Judy Garland and Vincinte Minnelli

[Brittany Ashley]

I have a question. The lecture notes say Minnelli was credited as the person who evolved Judy's image to make her more grown up in Meet Me in St Louis.Yet she plays a teenager in that movie and Judy even complained about it at first and mocked the role. I always was told For Me and My Gal and Presenting Lilly Mars were really her first 'mature' roles which came the year before MMISL. And actually, Ziegfeld Girl was even earlier in 1941 and she doesn't play a high schooler in that. So am I missing something in terms of what Minnelli did for and with Judy on MMISL to make her grown up that wasn't accomplished beforehand even though he had "adult" roles before 1944?

[TheMadKiwi]

I agree with you. Even if I prefer Meet Me in St. Louis big time over For Me and My Gal and Presenting Lilly Mars, I do think those were the first to showcase her as a young lady rather than a teen. I think St. Louis' contribution to her career is presenting her in Technicolor for the first time since The Wizard of Oz, giving her some of the most iconic songs in her songbook, and making her a solo leading lady rather than a co-lead like with Gene Kelly and Van Heflin (Tom Drake in St. Louis isn't nearly as important to the film as her prior leading men were). 

[corinne54]

I think he meant that she was no longer like the girl in the Andy Hardy movies. Even though she was technically a "teenager" in Meet Me in St. Louis, she was still viewed as a woman who was ready to be married- or at least engaged. Besides - they always had adults playing teenagers - and in high school - in movies