Posted by “Television is an intimate medium and we will capitalize on that intimacy to bring Judy Garland into your living room with effective simplicity and beauty.” – Sid Luft, 1956
April 8, 1939: Judy has good manners! She also was in New York for her second stage appearance at Loew’s State (her first was a year earlier). On this day, she took part in a twins convention, reviewing a “parade of doubles” (the clipping was printed on April 9).
April 8, 1942: Filming on For Me And My Gal continued on the “Interior Bijou” and “Interior Dressing Room” sets. Time called: 11:00 a.m.; dismissed: 5:30 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
April 8, 1943: Filming on Girl Crazy continued. Judy was due on the set at 10:00 a.m. but reported ill, so her call was postponed to 1:50 p.m.; dismissed: 4:00 p.m. She had music rehearsals for the “Embraceable You” and “Bidin’ My Time” numbers.
Photo of Kaprilik artwork provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Girl Crazy here.
April 8, 1946: This is the official general release date for Ziegfeld Follies of 1946, although it had already been in release in some markets for several months. The film had its roadshow premiere in Boston on August 20, 1945.
Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 had been in production for over two years, with various numbers filmed and then deleted before the final cut was approved. Even after that 1945 roadshow premiere, the film underwent further revisions.
Judy’s segment, “A Great Lady Has An Interview,” was filmed in July 1944, just after her work on Meet Me In St. Louis had been completed. It was one of the most popular, and most successful, segments in the film with reviewers singling her out for praise.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 here.
April 8, 1948: This gossip item notes that Judy was receiving offers from England to appear in person. It would have been interesting if Judy actually made it to London for a concert appearance right after completing The Pirate. But then, we might not have had Easter Parade or Summer Stock or…
April 8, 1948: This ad was placed by MGM in the trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald” promoting the upcoming release (on July 16, 1948) of Easter Parade, The Pirate (general release on June 10, 1948) as well as other films.
April 8, 1949: Another detailed look at the filming of Annie Get Your Gun. The scenes shot that day were on the “Exterior N.Y. Pier” set. Judy was due in makeup at 8 a.m. The assistant director’s notes state: “Miss Garland who had a 10 a.m. call, ready on set and did not come thru the gates till 9:45 a.m.”
The notes went on to detail the day, as follows. To date, the footage and stills taken during this day of filming are thought to be lost although the costume test photo of Judy in costume for this scene has survived and is shown above.
Miss Garland on set 11:25 a.m.
11:25-11:53 – Rehearse set boom action with principals
11:53-12:18 – Final wardrobe and makeup Miss Garland
12:18-12:30 – Rehearse with principals, add lighting
12:30-1:30 – Lunch
1:30-2:07 – Send main wardrobe to get new stockings for Miss Garland; meanwhile roll back canvas on top of set
2:07-2:16 – Add lighting
2:16-2:25 – Rehearse set boom, action
2:25-2:27 – Shoot 1 take
2:27-2:30 – Add lighting
2:30-2:36 – fix generator (blew out)
2:36-2:46 – Shoot 4 takes
2:46-2:53 – Fix dolly track, add lighting
2:53-2:56 – Shoot 2 takes
2:56-3:00 – Add lighting
3:00-3:05 – Shoot 1 take and stills
3:05-3:17 – Select setup
3:17-3:41 – L & L boom dolly 2 shot
3:41-4:05 – Rehearse with principals, set boom action
4:05-4:13 – Add lighting
4:13-4:19 – Final makeup principals
4:19-4:42 – Shoot 7 takes and stills
4:45 p.m. – Dismissed
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Annie Get Your Gun here.
April 8, 1956: Judy’s second TV special was broadcast live from CBS-TV in Hollywood, California. Ronald Reagan hosted “The General Electric Theater,” which featured Judy singing “I Feel A Song Coming On,” “Maybe I’ll Come Back,” “Last Night When We Were Young,” “Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries,” “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face,” “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” and “April Showers.”
As with her 1955 special, the program mirrored her recent album for Capitol Records, titled “Judy,” which was released on October 10, 1956.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 8, 1956: The official first photos of Judy and her son, Joey Luft, which were taken in March, were made public and ran in newspapers for several weeks. Joey had just passed his first birthday.
April 8, 1958: Judy paid what she owed to the state of New York, specifically the Supreme Court House in Jamaica, Queens, which was $8,673 plus $272 in court costs. The previous day, April 7th, the courts gave Judy an extra 24 hours to raise the money. Judy had already put up some of her jewelry and gowns as payment on the $10k bond. Judy did divulge where she got the money but at least she got her jewelry and gowns back.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 8, 1961: Judy was in concert at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. “A few moments” of color silent movie footage was shot at this concert and still exists.
The article above, although it has nothing to do with the concert, was published on this date in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 8, 1963: The Garland clan took over “The Ed Sullivan Show”! Not really. Judy, along with daughters Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft and Judy’s son Joe Luft, visited Sullivan while in New York. Sullivan’s show was broadcast out of New York, and Liza was set to make her debut on the show on April 21st. On April 14, the Sullivan Show broadcast Judy’s appearance on the “Sunday Night at the London Palladium” show, which was taped live on March 10, 1963.
April 8, 1967: Judy appeared and performed at a dinner honoring her old family friend, Marcella Rabwin. The dinner took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Judy sang “Make Someone Happy,” and from the audience, sitting next to Marcella, “Over The Rainbow.”
Rabwin’s husband, Dr. Marc Rabwin, was close to the Gumm family from before Judy was born. In fact, it was Rabwin who convinced Frank and Ethel not to terminate Ethel’s pregnancy after Frank went to him with their concerns about having a third child (Judy).
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 8, 1992: USA Today noted the 70th anniversary of Judy’s birth.
April 8, 2004: Judy was the “Star of the Month” on the Turner Classic Movies cable channel. Every Thursday night, TCM featured Judy’s films and documentaries through weekly themes.
TCM’s focus on Judy made sense because that same month, Warner Home Video released Meet Me In St. Louis on DVD for the first time in a special 2-disc edition. Additionally, several other Garland films made their debut on DVD: Love Finds Andy Hardy; Ziegfeld Girl; For Me And My Gal; and In The Good Old Summertime – sold separately or as part of the new boxed set “The Judy Garland Signature Collection.”
The TCM schedule for the night of April 8th was as follows (all times Eastern):
Thursday, April 8 – Judy and Mickey
8 p.m. – Girl Crazy (’43)
10 p.m. – Babes on Broadway (’41)
12 a.m. – Strike Up the Band (’40)
2:15 a.m. – Babes in Arms (’39)
4 a.m. – Love Finds Andy Hardy (’38)
5:45 a.m. – Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (’40)
7:15 a.m. – Life Begins for Andy Hardy (’41)
This is some really great stuff for Judy fans!
I’m glad you like it!
I’m so enjoying these postings. I look forward to getting them. Awesome job! Keep it up…please :))
Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying them, I have fun doing them and finding more great things to share with everyone. 🙂