Posted by “It was an awe-inspiring evening for myself and those that were present.” – Pianist Goldie Hawkins, 1955
June 14, 1926: The Gumm Family working vacation to California continued with an engagement for the family, as “Jack and Virginia Lee with Three Little Lees,” at the Liberty Theater in Shelby, Montana.
June 14, 1932: Judy and her sisters, as “The Gumm Sisters,” performed at the Benefit for Unemployed at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
June 14, 1933: Judy and her sisters, as “The Gumm Sisters,” performed at the Kiwanis Club meeting at the Kiwanis Hall in Lancaster, California.
June 14, 1935: This is the date given as the last time Judy and her sisters (now going by “The Garland Sisters”) appeared together on stage at one of their father’s theaters. Frank Gumm was currently leasing and managing the local movie theatre in Lomita, California, which he advertised as “Garland’s Lomita Theatre.” Frank and Ethel Gumm had recently begun using the name “Garland,” trading on the Garland Sisters’ recent successes.
Frank had previously owned and managed the Valley Theatre in Lancaster, California, where the family originally settled when they moved from Minnesota in 1926. By spring 1935, the family was living full-time in Los Angeles, at 842 N. Mariposa Avenue. Originally, Frank had stayed behind in Lancaster to keep managing the theatre, but in early April 1935, he lost the lease. The official story was that he owed $2k in back rent, but the locals claimed it was because his homosexual activity had become a problem. By June 1935, Frank had leased a new theatre just 18 miles away in Lomita. He renamed it “Garland’s Lomita Theatre.” It had previously been simply called the “Lomita Theatre.”
The occasion for the sisters’ alleged appearance on June 14 was the local premiere of the Frankie Darro serial Burn ‘Em Up Barnes. However, according to the local papers, the serial’s premiere did not occur until Saturday, July 13, 1935, which was the inauguration of Frank’s new Saturday Matinee Series at the theatre. Moviegoers were given an album to keep souvenir photos provided by the theatre “for the next 26 weeks,” although the Darro serial only had 12 installments. The Garland Sisters were 460 miles north in Lake Tahoe from June 15 through July 26. It’s doubtful that they would have taken a revenue loss to spend a full day driving to Lomita for a quick appearance with Darro on July 13, then another full day driving back up to Tahoe.
The last installment of the Darro serial was on September 28. Months later, the local paper noted that Judy and her sisters had appeared at the theatre “on several occasions” and with Darro, but the exact dates were not given. By September 28 (the last day of the installments and the originally advertised date of Darro’s personal appearance), Judy had been signed by MGM. Her start date at the studio wasn’t until October 1. It’s possible that September 28 is the date she appeared with Darro at the theatre, but not as part of the Garland Sisters. The sister act broke up in August when older sister Mary Jane (Sue) flew to Vegas to marry musician Lee Kahn. The marriage with Kahn would play into the theatre’s history in just a few short months, as noted below. It’s possible that the original June 14 date for the appearance was an early preview of Darro’s serial, which was coming a month later, although nothing was advertised in the papers. And that’s one thing Frank was really good at – promotion! But nothing was promoted on that final date of the series (September 28), either. So it’s not exactly known for sure which date Judy, with or without her sisters, appeared at the theatre with Darro.
After Frank died on November 15, 1935, the theatre was temporarily closed. On November 29, the local paper noted that Sue’s husband, Lee Kahn, was taking over the management of the theatre. While Kahn was primarily a musician, he also had solid experience as a theatre manager. He kept the theatre’s name “Garland’s Lomita Theatre” until early February 1936, when it was changed to “Kahn’s Lomita Theatre.” That lasted until at least March 1936. By July 1936, Frank’s brother, Robert Gumm, took it over, and it became “Gumm’s Lomita Theatre.” Robert continued managing the theatre for another eighteen months. In late 1936, he dropped the “Gumm’s” from the advertisements, and the theatre reverted to the “Lomita Theatre.” On January 17, 1937, Judy made her last personal appearance at the theatre, promoting the local premiere of her first feature film, Pigskin Parade (1936). This time, the paper noted that she had appeared at the theatre just twice before.
