Customer Reviews

The Harvey Girls [VHS]

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Hats off to Ted Turner's crew and their partners at Warner Home Video for a simply stunning DVD presentation of THE HARVEY GIRLS. The film looks sumptuous. A thrilling example of Technicolor at its most splendid. Although THE HARVEY GIRLS is a thoroughly delightful entertainment, there isn't much substance to the plot. It seems to hardly matter, as the film's major virtues are its great score by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren, superb performances from a great cast, and of course, the peerless Judy Garland.

If anyone else had played the lead in this picture, it would have been long forgotten. This is Judy's show, all the way, and everything about it is designed to show off her immense talents.
She is at the top of her form here...looking lovely, singing gorgeously, dancing with aplomb, and handling both dramatic and comedic scenes better than anyone else could ever dream to. The biggest highlight of the film is the mammoth eight-minute production number ON THE ATCHISON, TOPEKA, AND THE SANTA FE which ended up winning a Best Song Oscar. This sequence alone is worth the price of the DVD, and the Warner Home Video people give us an extra bonus by presenting the number separately in TRUE STEREO! Astounding!

The supplementary materials are vast and beautifully assembled. The commentary by recently-deceased director George Sidney was fortunately captured for this release, and his thoughts and reminiscences are entertaining and charming. There were four musical numbers intended for this picture which were cut before release. MARCH OF THE DOAGIES and its reprise and MY INTUITION are the three that were filmed, and they are included on this DVD, looking like they were filmed yesterday (actually they look TOO good to have been filmed in this day and age). The one unused song that was recorded but not filmed called HAYRIDE is among the more than 20 pre-recording sessions included on the DVD's "Sing Song Express". A captivating opportunity to be present on the Metro recording stages as they laid down these historic tracks. You can hear the starts and stops, the banter and laughter...It's almost like being there. The disc also includes a trailer.

Hats off to Warner and Turner for a splendid job well done, a VAST improvement from the once-impressive laserdisc release, which is now unwatchable in comparison to this DVD. Add to this the VERY reasonable price of this movie, and it can't be beat. Now the big question: "When will Warner give us MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, EASTER PARADE and the rest of the golden Garland catalog?" Let's hope it's soon. If this DVD is any indication of what those will be like, we are in for a treat.

This is one of my personal favorites of the Judy Garland collection. "The Harvey Girls" has everything you could ask for in a bright, bouncy MGM musical: song, dance, comedy, drama, romance, action and fun. Garland plays Susan Bradley, a young Ohio girl who sets out to Arizona to wed, but instead decides to join a group of Harvey girls, waitresses at the newly established Harvey House. "Wherever a Harvey House stands, civilization is not far behind." The girls want to try to civilize the town of lusty cowpokes... but they have competition: an infamous brothel across the street, boasting some, er, charming madams headed by the sassy Em (a young Angela Lansbury)... and they are equally determined to drive the reforming parties out of town. They steal a cache of beef from the House (which gives us a hilarious scene in which Garland goes to retrieve the meat), shoot down chandeliers in the girls' bed chambers, and plant rattlesnakes in their dressing rooms. Between these messy episodes, Garland manages to find love with a young man (John Hodiak)... who also just happens to run the brothel. This film has a wonderful musical score, including the Oscar-winning "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe", "It's A Great Big World", and "Oh,You Kid!" among them. Certainly one of MGM's best musicals with a great supporting cast: including in fact, a post-Scarecrow Ray Bolger ("The Wizard of Oz"), Cyd Charisse, Chill Wills, and Virginia O'Brien, "The Harvey Girls" is a great big, bawdy musical that's always worth seeing.

I originally saw this lush technicolor musical on a Sunday afternoon (when I was in high school) wedged between commercials for detergents, paper towels, and various other household products. Despite the film being interrupted with these ads and being shown on a small tv screen, I was captivated by Judy Garland's beauty, sincerity, power to communicate as an artist, and her incomparable talent to act, sing, dance, and charm. This film does not have the same status as Meet Me in St. Louis or The Pirate or A Star is Born, but it is one of her best performances presented with a calmness and freshness that puts you, the viewer, at ease. Her character Susan Bradley is one of her best portrayals. She is funny, courageous, witty, determined, and strong. Like Esther Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis or Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz or Lily Mars in Presenting Lily Mars, Susan Bradley is a winner, the kind of woman you respect and admire, especially considering the time period the film was set in.

