Judy Garland stars in musical
The Waupaca Area Public Library will screen “The Harvey Girls” at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20.
Dr. Jack Rhodes will introduce this 1946 MGM Technicolor western musical, which was a major vehicle for Judy Garland in her postwar career.
The movie is directed by George Sidney and based on a 1942 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams, a popular author of the 1930s and ‘40s.
Adams’s book, according to Rhodes, was in turn based on the actual incident in American history when entrepreneur Fred Harvey concluded a deal with the Santa Fe Railroad for exclusive rights to feed passengers along the route from Chicago southwest to California and Texas.
In order to establish a large network of railside restaurants, Harvey recruited and trained hundreds of young women to travel west and become waitresses in his establishments. These ladies soon became known as “Harvey Girls.”
The movie focuses on the adventures of a young Ohio woman played by Judy Garland, who joins the Harvey operation and finds adventure, romance and danger in the remote village of Sandrock, Arizona.
Also in the cast are John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Marjorie Main, and dancers Ray Bolger and Cyd Charisse.
A highlight of the film, Rhodes noted, is the major production number featuring the Oscar-winning song, “On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe,” by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren.
The movie is free and open to the public. Complimentary popcorn, sodas and theater treats will be served.
For more information, call the library at 715-256-1939.