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Published: 15 December, 2011
by DAN CARRIER

Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Certificate: PG

Rating: 4 Out Of 5 Stars

Classic Judy Garland fare hits our screens again in time for Christmas.

It will please those who have seen it hundreds of times – great to see it as it was meant to be shown, on a big screen – and will be marvellous for first-timers too, to get into a soppy Christmas mood.

It started as a magazine series run in eight instalments and was made into a film in 1944.

This MGM classic tells of four sisters living in Missouri at the turn of the 1900s.

St Louis is about to host the world trade fair but the four sisters have to face the fact they are about to up sticks and move to New York, due to daddio having a job promotion.

As with all films made during the period, there are undertones of war propaganda – the idea of the family discussing what truths they hold dear (namely that things will return to normal, and that they can stay in their home town if they really want to).

It is in a glorious Technicolor that would have made the drabness of war seem a long way away – and has songs to raise the spirits.

Garland is on top form.

It could be seen as a little folksy nowadays, but this is one of the greatest musicals ever made from a studio stable who knew a thing or two about musicals.

I’ve been humming the title song since the credits rolled.