The Films of Vincente Minnelli examines the career of MGM's leading director of musicals, melodramas, and comedies in the 1940s and 1950s. Widely admired for his flamboyant sense of color and camera movement, Minnelli played a crucial role in maintaining the studio's reputation as the "home of the stars." Describing the director's contributions to some of the most celebrated works of Hollywood's golden era, this volume also includes a close analysis of five important films that represent the full range of Minnelli's career: Cabin in the Sky, Meet Me in St. Louis, Father of the Bride, The Bad and the Beautiful, and Lust for Life. These lively readings provide commentary on problems of genre, directorial style, cultural politics, and the connection between aestheticism and mass culture during the first half of the twentieth century.