Posted by “Hollywood columnists have just voted Judy Garland as the girl with the prettiest legs in movietown.” – Uncredited article, 1941
April 26, 1935, through May 2, 1935: “The Garland Sisters” (Judy and her two sisters) appeared at the Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles, California. The theater wasn’t really “the big time” and only published small notices in the papers as shown above. The Garland Sisters were included in the “VODVIL.”
April 26, 1938: Everybody Sing.
April 26, 1940: Filming on Strike Up The Band continued with more scenes shot on the “Interior Delmonico’s” set. Time called: 9:00 a.m.; dismissed: 5:54 p.m.
April 26, 1940: The Wizard of Oz (released in 1939) was one of the “seven best pictures of 1939.”
April 26, 1941: Two little news items: The first notes that Judy was voted as having the prettiest legs “in movie-town” due to her appearance in Ziegfeld Girl (currently a huge success in theaters around the nation); the second one notes that Judy didn’t get an autograph from Eleanor Roosevelt during her recent trip to New York. Judy had been photographed with Mrs. Roosevelt at an event at the Greek War Relief headquarters in New York (see images below).
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Ziegfeld Girl here.
April 26, 1941: Ziegfeld Girl.
April 26, 1943: Filming on Girl Crazy continued with scenes shot on the “Exterior Campfire” set (“Bidin’ My Time”). Time called: 10:00 a.m.; Judy arrived at 10:35 a.m.; dismissed: 5:40 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Girl Crazy here.
April 26, 1946: Here’s an early notice from Hedda Hopper about What film Judy was to make upon her return to the studio after having given birth to Liza on March 12, 1946. Note how Hedda gets the title wrong, as “The Pirates.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
April 26, 1946: The Harvey Girls.
April 26, 1947: Filming on The Pirate continued with scenes shot on the “Interior Manuela’s Bedroom” set.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
April 26, 1947: Till The Clouds Roll By (released in 1946).
April 26, 1951: Columnist Jimmy Fidler reported on Judy’s arrival in Europe on the Ile de France.
April 26, 1954: Judy had a “Post record Dialogue” session for A Star Is Born. Time started: 3:30 p.m.; finished: 5:10 p.m.
Photo: Cover art of the 2005 CD release of the original mono soundtrack.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
April 26, 1962: Capitol Records recorded a “live” recording session, starting at midnight, held at the Manhattan Center in New York City, for their planned album “Judy Takes Broadway.”
Judy was suffering from laryngitis and was unable to complete the album, the contents of which remained out of print (aside from bootleg records) until June 28, 1989, when Capitol released it as “Judy Garland Live!”
The show began at midnight, with Judy singing until 1:30 a.m. with a star-studded audience in attendance (including Marilyn Monroe and 20-year-old Barbra Streisand). Judy sang “Sail Away”; “Something’s Coming”; “Just In Time”; “Some People”; “Never Will I Marry”; “Joey, Joey, Joey”; and “The Party’s Over.” She also attempted “Do What You Do” and “Why Can’t I?” after the concert and after the audience had left. She was unable to complete any takes of these two songs.
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s page on “Judy Garland Live!” here.
The outtake of “Why Can’t I?” premiered on the 2002 CD set “Judy Garland – The Capitol Years – 1955-1965.”
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
April 26, 1968: These two ads published in the Pittsburgh Press on April 4 and April 17, promote an upcoming appearance by Judy at the Civic Arena scheduled for April 26th. Unfortunately, the concert was canceled at the last minute. No reason was given. Judy never returned to Pittsburgh to perform. According to columnist Harold V. Cohen, the whole endeavor was sketchy. Judy hadn’t given a concert since her appearance at the Lincoln Center in New York on February 25th. She was living in New York during March, April, and May, but did not get back on the stage until her May 24th appearance at Boston’s Back Bay Theater. This Pittsburgh concert allegedly scheduled for April 26th might have been a scam to sell nonexistent tickets or, as the article at right proposes, ticket sales weren’t enough – which is hard to believe considering how popular Judy’s concerts were. No other information about this mystery concert has surfaced.
April 25th write-up in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Nobody was really very much surprised at the “postponement” – cancellation would be more accurate – of the Judy Garland concert at the Civic Arena tomorrow night. For no show business enterprise in local history, it seemed, had ever been launched so secretively. A couple of advertisements appeared in the newspapers, rather hesitantly, a casual observer might have suspected; the customary advance publicity was completely missing, and the usual harbinger of such an attraction, the inevitable press agent, the drama desks looked and waited for in vain. Perhaps the announcement of a couple of weeks ago of the advance sale was nothing more than a trial balloon. And then when the expected deluge at the downtown ticket offices failed to materialize and only a few scattered pieces of mail came in, the promoters, whoever they were, decided the jig was up.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
