Posted by “Judy Garland, growing up, gives the finest performance of her career.” – Uncredited review of Love Finds Andy Hardy, 1938
July 30, 1938: It’s reported that a fan-filmed part of Judy’s recent appearance on stage in Columbus, Ohio. According to the article, Russell Leach shot 16mm film, without sound because he “couldn’t get his sound equipment into the theater.” It’s unknown what became of this film, which is a shame because it would be the earliest footage of Judy on stage.
Also included above is a review of Love Finds Andy Hardy plus a publicity photo of Judy with her pet lovebirds that Clark Gable allegedly gave her.
July 30, 1939: Here are a few Ozzy articles, including a fun one about the achievements of the sound technicians, published in advance of the film’s premiere in August.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
July 30, 1939: The Wizard of Oz had not yet premiered, but MGM was already promoting Judy’s follow-up film, Babes In Arms, which would not premiere until September. Also shown above is a blurb about an Arizona fan who made his own perfume for Judy and also made his own chest of silver as a case for it with silver that he mined from his own property. You can’t make this stuff up! Or can you?
July 30, 1940: Judy posed for this costume test for Little Nellie Kelly. The costume is worn by Judy in the policeman’s ball sequence or as this photo shows, the “Waldorf Ball” scenes.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Little Nellie Kelly here.
July 30, 1941: Filming continued on Babes on Broadway, specifically more scenes shot on the “Interior Penny’s Office” and on the “Interior Stone’s Office” set. Time called: 9:00 a.m.; lunch: 12:50 – 1:50 p.m.; time dismissed: 5:55 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Babes on Broadway here.
July 30, 1943: Judy made the “Who’s Who” list for the first time. Plus here is a review of Presenting Lily Mars in which the critic enjoyed the film but, like most of us, wanted more Garland songs!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
July 30, 1945: MGM producer Arthur Freed had wanted to film The Belle of New York for some time, with Judy and Fred Astaire as its stars. Judy had already left MGM when he finally made the film in 1952 with Astaire and Vera-Ellen in the co-starring role.
For more about the films that Judy was slated to make or at least wanted for, check out The Judy Room’s “Films That Got Away” section.
July 30, 1947: In her weekly column, Dorothy Kilgallen reported on Judy’s sister, Jimmie, and her attempts at her own singing career. Here it’s noted that she joined the singing group The Merry Macs. The group (minus Jimmie) had previously provided backup to Judy’s Decca recordings of her pop version of “On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe” and “If I Had You” both recorded in New York City on July 7, 1945.
Listen to “On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe” here:
Listen to “If I Had You” here:
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s Decca Records Section for details about all of Judy’s Decca recordings.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
July 30, 1948: Here are more examples of Judy’s personal woes playing out in the columns while her two latest MGM musicals, The Pirate and Easter Parade, were popular hits.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
July 30, 1948: This letter was signed by Judy and dated on this date. It canceled her association with the Berg-Allenberg, Inc. agency.
July 30, 1949: This display celebrating the London premiere of Easter Parade (released in the U.S. in 1948) and showcasing the MGM Records soundtrack album, was featured in the trade magazine “Showmen’s Trade Review.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
July 30, 1949: Another display, this time promoting MGM’s short film Some Of The Best which was the studio’s self-congratulatory and celebration of its 25th anniversary.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland Film Shorts” Page for details about this and other Garland shorts.
July 30, 1950: Judy arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho, for a few weeks of rest. She was still dealing with the ramifications of her June 19th suicide attempt that had made international headlines.
July 30, 1951: While she was vacationing in France after her successful comeback at the London Palladium and subsequent tour of England and Scotland, Judy was seen out on the town dancing with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 30, 1961: Judy performed at the Forrest Hills Stadium in Forrest Hills (Queens), New York. The concert was originally scheduled for July 29th but it was rained out.
“Just In Time” was added to Judy’s concert song list for the first time here. After the performance, Judy had dinner with her agents, Fields, and Begelman, until 2:45 a.m. on the patio of the Forest Hills Inn, and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee” to them at the table.
No photos or recordings of this performance (neither the show nor the tableside performance).
Photo: Snapshot of Judy, February 1961, plus two ads for the event.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 30, 1961: More ads and a review of “Judy At Carnegie Hall.”
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s “Judy At Carnegie Hall” pages here.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 30, 1963: Videotaping of “Episode Five” of “The Judy Garland Show” at CBS Television City, Stage 43, Hollywood.
Judy’s guests for this episode were Tony Bennett and Dick Shawn.
Judy’s songs: “If Love Were All” (cut before the broadcast but the footage still exists); “Yes, Indeed” (with Bennett and Shawn); “Garland-Bennett Medley” (including a duet on “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”); “My Buddy” (with Shawn); and in the “Born In A Trunk” segment: “Stormy Weather” preceded by her story about a moth flying into her mouth while on stage at the Greek Theater; and “I Will Come Back.”
Judy also taped a chat with series regular Jerry Van Dyke before his duet with Shawn, but the chatting was cut. The “Tea For Two” segment taped the day before (July 29th) with Steve Allen was also deleted because it was such a success that it was decided to have him as an actual guest on a future episode and not just a cameo.
The show aired on December 15, 1963.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 30, 1967: Opening tomorrow, Judy at the Palace!
July 30, 1989: Roger Fristoe’s column featured this great artwork.
July 30, 2018: The clown outfit that Judy wore during her 1956 Palace run was auctioned as part of her daughter Liza Minnelli’s two-day “Love Liza” auction event. The winning bid was $4k!
Russell Leach had a very distinguished legal career. https://prabook.com/web/russell.leach/331607
Maybe one of his children has the film.