Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Harvey Girls Blu-ray Movie Review

Medium-well done.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 27, 2022

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June 2022 marks the 100th anniversary of Judy Garland's birth... and to celebrate, all three Warner Archive Blu-rays this month -- Ziegfeld Girl, The Clock, and For Me and My Gal -- feature the late, great star. Also covered this month are two 1940s Garland films from deeper in the Warner Archive vault, The Pirate and The Harvey Girls.

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A popular crowd-pleaser in its day, George Sidney's The Harvey Girls is a somewhat lukewarm but enjoyable musical whose only real crime is that it doesn't need to be one. The film's oddball premise -- a group of women head out West to become waitresses for a popular chain of restaurants -- is nonetheless played straight by a winning cast that includes Garland, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury (in her first role playing a non- Brit), and even Ray Bolger, which makes this an extremely rare mini-Oz reunion. Add in a botched engagement, cooking drama, Cyd Charisse, and even a daring steak rescue at gunpoint, and you've got the recipe for a dated but very charming slice of American film history.

Not surprisingly, we learn during an included audio commentary with the late, great director that The Harvey Girls was not originally conceived as a song-and-dance show, nor were its lead roles written for Garland and Hodiak. Yet its core story remains the same: a group of warm young ladies -- all train-bound for sun-baked Sandrock, Arizona to work at a Harvey House restaurant -- meet Susan Bradley (Garland), who's also going there to meet a mystery man who's been writing her beautiful letters. When her big reunion turns out to be a total bust, she's got a choice to make: return home dejected, or try to make a go of it at the fancy, respectable Harvey House. There's a twist, though: the real author of those letters turns out to be Ned Trent (Hodiak), owner of the nearby Alhambra Saloon, who she ends up liking about as much as his rowdy dive bar and its jealous employees, including showgirl Em (Angela Lansbury).

Surprisingly, The Harvey Girls is not fully driven by some sort of predictable love triangle; instead the narrative mostly focuses on small-town drama, especially stiff competition between Ned's saloon and the Harvey House girls. It all adds up to a largely entertaining but patchwork production that's peppered with songs and dances even when the situation doesn't really demand either one. The flow still feels natural (if only due to the presence of Garland, who only had one non-musical performance under her belt with 1946's The Clock), and if nothing else the songs are mostly catchy and inoffensive, rarely robbing the narrative of its momentum. Its biggest sonic standout is "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe", which was added early on after director Sidney suggested "a train song"; it was quickly recognized as a potential hit and, in some ways, has overshadowed the main feature itself during the last 75+ years. But while the The Harvey Girls seems to favor these sporadic musical detours over its mostly featherweight central story, the end result still hard to resist based on the inarguable strengths of its clearly talented cast and crew.

Although Warner Archive's excellent Blu-ray of The Harvey Girls has been available for some time, it's still well worth picking up die-hard fans of Judy Garland during a month celebrating the 100th anniversary of her birth. The film has bigger fans than myself but this Blu-ray is unquestionably a top-tier effort in every major category, pairing the reliable boutique label's usual flawless restoration efforts with a solid collection of film-specific bonus features.

The Harvey Girls Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

To absolutely no one's surprise, Warner Archive has outdone themselves once again with yet another outstanding and stunningly detailed 1080p transfer. Sourced from a then-recent 4K scan of the original Technicolor camera negatives, The Harvey Girls absolutely sparkles with clarity and color when it counts, showcasing its fine production and costume design in ways that make the overall viewing experience much more enjoyable than earlier presentations. Purists are this disc's target audience and they'll be thrilled with how natural everything looks due to a total lack of excessive noise reduction, compression artifacts, banding, or other such eyesores. It all adds up to a consistently stunning presentation that shares many similarities with previous Warner Archive titles restored from the same type of source material, all of which stand out as pitch-perfect catalog releases that may very well never be improved upon.

The Harvey Girls Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix is less immediately impressive, it still represents a very strong effort that likely surpasses original theatrical showings. Dialogue and background effects are clear and well balanced, occasionally mixed with foley effects and diegetic music that sounds perfectly well-balanced. Of course the sporadic song breaks sound excellent as well, even if it's painfully obvious when someone's lip-syncing. No obvious defects could be detected including drop-outs, volume fluctuations, hissing, or pops -- just pure, unfiltered audio that gets the job done.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, but not the extras. This is pretty annoying since the DVD collection that most of them were sourced from did in fact have optional subtitles available. It's perhaps my only ongoing hang-up regarding Warner Archive releases, and one that I hope is addressed at some point.

The Harvey Girls Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover art and no inserts. All bonus features have been ported over from Warner Bros.' 2001 DVD and a few upgrades have been made. Unlike most of the studio's musical releases, these extras are all film-specific with no vintage shorts, cartoons, or other pre-show entertainment.

• Audio Commentary - This valuable commentary with late director George Sidney (d. 2002) sheds plenty of valuable insight regarding the film's development, production, theatrical release, and history. Topics of interest including its origins as a straight Western, adding the hit song "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe", other casting possibilities such as Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, stories from the set, first impressions of Judy Garland including her screen test long before stardom, cinematography, costumes, and much more. It's a very warm, inviting, and enjoyable audio commentary from start to finish that die-hard fans will enjoy.

• Musical Outtakes - Three short excised bits presented in DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (mono) paired with upscaled SD film footage and prefaced by text-based introduction details.

• "March of the Doagies" (3:26)
• "March of the Doagies" (Reprise) (1:58)
• "My Intuition" (3:47)

• Scoring Sessions (Audio Only) - A whopping 27 demo clips for various songs from the film, all presented in DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (mono). Highlights are below, but these run for well over an hour.

• It's a Great Big World (5:50)
• "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe" (multiple takes and versions)
• "The Wild, Wild West" (3:21)
• "In the Valley" (2:38)
• "Hayride" (5:27)
• "Swing Your Partner Round and Round" (multiple parts)
• "In the Valley" - Rehearsal with Judy Garland and Kay Thompson (1:42)

• "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe - Stereo Version" (9:00) - A full-bodied stereo mix of the hit song, presented in true DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio and paired with restored footage from the film.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:51) - This lively promotional piece can also be seen here.

• Song Selection - Instant access to The Harvey Girls' 14 main musical and dance numbers, listed below.

• Main Title
• "In the Valley (Where the Evening Sun Goes Down"
• "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe"
• "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe" (Susan Ascends)
• Training Montage
• "Oh, You Kid"
• "Wait and See"
• "It's a Great Big World"
• "The Wild, Wild West"
• "Wait and See"
• "On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe" (Dance)
• "Swing Your Partner Round and Round"
• Finale
• End Title

The Harvey Girls Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

George Sidney's The Harvey Girls probably didn't need to be a musical but works well enough anyway, based on the obvious charms of its cast and a handful of solid songs that dot the narrative landscape without interfering too much. Warner Archive's Blu-ray package is, as usual, an exemplary effort and includes yet another outstanding restoration and a handsome slate of film-specific bonus features. It may or may not be worth a blind buy to those intrigued by its cast and premise, but established fans should definitely pick The Harvey Girls up if they haven't already.