Posted by “No Phoenix in entertainment rises from the ashes as often, as well, as emotionally and as happily received as Judy Garland.” – Mary Campbell, 1967
August 1, 1930: The first night of a two-night run of the latest film featuring “The Gumm Sisters” (Judy and her two sisters), The Wedding of Jack and Jill, at their father’s theater, The New Valley Theater, in Lancaster, California. The sisters performed on stage in support of the film and their father got to see and hear his daughter, Judy (Frances) perform her very first film solo “Hang Onto The Rainbow” on the big screen.
The film footage no longer exists but the Vitaphone soundtrack discs do. Here is “Baby Gumm” (Judy) singing her first film solo:
August 1, 1937: Judy Garland’s very first magazine cover, on the “Screen Juveniles” magazine. Included here are two items from the “Picture Play” magazine.
August 1, 1938: Judy Garland dresses advertised in conjunction with Love Finds Andy Hardy.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Love Finds Andy Hardy here.
August 1, 1939: The beginning of “Oz Month” for MGM. With the premiere just a couple of weeks away, MGM’s publicity machine went into hyperdrive. They had already been heavily promoting the film for a good two months, but August and September of 1939 saw the most ads, blurbs, tie-ins, etc.
More details and images of all of Judy’s activities during that golden year of 1939 can be found on The Judy Room’s Garland Centennial 1939 Page.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
The following information appeared in the “Film Daily” trade paper.
Garland-Rooney to Appear With “Oz” at the Capitol
New York premiere of Metro’s “The Wizard of Oz” yesterday was set for the Capitol Theater Aug. 17. Program will also have Judy Garland, who appears in the pix, and Mickey Rooney in p.a.’s, their vehicle and act now being prepared and rehearsed on the Coast. Duo will start East next week immediately upon completing their work at Culver City in “Babes in Arms.”
Judy and Mickey will continue at the Capitol during the run of the pix; it’s the first time in several years that the house has had a stage attraction to supplement the film bill.
Also noted in the box at the bottom left of the front page:
Metro’s Snake Dance
They were doing Metro’s version the snake dance at M-G-M’s home office yesterday.
Release: “The Wizard of Oz.”
Print of Leo’s $3,000,000 Technicolor production arrived in New York yesterday and was immediately screened for the home office staff. It wowed ‘em to a man . . . and girl. “Sensational,” “terrific,” “a smash” were some of the more modest b.o. [box office] descriptives by Metroites as they left the projection room.
August 1, 1939: An invitation-only preview of The Wizard of Oz was scheduled for August 9th at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles. The ad is from the August 1 publication of the trade magazine, “Motion Picture Daily.”
More details and images of all of Judy’s activities during that golden year of 1939 can be found on The Judy Room’s Garland Centennial 1939 Page.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
August 1, 1940: Filming continued on Little Nellie Kelly with more of the scenes on the “Interior Noonan’s Cottage” set. Time called: 9 a.m.; dismissed: 5:02 p.m.
Photos provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Little Nellie Kelly here.
August 1, 1940: Judy was featured in a couple of articles and blurbs, and one cover, in the fan magazines.
August 1, 1940: Louella Parsons’s column reported that Judy would soon be filming The Youngest Profession, about a 15-year-old autograph hound. That was the term used for fans who would seek out celebrity autographs in their autograph books. The film was never made with Judy but it was made and released in 1943 starring Virginia Weidler. Meanwhile, Andy Hardy Meets Debutante was currently enjoying a successful run.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Andy Hardy Meets Debutante here.
August 1, 1941: Private Kenneth Wilkinson, who had seen 321 films in 10 months, was in Los Angeles getting behind-the-scenes tours of the studios. Unfortunately, he missed out on meeting Judy who was his favorite. “I wanted most of all to see her,” he sighed. “I think she’s wonderful.” He was unable to meet Judy due to her recent elopement with David Rose. Meanwhile, Judy’s third “Let’s Put On A Show” musical with Mickey Rooney, Babes on Broadway, was another hit for the duo.
