The Harvey Girls (1946)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Samuel Hopkins Adams (novel) and
Eleanore Griffin (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

18 January 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Western

Tagline:

It's Blazing, Blistering Romance . . . in the wide open spaces !

Plot:

On a train trip West to become a mail order bride Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling...

Plot Keywords:

Mail Order Bride | Restaurant | Train | Saloon | Saloon Girl

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 19

8:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Judy Garland	...	Susan Bradley
John Hodiak	...	Ned Trent
Ray Bolger	...	Chris Maule
Angela Lansbury	...	Em
Preston Foster	...	Judge Sam Purvis
Virginia O'Brien	...	Alma from Ohio
Kenny Baker	...	Terry O'Halloran
Marjorie Main	...	Sonora Cassidy
Chill Wills	...	H.H. Hartsey
Selena Royle	...	Miss Bliss
Cyd Charisse	...	Deborah Andrews
Ruth Brady	...	Ethel
Jack Lambert	...	Marty Peters
Edward Earle	...	Jed Adams
Morris Ankrum	...	Rev. Claggett
William 'Bill' Phillips	...	1st Cowboy (as Wm. 'Bill' Phillips)
Ben Carter	...	John Henry
Norman Leavitt	...	2nd Cowboy
Stephen McNally	...	'Goldust' McClean (as Horace McNally)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hazel Brooks	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Rand Brooks	...	Blond haired townsperson at train station (uncredited)
Ewing Miles Brown	...	Townsman at saloon (uncredited)
Lucille Casey	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Jack Clifford	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Tex Cooper	...	Townsman at saloon (uncredited)
Virginia Davis	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Engineer (uncredited)
Mary Jo Ellis	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Kay English	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Mary Jane French	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Sam Garrett	...	Trick roper (uncredited)
Jane Hall	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
William Hall	...	Big Joe (uncredited)
Byron Harvey Jr.	...	Train conductor (uncredited)
Gloria Hope	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Virginia Hunter	...	Jane (uncredited)
Jack Kenny	...	Townsman at saloon (uncredited)
Vera Lee	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Maxine Leslie	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Mitchell Lewis	...	Sandy (uncredited)
Johnny Luther	...	Townsman at saloon (uncredited)
Peggy Maley	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Catherine McLeod	...	Louise (uncredited)
Daphne Moore	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Paul Newlan	...	Station agent (uncredited)
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Conductor (uncredited)
Shirley Patterson	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Dorothy Raye	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Erin Selwyn	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Townsman at saloon (uncredited)
Nevada Smith	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Conductor (uncredited)
Joan Thorsen	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Jim Toney	...	Muleskinner (uncredited)
Dorothy Tuttle	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Dorothy Van Nuys	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Bunny Waters	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)
Jacqueline White	...	Harvey Girl (uncredited)
Eve Whitney	...	Dance-hall girl (uncredited)

Directed by
George Sidney

Writing credits
Samuel Hopkins Adams		novel "The Harvey Girls" and
Eleanore Griffin		story and
William Rankin		story
Edmund Beloin		(screenplay) and
Nathaniel Curtis		(screenplay) and
Harry Crane		(screenplay) and
James O'Hanlon		(screenplay) and
Samson Raphaelson		(screenplay)
Kay Van Riper		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
Roger Edens	....	associate producer
Arthur Freed	....	producer

Cinematography by
George J. Folsey		(director of photography) (as George Folsey)

Film Editing by
Albert Akst

Art Direction by
William Ferrari
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Helen Rose
Valles		(costumes: men)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer
Dorothy Ponedel	....	key makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Dave Friedman	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Rhein	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mildred Griffiths	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera: Technicolor (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Robert Alton	....	musical numbers staged by
Lennie Hayton	....	musical director
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator
Kay Thompson	....	music arranger: vocal arrangements

Other crew
Henri Jaffa	....	associate technicolor color director
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Turner Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  package design (1990 release)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #10927)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Originally intended for release on Decca's boxed album of selections from the Harry Warren-Johnny Mercer score, "March of the Doagies," featuring Judy Garland, Kenny Baker and Kay Thompson's chorus, plus the first half of "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" with the Thompson chorus, both were omitted from the album. In the CD era, these two takes have been restored on a Garland collection from MCA called "The Complete Decca Original Cast Recordings," which also contains Decca re-creations of the scores from Girl Crazy (1943) and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fire at the Harvey House while fighting the bad guys, Ned Trent has a tablecloth wrapped around his neck. Seconds later it's draped over his left shoulder.

Quotes:

Susan Bradley: Would it be possible you don't want to marry me?
H.H. Hartsey: Now wait a minute Ms. Bradley. I wanna marry ya, I wanna marry ya somethin' like all get-out. I wanna marry ya somethin' awful ma'amm. But please ma'am, please say no.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Biography: Andy Williams" (2003)

Soundtrack:

It's a Great Big World

No Vincente Minelli -- and it shows

The first person you see is Judy Garland singing an infinitely forgettable song.

For the most part it goes up from there.

This is a film that Vincente Minelly did not direct and even though it shows Judy at her demure best he had a knack for bringing out the best in her performances.

Surprisingly enough, this is not an entirely inaccurate history of the women that opened up the West -- just as much as the men did.

For those that do not know -- Fred Harvey was a railroad tycoon and visionary that realized that the United States could only expand Westward -- and he was there to help fulfill that dream.

His chain of "Railroad Hotels" (some of which still exist) and the women that staffed them, helped to civilize parts of the United States that were raw and uncultured.

This is one of those incredible films that has every face you have ever seen in a movie -- even if you do not always know their names: Ray Bolger, Preston Foster, Virginia O'Brien, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills and even Cyd Charisse.

This is cameo paradise and there is a character and face there for everyone.

The songs, the costumes, the sets and everything BUT the dialogue and story are top notch. But who needs a good script when you have a cast of STARS! (Especially Judy Garland.)

Take the good parts from this movie and try to pretend the rest never happened.