Judy Garland at 100: A Throwback on her Career
- Gurveer Boyal
- Jun 5, 2022
- 15 min read
As we all know, Judy Garland (my absolute favourite movie star) would have turned 100 this Friday. In order to celebrate, I have decided to discuss all of Judy’s films I have watched.
The first film is ‘Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry’ (1937). This is one of ten films Judy Garland made with Mickey Rooney. Judy Garland plays an aspiring actress who has very powerful singing vocals. Her aunt owns a boarding house for jockeys. Mickey Rooney plays the leader of the jockeys. But Ronald Sinclair - despite having quite low billing - is the leading character of the film, playing a young English boy who wants to have his horse entered in a race. It’s quite obvious that ‘Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry’ is not Judy’s most memorable movie but she does have some good tunes, and the relationship between Garland, Rooney and Sinclair is a fun one.
The next film is ‘Love Finds Andy Hardy’ (1938). The Andy Hardy films may not have been the best films produced by MGM but they were guaranteed to bring the studio some money. Often the same actress would appear in multiple Andy Hardy films but play different characters each time; this was the case with Judy. Here she plays Betsy Booth, a girl who falls in love with Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney’) while staying next to his house. The only problem for her is that Andy is stuck with two other girls played by Ann Rutherford and Lana Turner. This is quite a messy film but also quite a fun one. While this film isn’t well-remembered today, it was the film that turned Mickey Rooney into a star.
Now onto ‘Listen, Darling’ (1938). The plot sounds concerning: Pinkie (Judy Garland), with the help of Buzz (Freddie Bartholomew), “kidnaps” her mother (Mary Astor) and brother (Scotty Beckett) so that her mother does not marry the “wrong” man. But rest assured, the film isn’t as creepy as it sounds. For me, the highlight of the film was the song “On the Bumpy Road to Love”. Another iconic song is “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart”. Garland and Bartholomew have a fun relationship in this film as Astor is really good in her role.
Judy Garland’s most famous film - and my favourite film ever - is none other than ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939). Initially, MGM has wanted Shirley Temple to play Dorothy Gale, but Temple was under contract with 20th Century Fox. While Garland was considered too old for the role (she was 16 at the time), her powerful singing vocals won her the part. The film follows Dorothy Gale, a girl who is sent to the magical land of Oz by a tornado. In order to get back home, she has to go to the Emerald City and find the Wizard of Oz. She befriends a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), while making an enemy out of the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton). Upon the film’s initial release, it (surprisingly) didn’t make much at the box office and reviews were mixed. The thing to remember is that 1939 is considered the best year in film, so it is likely that audiences were focused on other films. Either way, the film catapulted Judy Garland to stardom and has become one of the most famous film following it’s re-release. Garland’s rendition of “Over the Rainbow” is the clear highlight of this film. Another great part of this film is the use of Technicolor. The scenes in Kansas are shown in sepia while the scenes in Oz are shown in vibrant Technicolor. If I had to recommend one Judy Garland film, it would definitely be this one!
It’s now time to evaluate ‘Ziegfeld Girl’ (1941). I think the film nicely represents the bridge between Garland’s child career and her adult career. At the start of the film, she plays a stage performer who works with her father but by the end of the film, she is the star of the Ziegfeld Follies. The other stars of the film are James Stewart, Lana Turner and Hedy Lamarr. Stewart and Turner play lovers who struggle to maintain their relationship after Tuner’s character gets put in the Ziegfeld show. Similarly, Lamarr’s character - Sandra - also has troubles with her boyfriend when she gets hired and he doesn’t by Ziegfeld. Garland, Turner and Lamarr make a good trio of friends and their different experiences of show business in the film are interesting to watch. One of the most famous things about this film is Lamarr’s white dress with a starry headpiece.
One of the darkest musicals I have ever seen is ‘For Me and My Gal’ (1942). Although it appears to be a fun little musical, it is actually a propaganda film made to encourage people to fight in World War II. Despite this, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly manage to make some really heart-warming moments together. This was Judy Garland’s first real adult role (while Garland had played an adult in ‘Little Nellie Kellie’ (1940), she did a dual role where she played both mother and daughter) and her acting is great. This was also a landmark film for Gene Kelly as it was his first ever film. Garland had seen him performing ‘Pal Joey’ on Broadway and fought to have him on this picture. The chemistry between the two is great and they both compliment each other greatly; Garland sings her great songs while Kelly dances his show-stopping numbers. Set during World War I, Harry (Gene Kelly) falls in love with Jo (Judy Garland). He convinces her to leave her old act and join him instead but their relationship becomes strained when Harry purposely cripples his hand to avoid fighting. Although the film is still a musical, Garland and Kelly are really convincing in their serious, somber scenes and it’s a nice chance to see them playing serious roles.
