ada the leading man is my tpye

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

richspenc Very good film, maybe not the very best of Judy's, but there are no bad Judy Garland films. A film will never be that bad with that pretty, beautiful voiced angel on the screen, no matter how bad the rest of the film is."The Harvey girls" had some pretty good parts. The Harvey girls were a group of girls who took the train down to the old west town of Sandrock in the 19th century. Judy was on the train with them, and very hungry with nothing but a half slice of bread while seeing other girls holding big pieces of fried chicken. Then this little girl stops and looks at Judy begging for something to eat. I was sort of curious why she begged Judy for food when she hardly had anything when there was clearly those other girls nearby with the big pieces of fried chicken and such (including a corned beef sandwich that one of the girls had Judy try a couple moments later). Well perhaps she didn't see the other girls' food, she was quite small. Once the train arrived in Sandrock, the girls, and the townfolk started singing the best song of the film, "The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe". Across the street was an old west saloon with drinking, rowdyness, and burlesque girls led by Angela Langsbury, who they and saloon owner Jon Hodiak did not like the Harvey girls moving into their town. Judy was on her way to Sandrock to marry a man there she'd never met yet but had been writing and receiving letters from. Once there, Judy found out that the whole thing was a prank. Judy, upset, confronted the man behind the prank, John, who retaliated, Judy retaliated back. Then things between John and other members of the saloon and Judy and the other Harvey girls (who Judy now joined) escalated. John and his crew stole the Harvey girl's meat. Judy came into the saloon holding two guns demanding it back (she did look sort of comical and silly doing that). John had one of his friends, the town judge, shoot a bullet through the Harvey girl's window as they were going to bed. At one point, there was a literal brawl between the burlesque girls and the Harvey girls (which did looka sort of corny). Judy's singing definitely, as always, was beautiful. The song "Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa fe" was wonderful, very elaborate with nearly the entire town taking part in it. The middle of the song parts with different girls singing their personal lines which were charming such as Virginia O'brien with "I said goodbyo Ohio" and one of the other girls with "I came from Paris, was married in Paris, almost buried in Paris, so I then left Paris, (girls join in) Paris, Illinois". I liked that. I also liked Judy, Virginia, and Cyd Charrise singing "It's a great big world", and the girls' "Round and round" at the dance. All beautiful songs. There was also some of Ray Bulger's ("Oz" scarecrow) rubber legged dancing. Ray became the new blacksmith who was to say the least, sort of a coward of guns shooting off and of horses. Maybe they should've had Bert Lair as the cowardly lion play this part instead of Ray the scarecrow. I liked Virginia joining in to help out Ray shoe the horse. The scene with Cyd and the saloon piano player singing "Just you wait and see" was very nice. I love Cyd Charrise. I also liked a scene with Judy and John outside of the town with them sitting down againced some rocks. Then when they get up, John trips and Judy laughed. Her laughter there reminded me of her laughter in "Girl crazy" when she kept laughing at Mickey Rooney. I love Judy's laugh. I love her singing, her passion, and her beauty. I love Judy Garland. There is no bad Judy movie.

