AllMovie

Judy Garland was already starting her "problem period" by 1946, but one would never know it from looking at The Harvey Girls -- and that's all to the film's benefit, for she has to carry a great deal of it herself. The screenplay is partly at fault; it's serviceable, but no more, even though the basic idea and setting are unusual enough to have inspired much better. The bigger problem for Garland is that she has in John Hodiak one of the dullest and least appealing leading men of her career and so has to work extra hard to make their story believable. She gets a good deal more support from the score, which is always pleasant and contains two outstanding numbers, "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" and the slightly melancholy "It's a Great Big World." Choreographer Robert Alton is also an asset, especially in these two numbers, as well as "Swing Your Partner Round and Round" and young Cyd Charisse's dance to "Wait and See." Aside from Hodiak, the cast all provide solid performances, and the film has the polished beauty one expects from the legendary Freed Unit, but it's still Garland's show all the way. Whether imbuing a song with her special throbbing belt or comically retrieving steaks purloined from the restaurant, she makes an average picture into something a little special.