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Actors: Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Ray Bolger, Majorie Main, Cyd Charisse, Virginia O'Brien
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Harvey Girls |
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Susan Bradley boards the Atcheson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe train to head out West and get married. She only knows her future husband by his letters. On the train, she meets a group of Harvey Girls, who are going to be waitresses at the new Harvey resturant that is going to open up in town. When they arive, they find it's a real wild west town. The church has closed and the saloon is the main place of entertainment. And, they don't want a group of waitresses who want to bring civilization to the town.
Meanwhile, Susan finds out that her husband to be is a lanky, uncouth cowboy. Although he's nice, she isn't attracted to him, and she finds that he isn't attracted to her. They amiacably agree not to marry, and she also finds out that he didn't even write the letters. The owner of the saloon, Ned Trent did. Furious that this man toyed with the affections of a young woman, she goes to confront him, and instead of taking him up on his offer to pay her way back home, she decides to join the Harvey Girls. She forms a bond with two of them, Alma and Deborah. When the town does its best to get rid of them, with guns being shot into the hotel in the middle of the night, and snakes being put in the shower, these three decide to stick it out. Susan has a love hate feel for Ned Trent, who she finds herself attracted to, but who she also knows wants to run the Harvey business out of town. She also has the rival of Em, one of the saloon dancers who is attracted to Ned, and can't help seeing Ned's growing attraction for Susan.
The Harvey Girls manage to stay open due to their perseverance (as well as Susan's armed village to the saloon when their steaks get stolen) and the romantic entanglements get sorted out amid singing and dancing. This is the movie that reunited Judy Garland and Ray Bolger who danced down the Yellow Brick Road in The Wizard of Oz
--Angela Tircuit, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Harvey Girls |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 19th century
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- romance (general)
Kind of comedy
- musical
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- waitor/waitress
How much humor v. drama
- Mostly humor, but some serious drama
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- waitor/waitress
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- red
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- gang
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 60%
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
If lots of song/dance...
- lot of singing and dancing
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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