National Building Museum
 

Film - Meet Me in St. Louis
Presented at AFI Silver Theater

“There’s no place like home.” – Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

The idea of what makes a house a home, and explorations of how and where Americans live, have powerfully informed many significant films over the years, in ways both subtly thought-provoking and farcically over-the-top. The National Building Museum is proud to partner with the American Film Institute (AFI) Silver Theatre and Cultural Center to present a film series associated with the Museum’s exhibition House & Home. "Reel Estate: The American Home on Film" presents a wide-ranging series of films focusing on the American home, from nostalgic classics like Gone With the Wind, to post-WWII suburban melodramas like No Down Payment, and to subversive comedies like Hal Ashby’s The Landlord.

Meet Me In St. Louis*
February 9, Saturday, 3 pm
Introduction by Sarah Leavitt, curator of House & Home, National Building Museum, and author of From Catharine Beecher to Martha Stewart: A Cultural History of Domestic Advice, on the Victorian parlor in the American home.

Vincente Minelli’s classic musical expertly renders a nostalgic portrait of turn-of-the-twentieth century American life, centered around the prosperous Smith family of St. Louis, who live in a stately Victorian mansion (Cedric Gibson, Jack Martin Smith, and Lemuel Ayers collaborated on the all-star art direction). But the story turns on the powerful childhood fear of change—of losing one’s home, friends and family. Daughters Rose (Lucille Bremer) and Esther (Judy Garland) scheme to land husband-material boyfriends, while youngest Tootie (Margaret O’Brien) schemes to raise the most hell on Halloween. When their father (Leon Ames) receives a job offer that would mean leaving St. Louis for New York, the children act out—In ways large and small, funny and frightful. Classic numbers include “The Trolley Song,” “The Boy Next Door” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” now a yuletide standard. DIR Vincente Minnelli; SCR Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, based on the novel by Sally Benson; PROD Arthur Freed. US, 1944, color, 113 min. NOT RATED.

*Additional screening times available at AFI.com/Silver.

Ticket Information:
BUY TICKETS THROUGH AFI.com/Silver. $8.50 AFI and NBM members | $11.50 General Admission | $9 Seniors (65+), Students (with valid ID), and Military | $7 Children (12 and under).  Tickets may also be purchased at the box office (opens 30 minutes before the first show of the day).  Please note that tickets are not available for purchase through the National Building Museum.

The AFI Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring, Maryland, Silver Spring Metro, Red Line. 


Support for House & Home and related education programming is provided by The Home Depot Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Hanley Wood, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Andersen Corporate Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MASCO Corporation Foundation, and AARP, among others.

Date:
Time: 3:00 PM - 5:15 PM

This event does not require an RSVP. Registered users can request event reminders.
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