mark.waltz Judy Garland is the female Destry of this movie, a glossy musical western less about settling the range, but bringing hospitality out to the plains. The Harvey Girls are waitresses, brought in to work at the old restaurant chain in major stops for passenger trains after the western plains were settled a bit. Of course, these pretty girls are threats for the saloon girls for the attentions (or pocket books) of the local men, so that's gonna mean trouble.Judy is a demure mail order bride who ends up a waitress when she finds out that her husband to be is Chill Wills, who willingly lets her go. She has an instant rival in the bitchy Angela Lansbury who isn't afraid to ruin a few feathered boas to keep the waitresses from getting in her way. But Lansbury doesn't count on milquetoast Judy in gaining the affections of saloon owner John Hodiak from her. This means war! In the first film where Judy truly got to be a grown-up (at the age of 23!), she shows off more than her vocal talents, but her knack for comedy as well. The catfight scene between Lansbury's saloon girls and the Harvey Girls is especially funny with the sight of Judy standing around in the middle of the ruckus, being practically invisible as everybody but her gets smacked, kicked or thrown across the room. She's also feisty, dealing with stolen steaks so bravely you'd think she was John Wayne protecting the stagecoach as he road across the range.There's a great supporting cast of musical talent, including rubber-legged Ray Bolger, dead-panned Virginia O'Brien and sweet Cyd Charisse. Even raspy voiced Marjorie Main (as the head cook) gets into the singing act, participating in the Oscar Winning number "On the Antison Topeka and the Santa Fe" and being a comical dancer in the "Round and Round" production number. She is hysterical showing the waitresses how to set the table during the title song. Unfortunately, Lansbury (who later showed her singing chops in Broadway musicals) was obviously dubbed, so those who have seen her on stage or heard the cast albums are sure to ask, "Huh?" when her character performs a saloon number.As musicals go, none were more lavish than MGM's, especially those from the Arthur Freed unit. Having proved his metal with Garland the year earlier with "Meet Me in St. Louis", he confirmed it here, although it is George Sidney in the director's chair, not Vincent Minnelli. There would be many more classics from Freed (a few with Garland). and "The Harvey Girls" remains as fresh and entertaining today as it did when it thrilled audiences in 1946.

zetes Okay, if unmemorable, Western-based musical starring Judy Garland. The main reasons to watch it are for her and the Oscar-winning song, "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", which, even if the name doesn't ring a bell, if you heard the tune, you'd recognize it. Ray Bolger reunites with Garland as the town's new blacksmith. He has some amusing dance numbers. Also, a very young Angela Lansbury. There's nothing much else to the film. The other songs are forgettable. They must have known this, since the Oscar winner keeps reappearing in the underscore throughout the picture. John Hodiak is a terrible choice for Garland's enemy-but-soon-to-be-beloved. I could never get past that shark grin. Marjorie Main annoys with her scratchy voice. For some reason, the filmmakers think it's hilarious to have her contribute to several of the musical numbers. It sounds like she underwent torture. All in all, it's amiable, but not really worth the time.

ptb-8 If Technicolor MGM finesse is enough to stun you (and it easily can be enough) then THE HARVEY GIRLS is 3D color heaven. As a musical and as a movie, I found it weirdly flat. In Australia where these films were huge box office successes, MGM reissued many of their 40s and 50s musicals right up to the late 60s. The few that were not on the reissue list included THE HARVEY GIRLS. ... whether it was too American (!?) or whether it just did not have the pizazz or the fantasy we in Oz seem to love, I am not sure but I can feel my reasons why I became bored with it. On the plus side, I was constantly enchanted with gorgeous Garland aged 22, the breathtaking Technicolor photography and any close up of Angela Lansbury, clothed to the dazzling hilt. I can see how and why this film went through various changes during production and it feels like an overdressed version of another more ordinary western gussied into being a 1945 musical. OKLAHOMA's 1943 stage success is quite evident. Research shows that MGM saw a chance to emulate OKLAHOMA'ssuccessful stage result and contrived a western on the production conveyor belt into a pseudo OKLAHOMA - ish movie by wrangling THE HARVEY GIRLS into the form it is now. This explains why the film seems disjointed and pieced from different imagery and ideas. I found John Hodiak creepy with his odd teeth/mustache (that scary grin!) and no leading romantic man for Judy. I don't know what a Doagie is and I can't for the life of me see how the Joan Of Arc style bonfire number could have ever fitted into the finished film... which to me is startling in its exorcist/hell imagery with Judy looking like she is about to scream and melt. It is another weirdness in/out of a film full of off kilter ideas that seem to have been added as afterthoughts. Marjorie main has a great 'setting the table' number, and silly Ray Bolger again flips and wiggles out of place... looking like another weird addition among the rest. The big number at the start is fantastic, the set wonderful, the train line through the main street eye catching, and again the costume design and color photography superb. There is great use of the colour orange... whether as oleanders or with black and white stripes, but it is a keen colour featured throughout. It's all like a mosaic tile floor that is a movie.