The Harvey Girls Overview:

The Harvey Girls (1946) was a Comedy - Musical Film directed by George Sidney and produced by Arthur Freed and Roger Edens.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Samuel Hopkins Adams published in 1942.

SYNOPSIS

A chain of railroad station restaurants bring the frontier a touch of civilization along with a hot meal in this nostalgic musical comedy from the legendary MGM Freed unit. There's high-wattage star power (Garland, Foster, Charisse, Bolger, Lansbury) expended on a negligible tale of an eastern gal who heads west to work in one of the elegant restaurants. The Mercer-Warren score includes the Award-winning "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe," The Wild, Wild West," "It's a Great Big World," and many others.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Academy Awards 1946 --- Ceremony Number 19 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Music - ScoringLennie HaytonNominated
Best Music - SongMusic by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Johnny MercerWon
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BlogHub Articles:

Silver Screen Standards: The Harvey Girls (1946)

By Jennifer Garlen on Jun 15, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Silver Screen Standards: The Harvey Girls (1946) The Harvey Girls (1946) I?ve had a particular fondness for The Harvey Girls (1946) since the first time I saw it, but my love increased when I visited the El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon some years ago and learned more about the fascinating h... Read full article


The Harvey Girls (1946): The Painted Desert Meets The Musical

By 4 Star Film Fan on May 25, 2020 From 4 Star Films

It was during a pit stop along a cross-country trip through the Petrified Forest that I first became aware of The Harvey Girls. Because you see, The Painted Desert Inn is a bit of a relic of the past, and it preserves a history of the famous waitresses who helped pave the way for a certain brand of ... Read full article


CMBA Blogathon: THE HARVEY GIRLS (1946)

By Jennifer Garlen on Oct 21, 2015 From Virtual Virago

The theme for this year's CMBA Blogathon is "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles," which makes the 1946 musical, The Harvey Girls, an obvious choice. The movie won an Oscar for its train themed song, "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe," and it depicts, in a fictionalized and colorful way, the impor... Read full article


CMBA Blogathon: THE HARVEY GIRLS (1946)

By Jennifer Garlen on Oct 21, 2015 From Virtual Virago

The theme for this year's CMBA Blogathon is "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles," which makes the 1946 musical, The Harvey Girls, an obvious choice. The movie won an Oscar for its train themed song, "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe," and it depicts, in a fictionalized and colorful way, the impor... Read full article


The Harvey Girls (1946)

By Cameron on Feb 10, 2015 From The Blonde At The Film

via: http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/777/The-Harvey-Girls/#tcmarcp-141232-141228 ?Unless otherwise noted, all images are my own. The Harvey Girls is a delightful musical about young women?who venture into the Wild West and find adventure, romance, and snakes.?The movie is based on a 1942 novel of the... Read full article


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Quotes from

Alma: Chris, what's wrong?
Chris Maule: Marty Peters was just here.
Alma: Marty Peters? The man who shot the last blacksmith?
Chris Maule: He... he... he did what?
[Chris has just been made the new blacksmith]
Alma: Well, it's all based on circumstantial evidence. No one actually saw the bullet leave the gun.
[Chris faints dead away]


Alma: [singing] Yeah, they say they have hair on their chest, the only thing I've seen is just a fancy vest. Holy smackers, milk and crackers but it's wild in the wild, wild west.


Susan Bradley: Would it be possible you don't want to marry me?
H.H. Hartsey: Now wait a minute Ms. Bradley. I wanna marry ya, I wanna marry ya somethin' like all get-out. I wanna marry ya somethin' awful ma'amm. But please ma'am, please say no.


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Facts about

The setting of the story in "Sandrock" and the design of the Harvey House sets that stood on MGM's Back Lot #3 and on the sound stage for this film were inspired by the Castaneda Harvey House in Las Vegas, New Mexico, which still stands as a National and State Historic Landmark of New Mexico, along the old Santa Fe tracks and just to the north of that town's current Amtrak station. Amtrak's Southwest Chief still stops at the station, but the Castaneda is vacant and fenced off. Although the studio sets were constructed of wood, elements from the Castaneda's basic exterior architecture and of the interior dining room were applied to the set designs for this film. A few of the historic incidents that had occurred at the Castaneda were incorporated into the script. A large outcrop of rock such as that where Susan Bradley (Judy Garland) and Ned Trent (John Hodiak) meet can be seen from the Castaneda across a small prairie. The balcony upon which Garland, Cyd Charisse and Virginia O'Brien share a song is a replication of the Castaneda's street-side second-floor balcony. And yes, a saloon once existed directly across the street from the Castaneda in a building which is now abandoned. All of the sets from the
Virginia Davis's final feature film.
"Hayride" (music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Johnny Mercer), a duet by Judy Garland and Ray Bolger, was prerecorded but not filmed. The song can be heard on both the soundtrack CD from Rhino and the DVD from Warner Home Video.
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Best Music - Song Oscar 1946






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