the 1949 movie Little woman (set in 1861) and the 1944 musical Meet me in St. Louis (which is set in 1903) and are two popular and strikingly similar movies. This article details some of the many features that these movies have in common.

Both films revolve around individual families residing in the leafy suburbs of American cities (Concord, Massachusetts and St. Louis, Missouri). the family in Little woman consists of: father Mr. March (Leon Ames), mother Marmee (Mary Astor) and daughters (in descending order of age) Meg (Janet Leigh), Jo (June Allyson), Amy (Elizabeth Taylor) and Beth ( Margaret O’Brien). the family in Meet me in St. Louis consists of: father Mr. Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), mother Mrs. Anna Smith (Mary Astor), son Lon, Jr. (Henry H. Daniels, Jr.) and daughters (in descending order of age) Rose ( Lucille Bremer), Esther (Judy Garland), Agnes (Joan Carroll), and “Tootie” (Margaret O’Brien).

As you may have already noticed, the father, mother, and youngest daughter in both movies are played by the same actors. Another actor present in both films is Harry Davenport (who appears as Dr. Barnes in Little woman and as “grandfather” in Meet me in St. Louis).

The movies have similar transitions between the credits and the opening scenes. In Little woman, a picturesque winter scene of the house of the March family and that of their neighbors is shown as an embroidery. In Meet me in St. Louis, an image of the house in summer is shown in sepia tones and framed with ornaments and the words “Summer 1903”. Both movies start with these still images fading into actual moving footage. In Meet me in St. Louisto help the viewer appreciate the passage of time, the use of a static seasonal image of the house is repeated every three months until the spring of 1904, the time of the renowned World’s Fair in St. Louis.

In both movies, we see all but the youngest daughters (Beth, Agnes, and Tootie) fall in love. Both Esther (of Meet me in St. Louis) and Jo (and later Amy) (from Little woman) fall in love with the wholesome boy-next-door character, who in both cases has just moved into the neighborhood.

Both movies incorporate the Christmas period, and the families in both movies have reason to be upset on that particular Christmas. In the case of Little woman, the family misses their father, who is serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. The daughters each use the dollar given to them by her Aunt March (Lucile Watson) to buy Christmas presents for her mother. On Christmas Day, the family decides to give much of their Christmas food to their poor friends. In Meet me in St. Louis, the family Christmas is saddened by the fact that their father has decided that they will move to New York right after Christmas. On Christmas Eve, when the father realizes how upset everyone is about his decision, he gives them the best Christmas present they could ask for by changing their minds about moving. The Christmas spirit and charming snow scenes shown in both movies are great to watch during the holidays.

Both movies seem to have a similar artistic appearance. For example, they use particularly vibrant colors and beautiful scenery, which makes them very pleasing to watch. They also take full advantage of the great seasonal variation in weather experienced in some parts of North America. Both films feature houses with a grand staircase and an ornate conservatory filled with plants. At one point in each film, the two youngest daughters are shown spying on the festivities from behind stair railings.

Apart from the fact that the films were made around the same time (1944 and 1949), the aforementioned similarities may also be related to the following credit connections. Sally Benson, who wrote the original novel Meet me in St. Louis (most of which were previously published as “Kensington Stories” in The New Yorker magazine), wrote the film adaptation of this Louisa May Alcott version. Little woman. The films also shared the same set decorator (Edwin B. Willis), member of the art direction team (Cedric Gibbons), associate color director (Technicolor) (Henri Jaffa), Technicolor consultant (Natalie Kalmus), member of the makeup department (Jack Dawn), and sound recording director (Douglas Shearer).