MGM’s highest-grossing film of the 1940s was ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’. Although this film sees Judy playing a teenager, her performance is stellar. The film is told in four different parts - Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring - and it chronicles the Smith family finding love and preparing to move. Judy Garland stars as Esther Smith. She is attracted to “The Boy Next Door”, John Truett (Tom Drake). Rose (Lucille Bremer) is also finding love in a long-distance relationship. In many of Bremer’s films, her acting is quite wooden but here, she comes odd as elegant and has a good bind with Garland’s character. It’s also the only film where her singing voice isn’t dubbed. The young Smith sisters are played by Joan Carroll and Margaret O’Brien. O’Brien’s character - Tootie - is into particular grim things such as blood and death, but she is portrayed in a really adorable way and it’s hard to hate her. Leon Ames and Mary Astor are really good at playing the parents. The highlight for this film are the songs such as “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis”, “The Boy Next Door”, “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Although this is a perfect film to watch at any time of the year, I like watching it every Christmas Eve as I think the Christmas part of this film is the most important. Here’s a fun fact: the original lyrics to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” were very dark and Garland refused to sing the, causing the lyrics to be changed, so we can thank Garland for the classic Christmas song which is still popular today.
Now we’ll explore Garland in the Wild West. Of course, I am talking about ‘The Harvey Girls’ (1946). Most of you will remember the film as the one where Garland walks around with two guns in her hand. I’d put this film in my top 3 Judy Garland films because what isn’t there to love about it? Judy Garland plays Susan Bradley, a woman who is going to marry a man she has never met before. When she gets there, she realises that the man is not who she thinks she is so she calls the marriage off and instead joins the Harvey Girls, a group of waitresses. Ned Trent (John Hodiak) becomes attracted to Susan, leading Em (Angela Lansbury) to become Susan’s rival as she too loves Ned. The best song of this film is none other than “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe”. What’s interesting is that Angela Lansbury was actually dubbed in this film by Virginia Rees. Lansbury could sing but her voice was considered unsuitable for a lowly saloon singer. As great as Garland’s performance was in this film, I have to admit that it was Angela Lansbury who really stole the show. Her sassiness, her facial expressions and her lines were all iconic. She also looked riveting. My personal favourite look of hers was the gold dress she wore at the beginning of the film (it’s my favourite film costume ever). Virginia O’Brien and Ray Bolger also made a great comedic pair, and I was pleasantly surprised with Cyd Charisse’s presence - she actually has quite a big role for such low billing!
For most of the 1940s, Judy Garland usually played leading roles, but there were a few exceptions, such as ‘Till the Clouds Roll By’ (1946). The star of the film was Robert Walker - although he received a very low billing due to conflicts between him an MGM. The film is a musical biopic which depicts the career of Jerome Kern. While Judy Garland didn’t have a huge role, her role was slightly larger than most of the other stars as she actually got an acting role (most of the stars only got to sing a song or two). Of course, Garland also appeared in three musical numbers - “Look for the Silver Lining”, “Sunny” and “Who?”. I love how “Look for the Silver Lining” has Garland quite literally washing dishes while in “Sunny” and “Who?”, she is in a much more glamorous setup. It just goes to show that Garland could do it all. Some of you may or may not have known that Garland was pregnant with Liza Minnelli while filming this movie. Currently it’s Judy Garland’s only film in the public domain but I’ll be honest, I don’t think the whole film is worth a watch. It’s probably better to just listen to the songs instead. Aside from Judy Garland, some of my favourite numbers were by Lena Horne, June Allyson, Van Johnson/Lucille Bremer and Frank Sinatra. But my absolute favourite number was “How’d You Like to Spoon With Me?” by Angela Lansbury.
