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Color at the center: Minnelli's Technicolor style in 'Meet Me in St. Louis.' - Style in Cinema - filmmaker Vincente Minnelli
Style, Fall, 1998 by Scott Higgins
Having offered closer views of the daughters, Minnelli returns to a long shot that frames Anna and Lon in the foreground [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 13 OMITTED]. This time, he positions the camera behind the piano so that the living room and entrance to the dining room take up the background (Esther and Tootie are off-screen left). Again, the foreground is a subdued blend of neutrals, and again the background offers color accents that draw attention to points beyond the plane of focus. In the far left corner a blue chair is placed before the red curtain that frames the dining room. The combination preserves Esther's color combination featured in the previous shot, repeating in decor hues that had been associated with costume. Similarly, to the right of the archway, and partially occluded by Lon, sits the gold-brown (curry) chair, echoing the tones of Rose's dress. Agnes stands, back to camera, in the center of the dining room archway, providing the pink accent. The composition reprises the basic structure and color design of the stairway shot, with several of the colors that had been introduced by character entrances now carried by props and set dressing. In gathering together, the family activated a group of harmonizing colors that now extend to the set itself.
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But the main function of these familiar accents at the rear of the composition is to flag the empty chairs as important zones of action. As the singers begin their second chorus, the remaining members of the family file in from off screen, fitting themselves into the composition. In the foreground, Lon lowers himself to a piano stool, unblocking the gold-brown chair just as Rose takes a seat. Her choice seems determined by the yellow tones shared by her dress and the upholstery. Grandpa, clad in a black suit, unobtrusively sits at a table near the far left edge of the frame. Agnes completes a blue, red, and pink combination, echoing the shot of Esther and Tootie, by taking the blue chair. Katie, wearing gray, white, and black, sits in a simple dining room chair placed at the center of the archway [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 14 OMITTED].
When the sequence ends with a return to the side of the piano, Minnelli provides a shot that brings Tootie and Esther back on screen at the rear left and places Lon and Anna at midground right [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 15 OMITTED]. By including Esther and Tootie, Minnelli's composition sustains the pink, red, and blue combination across the cut, once more lending graphic prominence to the stars. Swiftly, though, a dolly forward eliminates them, bringing Lon and Anna into a medium shot that recalls the song's opening [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 16 OMITTED]. This shot completes a circuit, ending the scene with a subdued image of Lon and Anna that, by virtue of its symmetry, helps accentuate the shift in tone from the beginning. The family's initial resentment of Lon's news has given way to a renewed sense of togetherness.