This dvd release is a true gift to those of us who are not only Judy Garland fans, but to anyone who has ever enjoyed the film musical. I won't rehash all the details found in other reviews of Amazon customers about the dvd, but I will add that the color transfer is simply awesome. It DOES look like the film was shot recently, not way back in 1945. The deleted musical numbers and the recording sessions for the songs is an extreme necessity for any Garland fan. I am really sorry they cut "My Intuition" since it's the only time Garland and John Hodiak sang together in the film, but I can understand why they cut "March of the Doagies." Don't get me wrong: I like it, but it almost looks a chase for Frankenstein's monster with Judy ending up on a stake being burned alive!

Now here's some trivia no one in their review has mentioned. Originally the film was going to be made as a drama for Lana Turner, but MGM, due to Rodgers and Hammerstein's success with "Oklahoma!", decided to turn it into a musical for their leading musical star. Originally, the story of the Harvey girls was based on book called The Harvey Girls by Samuel Hopkins Adams published in 1942. Another piece of trivia was that the lovely Cyd Charisse was dubbed in this film, but one would never notice since the dubber really captured her vocal quality and essence.

Without hesitation, this dvd release is an awesome addition to any collection. You won't be disappointed! Now we can await the arrival of other Judy Garland classic musicals for future releases. Who knows what other "undiscovered goodies" await us from the vaults of MGM?

"The Harvey Girls" is my favorite of the MGM musicals. It has everything: a superb star (Judy Garland), a great supporting cast (headed by a young Angela Lansbury, with Ray Bolger and Marjorie Main), fantastic songs (featuring the Academy Award winning "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe"), and a funny plot. Susan Bradley (Garland) decides to marry the man she has been writing love letters to, and travels with the Harvey restaurant chain to a town in the Old West to meet him. When she gets there, she realizes the romantic letters were written by his friend, the owner of the town saloon (played by John Hodiak). Susan decides to join the Harvey girls in setting up the new restaurant. When the town leaders try to scare the Harvey girls away because they are taking business from the saloon, Susan must help keep the restaurant in order. Angela Lansbury shines as the villainous saloon girl, as do Marjorie Main as the Harvey House cook, and Ray Bolger as the local blacksmith.

One of the most lavish of 40s MGM musicals, THE HARVEY GIRLS really shows off Judy Garland's considerable comedy skills, which she rarely got much of a chance to work with, and also shows her off at her absolute most unearthly beauty. She's terrific here, and she gets a great haunting opening solo from the caboose of a train and a great entrance into town with the famous "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe," one of the most excitingly staged numbers the Arthur Freed unit ever did (which is saying something). The rest of the film isn't up to Garland's level or the level of those two songs, although the hokey plot--about how the upright and starched Harvey Girls bring such an attractive wholesomeness to the Wild West that all the temptations of sin wilt before them--demonstrates pretty much the MGM moral ethos of the time. One added plus: a very young Angela Lansbury, as Garland's rival for John Hodiak (ugh), looking ravishing in multicolored lace teddies and oversized picture hats.

Certainly not the greatest of the Garland MGM movies but, as always, a skillful performance which displays her comedic talents along with the vocals. It is a tribute to her greatness that she was able to transform the material into a far better product. The commentary by director George Sidney is very interesting and insightful. Garland's performance of "On the Atchinson Topeka & the Santa Fe" is one of my favorites--all done in merely one take according to director Sidney. Color quality and sound are excellent--very good transfer--and I am pleased to own this title on DVD.

One of the first signs of civilization in the old west was the arrival of the Fred Harvey restaurant. This is the Hollywood version of the opening of one of these rest stops.

Judy Garland plays Susan. She answered a lonely hearts ad and is coming out to marry him. But when she arrives it turns out that its gruff cowhand, Chill Wills. She joins the Harvey Girls. John Hodiak is Ned, the proprietor of the Alhambra Saloon. While he runs the saloon, he is a straight shooter. If he can't beat the Harvey House fair and square, then he'll move on.

Of course, Judy and John battle but in the end, fall for each other.

Others include Angela Lansbury as the head saloon girl who is in love with Ned, Ray Bolger as the new blacksmith straight from Massachusetts, Virginia O'Brien as on of the Harvey Girls who falls for Bolger, Marjorie Main as the Harvey cook.

This is a piece of fluff, like most of the MGM musicals by the Arthur Freed unit. But it has a great score by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren including the Oscar winner On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. This number is one of the best staged musical numbers of the 1940's. But the best scene is when the meat is stolen from the Harvey House and Judy grabs a couple of pistols and charges over to the Alhambra to retrieve it.

Judy is perfect in the role and there is chemistry between her and Hodiak. The supporting cast is perfect. Virginia O'Brien's trademark dead pan deliver has never been put to better use.

This film use to be played every Easter weekend and I always looked forward to this. Thirty years later, it still holds up perfectly!

DVD EXTRAS:

Cast and Crew List - This is just a list and does not give any background on the actors or crew. It would be interesting to know what happened to Hodiak. This is his only major starring role.

