Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Harvey Girls (1946)
Director: George Sidney
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A likeable but aimless musical which doesn't know what to make of its plot (designed to cash in on the pioneer spirit of Oklahoma) about the Harvey House restaurants which followed the railroad into the West, bringing demure waitresses into the domain of rowdy saloon girls. The highly inappropriate Harry Warren/Johnny Mercer songs are mostly romantic numbers or specialties for the deadpan O'Brien, with even the bustling 'On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe' failing to rouse any real echoes of the Western. It is symptomatic that the film's best and most legitimate number, with Angela Lansbury leading a saloon girl chorus of 'Oh, You Kid', is thrown away in favour of a dialogue exchange between Garland and Hodiak which could well have waited.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: George Sidney
Producer: Arthur Freed
Cast: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Virginia O'Brien, Preston Foster, Marjorie Main, Kenny Baker full cast
Genre(s): Musicals
Duration: 101 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now