The link to the Gumm/Garland family was finally severed in late 1937, when Robert Gumm sold the theatre to E.C. O’Keefe and E.S. Calvi, and moved with his family to Brea, CA, and another theatre ownership/management opportunity. The two managed the theatre well into the 1940s. In 1955, the theatre closed for good. The building is still there and has been occupied by a variety of businesses, none of which have been theatres.
June 14, 1935: Coming tomorrow to the Cal-Neva Lodge!
June 14, 1937: Judy appeared on the “Frank Morgan’s Varieties” radio show. Morgan was an MGM featured player, and of course, later he became the Wizard of Oz. This new limited series of 15-minute shows featured Morgan with Freddie Rich and His Orchestra, and a guest or guests. This edition, according to this newspaper notice, featured Dorothy Lamour and Frances Langford along with Judy. Quite a lot to pack into 15 minutes!
Judy was listed as being a part of the shows that aired on June 6th, 14th, 21st, 28th; July 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th; and August 2nd & 9th. She’s not listed in the final three episodes on August 16, 23, & 30. No recordings are known to exist of any of the shows, nor is there any information as to what Judy sang.
June 14, 1939: Babes in Arms filming continued with more scenes shot on the “Interior and Exterior Bart Theatre” scenes. Judy had a call for 10 a.m.; dismissed at 4:10 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Babes in Arms here.
June 14, 1939: Judy, Mickey Rooney, Tyrone Power, a host of other stars, and even the fictional Hardy family, appeared on a radio show celebrating Flag Day, presented by the American Bar Association.
June 14, 1939: Similar to the “It’s True!” factoid series, “Star Flashes” also presented random tidbits of information about movies and movie stars. Most of it was fiction.
June 14, 1940: Judy’s Strike Up The Band co-star, Mickey Rooney, still had a fever blister and was unable to be photographed, so work on the film was canceled for a few days. In the interim, Judy did some tests for Little Nellie Kelly which was the film she was rushed into in the final days of Band filming in August 1940.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Strike Up The Band here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Little Nellie Kelly here.
June 14, 1941: From the Curio Department. Judy, along with a plethora of stars, signed this presentation hide for Harry Carey, in celebration of his 33rd anniversary as an actor in films. The hide was presented to him on this date at his ranch in Saugus, California (part of Santa Clarita).
Other signatures include: John Wayne, John Ford, Clark Gable, Frances Farmer, Cecil B. DeMille, Elmer Rice, Samuel Goldwyn, William Wyler, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, Elia Kazan, Joel McCrae, Preston Sturges, Paulette Goddard, Bette Davis, Ray Milland, William Wellman, Ronald Reagan, Louis B. Mayer, Stuard Heisler, Tyrone Power, Lou Costello, Richard Arlen, Robert Cummings, Claudette Colbert, William Boyd, John M. Stahl, Buddy Rogers, Loretta Young, Betty Grable, James Kirkwood, Sr., Claire Windsor, Claire Trevor, Brian Aherne, Sonja Henie, George Raft, Linda Darnell William Farnum, Lillian Rich, Lupe Velez, Jane Withers, Tay Garnett, Edgar Bergan, Jacques Jaccard, Frank Morgan, Charles Boyer, Harry Cohn, Hena Owens, Deana Durbin William Berke, Irene Dunn, Virginia Bruce, Leo Carrillo, Red Skelton, Duncan Renaldo, Jane Novak, Ralph F. McCullough, Robert Benchley, Franchot Tone, W.C. Fields, Jackie Cooper, Eddie Bracken, Alice White Roberts, Y.F. Freeman, B.G. DeSylva, William Meiklejohn, Ver Lewis, George Murphy, Ruth Hussey, Neil Hamilton, Harry Sherman, Arthur Hornblow, Elen Drew, Mary Martin, Victor Schertzinger, Fibber McGee, Mollie McGee, Constance Moore, Neil Agnew, Lou Ostrow, Sidney Sklosky, Carl Brisson, Ralph Morgan, Beulah Bondi, William Desmond, Fritz Ridgeway, Leon Errol, Bonita Granville, Mickey Rooney, Nelson Eddy, Victor Saville, Norman Foster, Eddie Brophy, O.H. Kreuger, Eugene Leontovich, Gregory Ratoff, Dean Jagger, Roy Del Ruth, Richard Carlson, Susan Hayward, Walter Abel, Albert Dekker, Sidney Lanfield, Helen Ferguson, Robert Stack, John Sutton, Irving Pichel, Ray McCarey, Eddie Welch, Walter Mayo, W Van Dyke II, Marjorie Main, Tom Fadden, John Qualen, Mabel Julienne Scott, Eva Novak, Louella Parsons, Wayne Morris, Frederic March, Brenda Joyce, Jason Jay, Eddie Sutherland, Mary C. McCall Jr., Harry Rapf, Jack Moss, Henry Holloway, Gloria Jean, Allan Doan, John Mack Brown, Helen Parrish, Edward Small, Alexander Kohn, Elza Schallert, Edwin Schallert, Harry Rosenthal, Sammy Blum, Dell Henderson, Fred A. Kelcey, Mary Charleson Walthall, Mischa Auer, Hugh Herbert, Creighton Hale, Charles Ray, Jeanette Macdonald, Jack Rutherford, Lew Ayres, Andy Devine, Edwin L. Marin, Irvin S. Cobb, Betty Field, Robert Florey, Monte Blue, Claire Du Brey, Frank Scully, Mae Marsh, Paul Fix, Bill E. Elliott, Samuel S. Hinds, Olin Howland, Duke R. Lee, and Neal Hart.
