Terrific little actress, Margaret O'Brien but was obsessed with death and was a troubled child in the film.
shareI don't think she was troubled. Just a very imaginative kid. After all, she said she was going to take all her dolls to NY, even the dead ones. That shows she was thoughtful.
shareI like when she says,"I was lucky enough to be born in my favorite city, St. Louis". I think about that when I see some patriot exhibitionist or hear,"Don't mess with Texas". It's just a country, state, or city you were lucky enough to be born in or live in. Bunch o' Tooties.
Disappointed to not see that in the "Quotes" section on this movie.
She had BURIED her dolls! She was a mess.
Heh!
It's funny to see how many people on this board take a child's grimly vivid imagination as some sort of psychological disorder.
Kids are morbid. Death is fascinating for them. Concepts of good and evil are fun for them to play with - they have no real grasp on the deep realities of those things.
Take the original Brothers Grimm stories. It's widely known the original tales were brutal and full of gore and have been cleansed for modern times. What's less acknowledged is that the Brothers didn't write the horror stories. They just wrote them down. They collected folklore - generations of stories like Bluebeard: dead wives hanging off hooks, floors awash in blood, the terrified newlywed screaming to stave off her beheading - all those told to kids and they ate it up.
It's pretty recent that we've idealized them into dainty darlings with only Teletubby-sweet thoughts.
It's even more recent that we started watching them every darned minute in case they come into contact with a germ or a boogeyman. (Read Julie Lythcott-Haims on the perception of "stranger danger" in contrast with the reality.) Yes, kids had bonfires alone. They played in the street. They swam with just each other for company.
So everything about how the kids in the movie were portrayed - the dark imaginations, the Lord of the Flies bossiness of the bonfire leader, lack of supervision - that's all a humorous reflection of how kids' minds work when they're not corralled into "behaving".
All kids? Of course not. But plenty of them, the bloodthirsty little darlings.
The irony is, the same posters who don't see this as realistic are upset Tootie's punishment for the trolley prank isn't real enough!
Yes, kids have a dark side, and it's charming in its way.
And no, a lighthearted Hollywood musical romp isn't obligated to realistically depict the disciplining of a misbehaving child.
A darling little girl.
shareShe was adorable...it goes to show that this morbid and dark attitude some little girls have is nothing new, nor is it necessarily harmful.
It's usually a passing phase among kids from "proper" families (poor or wealthy or in between). The family probably doesn't want to discuss sad or tragic subjects in front of her...which makes her all the more curious and imaginative.
I'm the same age as Margaret O'Brien and since my name is Margaret, I have followed her career. I watched her movies as I was growing up. One of my favorites was "The Canterville Ghost." Her biggest talent was that she could cry on cue. It was Vincent Minelli's great directing in "Meet Me in St. Louis" that made O'Brien's performance such a stand out.
maggimae83
Canterville Ghost is one of my favorites too. The book is even better.
shareEven earlier, there's Jane Withers' warped Joy in "Bright Eyes".
shareWell, actually Wednesday Addams was around when the film was made. Charles Addams' cartoons first appeared in '38.
At any rate, it would be interesting to know if Tootie was portrayed with the same macabre interests/humor in Sally Benson's writing, on which this film is based.
For me personally, Tootie was brilliant as written, but Margaret O'Brien couldn't have been more irritating. I've never understood the hype over her.
I think that Tootie was an insufferable brat, and the Margaret O'Brien was much better in THE SECRET GARDEN.
shareShe has always stood out to me in this movie. Very cute spunky girl.
shareShe stole the movie from Judy Garland!
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