to New York, much to everyone's surprise and joy. Warren rushes into the Smith home, declares his love for Rose, and announces that they will marry at the first possible opportunity. Realizing that it is now Christmas, the Smiths celebrate. At the World's Fair, the family gathers overlooking the Grand Lagoon just as thousands of lights around the grand pavilion are illuminated. Cast Judy Garland as Esther Smith Margaret O'Brien as "Tootie" Smith Mary Astor as Mrs. Anna Smith Lucille Bremer as Rose Smith Leon Ames as Mr. Alonzo Smith Tom Drake as John Truett Marjorie Main as Katie (Maid) Harry Davenport as Grandpa June Lockhart as Lucille Ballard Henry H. Daniels Jr. as Lon Smith, Jr. Joan Carroll as Agnes Smith Hugh Marlowe as Colonel Darly Robert Sully as Warren Sheffield Chill Wills as Mr. Neely Production The film is based on "The Kensington Stories", a series of sentimental family stories by Sally Benson that appeared in The New Yorker in 1942 and later in novel form as Meet Me in St. Louis. Shortly after the publication of the stories, Arthur Freed, who had enjoyed previous success with Judy Garland in MGM musicals, convinced studio head Louis B. Mayer to purchase the film rights for $25,000, and Benson was also hired to work on the screen adaptation. The idea for the film was also inspired by Life with Father, a nostalgic family play that had been running on Broadway to great success and acclaim since 1939. While Freed and his writers developed the script, director Vincente Minnelli, whose background was in set and costume design, prepared the film's design. Minnelli worked with designer Lemuel Ayers on set design and with art director E. Preston Ames to capture the evocative quality of paintings by Thomas Eakins, a popular artist and illustrator at the time in which the story takes place. A staff of six writers worked with Benson to capture the essence of her stories. Freed hired the husband-and-wife team of Victor Heerman and Sarah Mason in mid-1942 to add an element of intrigue to the script. They introduced a blackmail plot involving Esther Smith, which Freed found inappropriate, so he tasked staff writer William Ludwig, a specialist in adolescent romance, to excise the blackmail plot and weave courtship stories into the screenplay. By February 1943, Freed was satisfied with Ludwig's script and distributed copies around MGM and to the