June 14, 1944: This notice appeared on June 1st promoting a war bond drive/show that took place on this date. No details about what songs were performed are known. All that’s known, thanks to newspaper articles that note the participating stars were Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Jose Iturbi, Rudy Vallee and his Coast Guard Band, and Judy.
June 14, 1945: An eventful day for Judy. She finished her work on The Harvey Girls by providing “loops” (dubbing) for the film. Time called: 10 a.m.; arrived at 10:15 a.m., dismissed at 11:20 a.m. The film became one of her biggest hits ever and remains one of her most popular films today, grossing over $5,175,000 at its initial release on an investment of $2,524,315.06. No one could deny that Judy Garland was box office gold!
Later that day, Judy and Vincente Minnelli obtained their marriage license at the home of Rosamond Rice (head of the Marriage License Bureau), as seen in this photo and reported in the articles. Rice was apparently doing the dishes when the couple showed up, hence the photo of Judy and Vincente with Rice in the background, drying a dish!
Judy and Vincente were married the following day (June 15). Of note is the fact that just two days prior, Judy’s former co-star and early rival, Deanna Durbin, was also married. Several papers ran both stories side by side, with a photo of newlywed Deanna, as seen in one of the clippings above.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
Also on June 14, 1945: This two-page ad appeared in the “Film Daily” trade magazine, promoting MGM’s productions, including Meet Me In St. Louis, The Clock, and Ziegfeld Follies.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 here.
June 14, 1948: Judy began rehearsals for The Barkleys of Broadway, co-starring Fred Astaire, which at this time was still titled “You Made Me Love You.” That original title was a deliberate look back at Judy’s first hit song of the same name from Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937). Judy was scheduled to reprise the song in this new film.
Judy had a 10 a.m call to be on the set; she arrived on time. Dismissed at 5:30 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Films That Got Away” page for more info about Judy’s time on this film.
June 14, 1950: Judy had an afternoon of wardrobe fittings and rehearsals for Royal Wedding. Time called: 1:00 p.m.; dismissed: 4:50 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Royal Wedding here.
June 14, 1954: Judy pre-recorded both “Swanee” and “Black Bottom” for the “Born in a Trunk” number in A Star Is Born. Time started: 2:15 p.m.; finished: 5 p.m.
Listen to the surviving “Swanee” recording session here:
Check out The Judy Room’s Extensive Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
Photos provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
June 14, 1955: This photo of Judy visiting Las Vegas for the opening of pal Mickey Rooney’s show on June 8th at the Riviera was published. The Riviera opened on April 20th, with Liberace as the featured performer. When this photo was taken, Judy lived in Los Angeles and was currently rehearsing her new stage show/tour, which opened in Long Beach, California, on July 5th.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
Also on June 14, 1955: Pianist Goldie Hawkins was the guest columnist for Dorothy Kilgallen’s “The Voice of Broadway” column while Kilgallen was on vacation. Hawkins relays a story that is a wonderful example of the stories about how Judy would sing her heart out at parties:
I GET A WARM feeling when I remember the night, some years ago when Judy Garland was in great trouble before her Palace come-back. She came into my place and sat quietly in a corner and I used every pianistic skill at my command to get her to sing. I felt it would be good for Judy if she would sing. I played all her favorites, in that special low key of hers, over and over again . . . and finally, sitting quietly and unassumingly in a corner, she sang – for two hours. It seemed to be a wondrous release for her and it was an awe-inspiring evening for myself and those that were present.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
June 14, 2011: This article, written by Tim Grobaty, was printed in the “Long Beach Press-Telegram” and was about Judy’s show at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium on Monday, July 9, 1955.
