Judy Garland introduced "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by singing it to Margaret O'Brien in 1944's "Meet Me in St. Louis."
"Because I love Christmas, it's wonderful to become part of Christmas lore," O'Brien, 82, said in an interview.
She credits Garland for changing what was "very dark at first" by going to songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and making suggestions. "Judy sort of co-wrote the song with them and brought it to be much lighter," O'Brien said. "That's what really made it this wonderful, bright, Christmas song, which may not have been. We have Judy to thank for some of that."
"Meet Me in St. Louis" celebrates its 75th anniversary by returning to movie theaters Dec. 8 and 11. It's part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series presented by Fathom Events. Details at fathomevents.com.
O'Brien, one of Hollywood's greatest child actors, won a juvenile Oscar for "Meet Me in St. Louis." She ranks it No. 1 among her films.
"It's the one that's really become a classic," she said. "It's a wonderful family film. It's a film that will go on for many generations."
The film, set in 1903, focuses on a St. Louis family unhappy to learn it will relocate to New York for the father's business. Esther (Garland) sings the Christmas song to comfort distraught little sister Tootie (O'Brien). Garland made her laugh before the scene, O'Brien said.
"I was having a hard time crying in that scene," she said. "The way my mother got me to cry, I was in competition with June Allyson: Who would be best crier on the (MGM) lot? My mother said she'd have the makeup man put false tears on my face. June would always cry real tears, and that made me cry, because I didn't want June to get ahead of me in the contest."
O'Brien credits the film's enduring appeal to Vincente Minnelli's direction, style and expert casting. Minnelli and Garland fell in love on the film.
"I remember Judy as a very happy person. I think her children do, too," O'Brien said. She also praises Garland's delivery of what is now a Christmas standard. "Almost every artist has sung that song, but none have come up to the way Judy did it," she said.
O'Brien said other favorites of her films, all from the 1940s, include "Little Women," "The Secret Garden" and "Journey for Margaret" ("my first big movie"). Her favorite costars include Jimmy Durante, Robert Young and Charles Laughton. On "The Canterville Ghost," Laughton "was wonderful to work with," she said. "He treated me like a grown-up actress. We tried to steal each other's scenes."
In recent decades, O'Brien has worked in television, and she has promoted TCM. "They have kept these movies alive and kept our names alive and kept my career still going," she said. "So I'm very grateful to them."
What does it mean to be remembered as one of Hollywood's greatest child stars? "I'm very happy about it. It's wonderful people think so," she said. "I hope some of the movies I made have been wonderful for other children to watch."