Deleted Musical Numbers - A duet between Garland and Hodiak - My Intuition that was cut for time. Production number and reprise - March of the Doagies - not used due to rewrites, the reprise is the master shot only. Both are good numbers.

Stereo reproduction for On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe - The original multi-track recording survived and a stereo reproduction was created. This is fine but the musical number is the first real number of the movie.

Commentary by George Sidney - I never listen to these and therefore cannot evaluate.

Singsong Express audio Track - Additional recording of some of the song - Audio Only

To those people who are new to a Judy Garland musical, excluding those who have seen OZ. I highly recommend mandatory Judy Garland Musical watching. No one in this life, past or present can ever compare to this stunning singer and actress as she was and still is the greatest musical star ever. Streisand attempted to take her place in the late 60's but lets be honest. No one ever could. Judy is in a category all her own. The Harvey Girls is just another example of her brilliance as entertainer. Watch "One Take Judy" as George Sidney affectionately calls her as he remembers in the audio commentary of her delivering one of her most memorable performances in one take, yes one take of Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. She generally recorded her songs in one take and could watch a stand in doing the movements before camera and step in and do it exactly in one take. Amazing. This film is one of those examples of that talent. The songs in the movie are all very well crafted with stunning results like the opening song, "In the Valley where the evening sun goes down" and It's a great big world". Virginia O'Brien adds some sass, which we miss later in the film after she has exited due to pregnancy. I always wondered why her character disappears without a word and this audio commentary explains all. Angela Lansbury is interesting to watch being that she was all of 18 years old and plays a worldly older woman to Judy's character and does it excellently. Its interesting hearing her do an American accent so well. She never looked more beautiful than in this film. Glorious Technicolor is very well utilized in this film. The restoration work that went into this film is amazing. It is crystal clear and the colors, oh the colors! For anyone who has never seen this film I recommend it greatly. They just don't make it like this any more.

In the 1930's Judy Garland established herself as a box office dynamo. But it is with a string of phenomenal Technicolor musicals in the 1940's that she really cemented her place in the annals of film history. One of her best efforts of this decade is "The Harvey Girls" in which Judy plays Susan Bradley, a mail order bride who becomes a waitress in a restaurant in the wild west town of Sandrock. The film features the Oscar-winning song, "On The Atcheson Topeka & The Santa Fe" and is littered throughout with moments that warm the heart and fill the ear.
Warner Home Video has done this film proud with a stunning digital transfer that sparkles. Color fidelity is magnificent with a vibrance and clarity that amazes. The film's elements and soundtrack have been remastered and reflect Warner's committment to their classic film library. Also included as suppliments are two different versions of a song cut from the final version of the film, "March of the Doagies" that must have cost MGM a bundle to shoot. It is one of Hollywood's small tragedies that this musical number, in either version, wasn't seen by audiences for nearly sixty years. Thankfully, we have it back where it belongs at last. Get this disc and get ready for a rip-roaring good time.

Here it is. Judy Garland. In one of her many top-grossing MGM musicals. In restored technicolor. With restored stereophonic sound in some areas. On DVD. Yes, the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true!
Garland was in peak physical and emotional condition when this film was shot, and at the beginning, it was to be an "old west" musical answer to Garland's "Meet Me In St. Louis," released in 1944. Watching Garland in ANY film, whether she is Dorothy on her way to see the Wizard of Oz, or here, as Susan Bradley, on her way to the wild west to answer a matrimonial ad in her Ohio hometown newspaper, Garland's ability to make the viewer BELIEVE that she is Susan Bradley (as opposed to Judy Garland PLAYING Susan Bradley) is extraordinary. Garland's acting ability is flawless, and she displays all the elements in this film that led no less an authority than director George Cukor to say that she was "the world's greatest, most profound actress." Garland's husband, esteemed director Vincente Minnelli, said that "the surface hadn't been scratched with Judy. She could do anything. As good as ANY of the greatest actresses that ever lived."
Although "The Harvey Girls" was, as most of Garland's MGM films were, a lighthearted escapist venture with great songs and Garland's indescribable chemistry, it gives hints at the depth of her artistry as an actress. If you are only aware of Judy Garland through "The Wizard of Oz," I urge you to view this film.
It is a great introduction to the genius and artistry of Judy Garland.
Director George Sidney's comments about the film are available as one of the bonus features, and his insights and accolades of Garland match those statements made by her co-stars in this film, and by any and all that worked with her, and came under her spell, during her 45 year career. As a movie critic said in 1963, "she is Judy. She is the very best there is." Nearly 40 years after that statement was made, and over 30 years after Garland's untimely death, she is STILL the very best there is, and "The Harvey Girls" is a tune filled, happy musical that only underscores those sentiments.