THE GREATEST SHOW IN TOWN:
After more than three decades thinking that the best show to take place in the magnificent Long Beach Auditorium was the Quicksilver Messenger Service and Mark-Almond Band concert in 1973, a year before the building was razed, we realize now we were off by several measures of magnitude.
Our friend and co-citizen Steve Harvey, who wrote a column for the L.A. Times before it was cool, sent us this reminder of a show held in the Auditorium on July 11, 1955, featured Judy Garland and more stars than you’d see on Oscar night.
“Crazy, the stuff you find websurfing,” writes Harvey, who found YouTube audio of part of the show. “Not sure what was going on but it sounds like one of the greatest collections of talent on one state in Long Beach history.”
It surely was. Even if the entire cast of the star-packed “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” which included a lot of footage in Long Beach, had hopped up on stage, it would’ve been blinded by the talent that joined Garland for that one show in ’55.
Garland, billed, with not a bit of hyperbole, as “America’s No. 1 Entertainer,” had just opened her touring stage act in San Diego and had expressed a desire to not perform any closer to the L.A.-Hollywood area, but she was lured here by a charity close to her heard: The Long Beach Exceptional Children’s Foundation.
And, if it had been her dream to not have any Hollywood big-shots in attendance at her show in Long Beach, she failed on an epic scale.
Garland, who was 33 that night, opened with “The Man That Got Away,” which was met with loud and long applause.
The evening went on in a revue style, with Garland coming and going. She’s sing a number, like “We’re a Couple of Swells,” before turning the stage over to singer-comic Frank Fontaine (from “The Jackie Gleason Show”), the Hi-Lo’s singing group, her backing Jerry Gray & His Orchestra, and the Wiere Brothers, three screwball violinists who engaged in fencing with their bows while balancing their fiddles on their noses.
She sang “You Make Me Love You,” “For Me and My Gal” and others before she closed with – what else? – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which earned her a standing ovation that didn’t end until she returned to do several encores, including “Liza” and “Swanee.”
And then the crowd-pleasin’ began.
“Would you like to meet some of my friends?” she asked, still out of breath from her performance.
She brought up Frank Sinatra, who talked about the “bus full of my idiot friends,” which he and his pals chartered to attend the show. Sinatra called up Humphrey Bogart, a classier act than Sinatra. Bogart actually sang for a second, just the opening snippet of “My Melancholy Baby,” which Garland sang in “A Star Is Born.” (In the film, she sings the song in response to a drunk hollering the request from the audience. The drunk was played by an extra, but, the story goes, Bogart supplied the voice.)
Bogart bantered a bit then called up his wife, Lauren Bacall. Then, Bogart and Sinatra decided to quit with the one-star-at-a-time bit and just started dragging all their “idiot friends” up onto the Auditorium stage, while a crowd of 4,300 kept up a constant cheer: Dean Martin, Van Johnson, Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Betty Hutton, Leslie Caron, Sammy Davis Jr., Dick Powell, June Allyson and Edgar Bergen.
They’d all come to Long Beach on the same bus, and it was swamped by fans outside the Auditorium before the show.
Inside, with all of the friends onstage together, you’d think they would have at least started singing something “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain,” anything – but the greatest talent of the age stood around fidgeting, with no screenwriter to write them out of the scene.
Finally, Bogart, bless his heart, grabbed the microphone and said “Let’s get the hell off,” and so they did, bringing the curtain down on the greatest show in Long Beach.
As for Garland’s good cause, the concert brought in $15,000 for the Long Beach Exceptional Children’s Foundation – thanks in large part to the towering $10 a seat that the stars paid. Tickets farther back were $4 and $5.
Photos: A clipping of the ad for the show; Clipping of the 2011 article; Judy and Bogart on that chartered bus.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
