The Harvey Girls (1946)

My Review

Judy Garland plays a mail-order bride in the 1890’s traveling west to meet her new husband when she get aquainted with some gals who also are traveling west to new jobs as waitresses in “The Harvey Girls.” She soon decides to join them, with romantic comedy and musical numbers abounding, well directed by George Sidney (“Viva Las Vegas” 1964). The film won a single Academy Award for Best Song, “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe,” penned by Harry Warren (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics). (Lennie Heyton was also nominated for Best Musical Score.)

The cast includes Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, Preston Foster, Kenny Baker, Jack Lambert, and Cyd Charisse in her first major motion picture role. “The Harvey Girls” was a success in theatrical release for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was filmed primarily at the MGM studios in Culver City, with some exterior shots at the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth and at the Monument Valley in Utah and Arizona.