It was rare for a Judy Garland film to fail at the box office, but unfortunately ‘The Pirate’ (1948) failed to generate a large audience and received mixed reviews upon its release. ‘The Pirate’ was not an easy film for Judy to film. She was severely ill at the time and even had to see a psychiatrist. Despite this, she still managed to give an entertaining performance as Manuela, a woman who wants to be taken away by the famous pirate Macocco. A performer (Gene Kelly) pretends to be Macocco to try and win over Manuela’s heart but he doesn’t realise that Macocco is a wanted man. My favourite thing about this film is Judy’s big number, “Mack the Black”. In fact, I'd be lying if I said I haven't been watching the "Mack the Black" number on repeat for the last few days. It's just a crazy, captivating, energetic musical number which has become my recent obsession and is worth watching. Judy and all the other performers put so much energy into that performance that you would never know that Judy was ill just by watching the number. Her dress during that number - a white top with a sparkly red and black dress - is absolutely breath-taking and the best costume of the film in my opinion. Another great number is “Be a Clown”. I know many of you have undoubtedly seen ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ (1952) and one popular song from that movie is “Make ‘Em Laugh” by Donald O’Connor. Well “Make ‘Em Laugh” actually has the exact same tune as “Be a Pirate”! Another treat is seeing the Nicholas Brothers perform a dance routine. Unfortunately Hollywood was incredibly racist back then (and still is now) so Garland and Kelly had to fight hard to get the Nicholas Brothers in the film. One number which Louis B. Mayer (head of MGM) disliked was “The Pirate Ballet” by Gene Kelly. He found the ballet to be too sexual; Kelly danced in very revealing clothes and at one point circled a woman teasingly while chopping off the bunny ears she was wearing. But “The Pirate Ballet” holds nothing to the “Voodoo” number by Garland and Kelly. While “The Pirate Ballet” was kept in the film, “Voodoo” was dropped completely - in fact, Mayer forced filmmakers to burn the footage completely, meaning that no footage of the number exists today - because Mayer found Garland and Kelly’s dancing to be too sexual for a 1948 audience. Although no footage exists, the audio tapes are still available to listen to and a few photos of the dance exist.. While ‘The Pirate’ was difficult to produce and failed at the box office, it is proof that no matter how much Judy struggled, she always tried her best.
Garland’s talent was so extraordinary that Fred Astaire came out of retirement just to star alongside her in ‘Easter Parade’ (1948). Originally conceived as a vehicle for Garland and Gene Kelly, Kelly dropped out after hurting his ankle and so Astaire was called in to replace Kelly. ‘Easter Parade’ follows the story of Don (Fred Astaire), a dancer who tries to find a new partner after his old partner (Ann Miller) leaves him. One day he sees a woman (Judy Garland) and decides that he is going to make her a star. Although Astaire is older than he was before he had retired, his performance doesn’t falter in the slightest. As for Judy herself, she proves once again that she is a triple threat. She acts, she sings and she dances. She does really glamorous numbers but also does an unglamorous number - “We’re a Couple of Swells”. One thing I love about Judy is that she wasn’t afraid to ditch good looks to give an amazing performance. My obvious favourite number from this film is “Easter Parade”, followed closely by “When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam”. Ann Miller dances up a storm in the “Shakin’ the Blues Away” number. ‘Easter Parade’ was Ann Miller’s first film at MGM and she dances on an incredibly professional level. Miller was definitely an ambitious person and actually made her first movie at the age of 13! She had lied about her age and managed to maintain the secret, so she made a good number of movies and had a lot of experience by the time she made ‘Easter Parade’. Peter Lawford also appears in the film as Astaire’s best friend. Lawford usually played quiet (sometimes “unlucky”) characters which is always fun to watch. Although not a major player, I do have to mention Jules Munshin. He excelled with his comedic talents in this film and was really funny in the restaurant scene where he acted out the making of a salad.
One of Garland’s easiest films to shoot was ‘In the Good Old Summertime’ (1949). According to Van Johnson, Garland was kept laughing throughout filming and so she managed to ease through production. A remake of ‘The Shop Around the Corner’ (1940), Garland and Johnson play rivals in a music store who are unknowingly secret pen pals with each other. We probably all know this film for Garland swinging and kicking all over the place while singing her iconic rendition of “I Don’t Care”. Another song from the film which I love listening to (even in the Summer) is “Merry Christmas”. Don’t be fooled by the title, ‘In the Good Old Summertime’ is actually mostly set during Christmas time. Only the beginning and the end of the film are set in the Summer. Speaking of the end, did you know that the baby at the end of the film is Liza Minnelli, Judy’s own daughter? Yes, that’s right, this was Liza’s screen debut! This is also an important film for Buster Keaton. Initially, Keaton was asked to write some gags for the film. However, filmmakers realised that only Keaton could perform the gags and so he was cast as the nephew of the music store’s owner. This was Keaton’s first film at MGM since he was fired from the studio in 1933. Although Keaton is obviously much older than he was in his heyday, he still acts on the same high level as he did when he was younger. Now for the stars themselves - Garland and Johnson. I’m going to be honest, their characters come off as annoying at times since they are in constant arguments, often over minor things. Despite this, I still enjoy watching the film because it just has a warm, cozy feeling to it.
