The Harvey Girls 1946

     Susan Bradley is traveling west from Ohio to Sandrock, Arizona by train to become a mail order bride.  She has exchanged letters with her future husband but they’ve never met.  She meets a group of other young women traveling to the same town and they are opening a Harvey House.  This is a restaurant at a remote whistle stop for the train.  They feature good cooking and pleasant company for railway travelers.  What they don’t know is they will have competition from a saloon right across the street.  Susan meets her husband-to-be Chris Maule and he’s nothing like she pictured or expected.  It turns out he's the town drunk and he didn’t right the letters either.  He had his friend Ned Trent write the letters for him and he also runs the saloon.  Susan decides she will join the Harvey Girls at their restaurant as a waitress instead of getting married.

     I liked the story featured in this film but I’m not much of a fan of musicals.  I also liked the clothing and the manners of the period.  This is not a group of shy retiring women either.  The Harvey Girls get in a hitting fight with the women from the saloon.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

102 min, Musical directed by George Sidney with Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Preston Foster, Virginia O’Brien, Kenny Baker, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, Selena Royle, Cyd Charisse.

 

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 100% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 135 reviews.

Special Note:  This movie was filmed at Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California.  The women traveled on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.  The song about the railway won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, it was written by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer.