wizard of Oz), Marjorie Main (probably best known for her role as Ma Kettle) and even Cyd Charisse. And check out that tastefully draped statue on the stairway. John Ashcroft must have been the set dresser!
Another great thing about the DVD is the director's commentary. George Sidney directed a lot of well-known movie musicals: Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate, Show Boat, Bye, Bye Birdie and Anchors Aweigh with that wonderful dancing sequence with Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse. The director's commentary for Harvey Girls turns out to be an excellent bit of Hollywood history. He rambles a bit, but he tells some great stories like when they had to shut down production of the film when FDR died and that although the song says the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe goes all the way to Californ-I-A, it doesn't actually go as far as California, but Johnny Mercer needed the rhyme.
The movie also features some really colorful and over-the-top costumes. Stuff no self-respecting cowboy would be caught dead in!
Ok, so I confess, it's been like a year since I've seen this movie, so it's not as fresh in my mind as it ought to be to do a DVD review, but it's still a fun movie and highly recommended for good family entertainment.