Posted by “Without encouraging it – in fact, her behavior often seemed to discourage it – [Judy] became the darling of an enormous following, indeed of a cult.” – Norma Goldstein, “A Legend Remembered” 1969
July 5, 1931: The upcoming all-kiddie revue, Maurice Kusell’s “Stars of Tomorrow,” was set to open on July 10th. Here is one of the advance notices. Judy and her sisters, “The Gumm Sisters,” were a part of the show.
July 5, 1933: Judy and her sisters, “The Gumm Sisters,” performed for the Lancaster Rainbow for Girls Compliment for Mary Jane and Virginia Gumm (Judy’s two older sisters, for whom this event was for), in Lancaster, California, the Gumm’s current hometown.
July 5, 1939: Babes in Arms filming continued with more work on the “Minstrel” number on the “Exterior Barn Theatre” set. Time called: 9 a.m.; lunch: 12:20 – 1:30 p.m.; dismissed: 6 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Babes in Arms here.
July 5, 1939: Here is a short notice from Manchester, England, about the talking trees in the soon-to-be-released The Wizard of Oz.
July 5, 1940: A relatively short day for Judy at MGM. It was the first day of rehearsals on the “Finale” sequence for Strike Up The Band. Time called: 1 p.m.; dismissed: 4:15 p.m. Meanwhile, Andy Hardy Meets Debutante was in theaters.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Strike Up The Band here.
July 5, 1948: Here’s another trade ad that MGM placed in various movie trade magazines, in this case, the “Film Daily” trade paper. Although it promotes both A Date With Judy (starring Jane Powell and Elizabeth Taylor) and Judy’s Easter Parade, the ad could also be seen as promoting “A Date With Judy [Garland]” what with the additional mention of The Pirate. Both films were playing around the nation, giving Judy a very high profile.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
July 5, 1955: For the second theatrical re-release of The Wizard of Oz in theatres, MGM tried to appeal to the current trend of widescreen films. For both Oz and Gone With The Wind, the studio cropped the top and bottom of the film image to give the illusion of widescreen. As shown here, MGM was advertising that it took them two years to “produce” the film for widescreen.
July 5, 1956: Judy’s upcoming nightclub debut in Las Vegas was getting advance press. Judy opened at the New Frontier Hotel on July 16th.
July 5, 1961: This article published in the Newport Daily News mentions a possible return date of August 12. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The article details what Judy wanted for the show: She demanded hot and cold running water and air conditioning in her trailer dressing room [this was an outdoor music festival]. She demanded a dozen and one other changes in lighting and even asked the Music at Newport 1961 banner on the stage be removed during her show. She wouldn’t permit cameramen to come close to the stage, and when one did attempt to do so when her act started, she waved him away. The producers wondered if all the fuss was going to be worth it . . . The audience answered the question for me, “Their response was terrific,” said [producer Sid] Bernstein.
She told friends later at Cliff Walk Manor, where she stayed overnight, that she wasn’t accustomed to performing on an open-air stage and to audiences like the one here. She was thrown off stride for a while because many in the audience were walking around while listening. In fact, she mentioned during her show that “I never saw so many people wandering around,” which may have been a hint for them to sit down. But she told her friends and the producers that once she accepted the atmosphere as that of Newport, she moved right into it.
July 5, 1961: Here is a notice about Judy being signed to appear in Judgment as Nuremberg.
July 5, 1962: The press reported that Judy had recently (probably around July 1st) hit her head in the bathroom of the home that she was staying in while filming I Could Go On Singing. She recovered quickly enough. Filming was completed on the 13th.
July 5, 1963: The second day of rehearsals for “Episode Two” of “The Judy Garland Show” at CBS Television City in Hollywood yielded two performances that were taped and deemed so good they were used in the final cut of the show: The segment with guests Count Basie and Mel Torme in which Judy sings “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” and, with Torme, “April in Paris.”
Photo: Judy and Count Basie during rehearsals.
July 5, 1969: The new book “Judy: The Films and Career of Judy Garland” hit bookstores. As noted, it was published right before Judy’s death, and original copies mentioned that she would “come back.” An update was added later. This was the first book about Judy to be published, focusing mainly on her films. In a short time, the “flurry of ‘biographies'” predicted by the author would soon appear. Later biographies and career overviews provided more details and corrections, but this book holds a special place in the hearts of the Garland fans of the day.
July 5, 1989: The summer of 1989 brought us the very first “special edition” of The Wizard of Oz in the home media format (released in August). The first one that was marketed to the general public, that is. The Criterion Collection had previously released a special collector’s edition LaserDisc of the film at a high cost of $100, marketed for collectors and not in the then-standard, popular VHS format.
This MGM/UA release was a milestone at the time, as it was the first film to be presented in affordable VHS and laser disc formats, remastered with extras, part of the big home media celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hollywood’s greatest year, 1939. Naturally, Oz was one of the most celebrated.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
