Les demoiselles Harvey

Even though the film starred Judy Garland, what I really enjoyed about The Harvey Girls is that it operates as an ensemble musical, giving features and spotlight numbers to just about everyone in the mammoth cast. This kind of thing is usually reserved for stage musicals only, but back in 1946 MGM's roster of talent was strong, if not yet infamous. Players like deadpan comic Virginia O'Brien and dancer Cyd Charisse were fairly new back then, but this film gives them individual spotlights: not only do they both sing with Garland in the nighttime ballad "It's A Great Big World," but O'Brien gets to sing "The Wild, Wild West" (while assisting blacksmith Ray Bolger in shoeing a horse) and Charisse gets to dance (briefly) opposite Kenny Baker singing "Wait And See." Marjorie Main leads the Harvey waitresses through "The Train Must Be Fed;" Angela Lansbury is featured in two saloon numbers, and Ray Bolger gets to do some of his rubber-legged clowning at the Harvey House party. And, of course, everyone on the planet is assembled for the big, eight minute production number "On The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe." There's literally something for everyone- even the oil-and-water romance between Garland and John Hodiak. And they shine as well, even if Hodiak wasn't the most well-known leading man. Check out this wonderfully scored, written, acted, and costumed tribute to old-fashioned Americana.

Ah...The Harvey Girls!

What can I say? In the mood for a little escapism? Do you enjoy classic Hollywood musicals? This MGM extravaganza is not to be missed!

Garland at her winsome best in material specifically tailored to her considerable talents - this is just before everything really started to sour in her professional life, and she never looked better. The material she's given to work with not only gives her the classic "Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe" to perform, but some wonderful comedic bits as well.

In the ensemble numbers, you can actually see her, as well as the rest of the cast, enjoying the moment as they filmed.

Beautifully photographed - a superb supporting cast who all get a moment to shine including Ray Bolger, Virginia O'brien, Marjorie Main, a very young Cyd Charisse and a stunning young Angela Lansbury.

MGM at the peak of it's creative and artistic powers - must see viewing for any fan of "The Golden Age" of Hollywood - check it out!

This works quite well as light entertainment. It has a good cast, with Judy Garland giving a lively performance in the lead role. The setting is rather stylized, but it is interesting, and it provides some good story material. The story has quite a few amusing moments, with just enough substance to keep it moving. There is also the top-notch "Atchison, Topeka, & the Santa Fe" number, which would almost make a musical worth watching all by itself.

The story of the conflict between the "Harvey Girls" and their rivals across the road is sometimes a little exaggerated, but it is relatively interesting and it makes for some good sequences. The female cast members get most of the best moments, and they generally use them well. Angela Lansbury seems quite natural as Garland's disagreeable nemesis, Virginia O'Brien has some good lines, and Marjorie Main is quite lively. There's more than enough to make it an enjoyable, if light, feature.

The Harvey Girls, a film to celebrate the first of the fast food chains which quite frankly would be what the Harvey Restaurant chain was back in the modernizing west. There are folks in the town who don't want to see the Harvey Restaurant established and thereby hangs the tale of this film.

Preston Foster is the town boss and John Hodiak runs the saloon. These guys thrive on the town being in the Wild West accent on the wild. Foster's a rather shrewd villain, he realizes that the clean cut virginal Harvey girls who are servers might make the men forget the loose women of the saloon and that if they court and marry them and start raising families, they might demand a little law and order. That would be a disaster for Foster. Better to cut the problem off at the root.

Hodiak however is a jaded sort and bored with the loose women of his establishment. In a cinema not under the Code influence, Angela Lansbury and her crew would be prostitutes. He kind of likes the idea of the Harvey Restaurant coming to town and likes it better when Judy Garland comes to town.

Judy's come to town as a mail order bride, but when she sees Chill Wills is the prospective groom, both of them decide they're not suited for each other. Hodiak has been writing Wills's letters, a plot device that was used in the Joseph Cotten-Jennifer Jones film Love Letters. If you know about that film, you know how The Harvey Girls turns out.

The Harvey Girls has come down in cinema history because of the famous On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe number. The song itself won an Academy Award in 1946 for best original song and the number as staged by MGM is one of the longest and most complex in the annals of film. It runs about 20 minutes and just about every member of the cast except Hodiak and Foster get a line or two in the song. Of course it ends with Judy as well it should have.

One thing I don't understand though is the under use of both Ray Bolger and Kenny Baker. Bolger of course had co-starred with Judy in The Wizard Of Oz, but he was far more known for being a Broadway star than a film player. He had just come off a big run in the last Rodgers&Hart musical By Jupiter. Kenny Baker was a famous radio singer who also had starred on Broadway in Kurt Weill's One Touch Of Venus with Mary Martin. Why these guys got the supporting roles they did is a mystery to me. I suspect both of them had a lot of their parts end up on the cutting room floor.

MGM editing mastery was at its best in The Harvey Girls. The film was partially done on location and partially done at Culver City. The editing is so smooth you really can't tell.

Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer wrote the score for The Harvey Girls and while the Atchison number dwarfs the rest, there's a song called It's A Great Big World that gets sadly neglected. It was sung by Judy Garland, Virginia O'Brien, and someone dubbing Cyd Charisse who first got noticed in this film for her dancing.

As I said before if done today if some gazillionaire would finance a remake, Angela and her saloon girls would be portrayed more frankly as working girls. But that would also cause the film to lose some of its naive charm. And this film holds up quite well for 63 years and counting.

As a lover of musicals and of Judy Garland, I watched The Harvey Girls and I really liked it on the whole. The plot though is cardboard especially in the second half and John Hodiak for my liking gives a rather lacklustre performance. Still it is worth seeing. The film with its beautiful costumes, scenery and photography does look gorgeous, the music is fantastic particularly the climatic set-piece On the Atchison, Topeka and The Santa Fe, the choreography is magnificent and the first half is great fun. The film is directed lovingly by George Sidney, and while Angela Lansbury and Ray Bolger are excellent, this is Judy Garland's film and she is absolutely wonderful. Overall, a lovely film. 8/10 Bethany Cox