MovieChat Forums > Meet Me in St. Louis Discussion > A jolly hour on the trolley?

A jolly hour on the trolley?

posted 11 years ago by bonidea
8 replies | jump to latest

I don't get the scene (although I LOVE the song).

Esther and her friends board the trolley on a lovely afternoon. Esther is visibly upset that John has apparently missed it; we see him running, trying to catch it. Esther turns away from watching him run to sing the song, which she does beautifully. Presumably she does not see him get aboard, not that it matters. John climbs up to sit next to her.

Esther freaks out. Why? She looks very surprised, almost disappointed, to see him. What possible direction could she have been given for that strange reaction? To me, the look on her face says "oh no -- now what do I do?" Wasn't she happy to see him?

[–] skipper 11 years ago

I don't have an answer to your question, I just want to say that I have ALWAYS wondered that, too!

[–] kaskait 11 years ago

I look at it as if she were talking to all her friends about how much she liked him and he managed to over hear it all. So naturally she was embarrassed at the end of the song.

[–] sherm456 10 years ago

I look at it as if she were talking to all her friends about how much she liked him and he managed to over hear it all. So naturally she was embarrassed at the end of the song.

Agreed. He caught her totally mooning over him, so she was flustered, and then decided to play it cool.

[–] bedrock1960 9 years ago

Correct. I know it's hard to believe in the age of Miley Cyrus, but it would not have been proper for a young lady to gush so effusively about a man in public. Esther got carried away by her emotions, and, realizing John had been listening made her embarrassed.

[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

I too always took she embarrassed. The song as I see it is she is talking to her friends about how much she likes him. Then he is right there and he must have heard her. Any girl would be embarrassed.

[–] dmnemaine 9 years ago

Embarrassed that he overheard her "forwardness" about him. It was once very impolite for girls/women to aggressively pursue/talk about boys/men. Also, consider Esther's and Rose's actions at the beginning of the film when Rose tells Esther that John Truitt is outside. Instead of going over to speak to him, they play out a ruse to get his attention. Also, instead of just going next door to introduce herself, Esther and Rose cook up the scheme of inviting him to Lon's going away party. Her reaction on the trolley is very much in keeping with Esther trying to get John to take the initiative by dropping subtle hints. So when she is being very unsubtle with her friends about him, she's embarrassed when she finds out that she's been being unsubtle in front of him.

[–] kaskait 9 years ago

Also don't forget at the end of Lon's party, she was trying to take "advantage" of him. LOL. He held her off with that grandma's perfume line.

[–] AmyJolamb 8 years ago

I've seen this many times and caught the grandma line tonight for the first time. I mean I finally understood what it meant. I actually laughed out loud but felt bad for her.