Watch her primping at the mirror with Rose, watching Tootie as she sings "Dear Mother," or in the scene where The Boy tells her he can't get his tuxedo out of the cleaners.
For many la Judy can be an acquired taste, but she shows her "stuff" here. The rich and subtle performance of Judy Garland, who does not miss a step, a note, a glance or an inflection throughout the entire movie. And the credit can be spread wide for that: 1. We're blessed, though, to have glimpsed their particular brand of happiness at its glorious peak. The happiness the Smiths knew while living together will only increase the pain of each parting. For even though the catastrophe ! of moving to New York is narrowly avoided, Esther will still leave home for life with the boy next door, and the powerful unity of these lucky people will ultimately give way to other claims of new love, new suffering and new duty. Her relationship with her older sister Esther Judy Garland is captivating in its joy, complexity, and ultimately in its sadness. Louis" from the claustrophobia that so frequently limits the power of "family" dramas.Tootie, at five, is the youngest of the five Smith children, and as played by the great child actor Margaret O'Brien, she is also the center of most of the fun. These outdoor scenes protect "Meet in St. Minelli's genius for musical numbers in interior spaces-most notably the great party in the Smith home near the beginning of the movie-is complemented here by two unforgettable outdoor sequences, Judy Garland's matchless "Trolley Song" and Tootie's Halloween adventure in the neighborhood, where she shows such vulnerability, such courage,and in the end such diabolical lack of conscience that no one can fail to love her. From the small family conflict over the quality of homemade ketchup that begins the movie, to the agony over moving at the end, the Smiths are a collection of distinctive, vibrant and at times almost incompatible characters bound together not only by love but by a contagious, and very particular, sense of fun.