Although Judy Garland never finished making ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ (1950), I still think that it is worth a mention. Garland was cast in the leading role - Annie Oakley - under the direction of Busby Berkeley. Garland vehemently opposed appearing in this film. She thought that the role of Annie was not right for her and she didn’t want to work with Berkeley. Garland thought that Berkeley was too demanding and pushy of performers. Garland had also been pushed to her limits by MGM and was too exhausted to work. She recorded all of her songs and completed two scenes - “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly” and “I’m an Indian, Too”. While Garland still comes across as an entertainer with a powerful voice, her exhaustion is apparent in the scenes she filmed. After composing to Louis B. Mayer, Garland successfully had Berkeley removed from the picture. However, it became clear that Garland was unwell to finish the picture and so she was fired. Garland was replaced by Betty Hutton, who was loaned to MGM by Paramount, and the film was a success. While I love Judy Garland, I think that Hutton was definitely more suited for the role. Luckily we can still listen to Garland’s renditions of the songs.
When Garland was filming ‘Easter Parade’, she did a number called “Mr Monotony”. However, number was ultimately cut as the costume was considered too risqué for a film set in 1912. The costume used in the number was worm again by Judy in ‘Summer Stock’ (1950). ‘Summer Stock’ would be Judy’s last film at MGM before she got fired from the studio. The story revolves around a farm owner (Judy Garland) who is hoping that there will be a good Harvest as she has struggled in previous years. She is being courted by a respected man (Eddie Bracken) but things change when her sister (Gloria DeHaven) brings along her boyfriend (Gene Kelly) and a group of performers to put on a summer stock. Something which appealed to me were the characters Garland and Kelly played. Garland usually played shy, awkward characters while Kelly usually played proud, flirtatious characters. However, in this film, Garland plays a dominant, assertive character while Kelly’s character is more timed downed compared to his other roles. They both give great performances and it’s great to see them in such different roles. The stand-out of this film is the “Get Happy” number. It’s one of Garland’s most known songs and it is really catchy. The number was filmed after the rest of the film and it’s evident that Garland feels a lot better in that number. Another good song she does is “Howdy Neighbour, Happy Harvest” and I admire how long she keeps that last note of the song going. Having been made outside of the Freed Unit, it feels so different to Garland’s other MGM films yet it doesn’t fail to impress in the slightest.
Garland wouldn’t appear in another film until 1954. Her comeback film was “A Star is Born’. Currently there are four versions of the film and Judy’s version was the second (it was also the first musical version). The film was big - so big that some scenes had to be cut. Unfortunately, the footage has been lost but the audio tapes survive and in the restored version, some black-and-white still images have been added to the film while the audio tapes are placed over the images. Garland’s performance in this film is my absolute favourite performance of her’s. Garland plays Esther, an aspiring movie actress who gets her break when she attracts the eye of Norman Maine (James Mason). I love this film because it contains a lot of musical numbers as well as some serious dramatic moments. When Garland lost the Best Actress Oscar to Grace Kelly for her performance in ‘The Country Girl’ (1954), everyone was shocked, and Groucho Marx sent Judy a telegram, saying that it was the “biggest robbery since Brink’s”. People were so sure that Garland would win the actress that cameras has actually been set up in her hospital room (she was unable to attend the ceremony as she had just given birth to her son, Joey Luft). What makes Judy’s performance so great? The versatility of it. We get some light-hearted moments, such as when she performs the long “Born in a Trunk” melody, but we also get some emotional scenes from her, such as the dressing room scene, where she was releasing real tears. She shows off all that she can do in this film and that’s why it’s such a great movie. Another unforgettable moment is when Garland belts out “The Man That Got Away”. If you wonder why Garland is such a respected actress, this movie will tell you why.
To conclude this blog, I will talk about ‘A Child is Waiting’ (1963). This is one of the rare movies in which Garland doesn’t sing as she takes on a completely dramatic role. Garland plays Jean Hansen, a woman who goes to work as a music teacher at a school for children with special needs. Her devotion and compassion towards the children causes her to get on the bad side of the school director (Burt Lancaster), who believes that all the children should be disciplined and treated the same way. One thing that Garland loved and lived for were her children. Garland loved being a mother and that’s why this role is perfect for her. Here we get to see her looking after and caring children, something she loved to do. She is also good with her emotional moments and it makes me wish that she had more dramatic roles. Burt Lancaster was also good as a stern school director. I’ve seen him in a few films like ‘The Killers’ (1946), ‘Brute Force’ (1947) and ‘From Here to Eternity’ (1953) and he’s always excelled at playing the tough guys. I think this film was quite ahead for its time. In most 1960s films, there isn’t much focus on people with special needs, and I like how through Garland’s character, there is a message that people with special needs still deserve to be loved and valued.
That’s it from me. Judy Garland was the best triple threat in Hollywood and even today her songs and movies have stood the test of time. There really is no one like Judy…
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