Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

I'm gonna sound like an awful grump here, but I really don't get the hype. Sure, there are a few songs in here that everyone (including me) knows and loves -- The Trolley Song, Meet Me in St. Louis, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas -- but the movie that introduced them to the world is an empty (but pretty) affair.

The two elder Smith daughters are hormonal and looking for romance, the youngest is a tomboy, and the other one is just kind of around. There's also a brother and a grandpa. Mom is longsuffering and Dad is a sourpuss that the rest of the household has to tiptoe around to get what they want. But they live in St. Louis! And the World's Fair is coming to St. Louis! Yay!

Basically, I think this movie was wildly popular in 1944 because a colorful bit of escapism was welcome during World War II and it's been coasting on nostalgia ever since.

C+