August 1, 1941: Judy made the cover of “Photoplay” magazine, which was one of the top fan magazines of the era. She’s only shown in this one image in the actual magazine, which wasn’t unusual. Fan magazines used photos of stars to get people to buy the magazines regardless of whether there were any articles about that star or not.
August 1, 1942: Here is a great eight-page ad placed by MGM in the trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald.”
In this same issue’s “What The Picture Did For Me” feature, L.V. Bergtold of the Wesby Theatre in Westby, Wisconsin, had this to say about Babes on Broadway: “This was not especially well liked here. Musicals are just no draw in my situation. Business was not up to average.”
August 1, 1943: A review and ads for Presenting Lily Mars.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
August 1, 1944: Filming began on Judy’s first dramatic role, that of Alice Mayberry in The Clock. Scenes were shot on this day on the “Magazine Stand”; “Exterior Tony’s Shop”; and “Exterior Drug Store” sets. Time called: 10 a.m., dismissed: 4:20 p.m.
At this time, the director of the film was Fred Zimmerman. He would eventually be replaced, at Judy’s urging, by Vincente Minnelli. The change made all the difference in the world to the final success of the film.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
Photo: Snapshot of Judy with co-star Robert Walker, dated August 1944 (exact day of the month is unknown).
August 1, 1944: This blurb mentioned Judy’s “Interview” sketch that she had filmed on July 19, 20, and 21, after several days of rehearsals. The blurb exaggerates, but not much – it’s an exaggerated number (purposely).
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 here.
August 1, 1946: Judy posed for photos with baby Liza Minnelli.
August 1, 1948: Louella Parsons reported that Judy’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, might get a chance to be with her mom in Annie Get Your Gun, according to Judy herself as told to Parsons. Judy’s dramatic abilities were also discussed by Judy and Joseph M. Schenck who wanted to borrow her for a dramatic film at his home studio, 20th Century-Fox. Meanwhile, The Pirate was still doing good business, and Easter Parade was premiering in theaters around the nation.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Annie Get Your Gun here.
August 1, 1948: Judy was featured on the cover of both the “Silver Screen” and “Screen Guide” fan magazines. The latter featured a “confidential” article about Judy.
August 1, 1949: In theaters, In The Good Old Summertime and the first theatrical re-release of The Wizard of Oz.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on In The Good Old Summertime here.
August 1, 1949: Judy’s return to Hollywood was covered in the papers. She had been to the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston for rest and to cure herself of her dependency on her “medications.” She spent time at Cape Cod with actress Sylvia Sidney, who was the wife of Judy’s manager, Carlton Alsop. Liza visited during the July 4 holiday. The first clipping noted that Judy sang her heart hour for two hours at a party in Cape Cod (Judy was famous for singing all night at Hollywood parties) and that she had become a baseball fan. The second clipping mentions that she was set to begin filming Summer Stock with Gene Kelly. It also claimed that Judy would make an appearance at the Chicago Railroad Fair although that did not happen.
It’s important to note that both articles and other articles printed at this time, made mention of MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer who personally helped Judy during this time. Mayer has been maligned for allegedly being the cause of her problems but he did try to help her during this tough time in her life and career and personally loaned her money while providing emotional support.
August 1, 1950: Judy was in New York, having just arrived from her vacation time in Sun Valley, Idaho. She attended the premiere of the film Trio, at which this video was shot for the newsreels.
August 1, 1952: The lawsuit against MGM for plagiarism regarding The Harvey Girls was settled by a judge in MGM’s favor. Interesting stuff.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
August 1, 1954: A star is reborn.
Check out The Judy Room’s Extensive Spotlight Section on A Star Is Born here.
August 1, 1956: Hedda Hopper reported on Nunnally Johnson’s desire to have Judy star in The Three Faces of Eve. Judy was seriously considered, and truly wanted, for the film but she was unable to do it. She would have been brilliant. Joanne Woodward got the role and won the Best Actress Oscar for it.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 1, 1957: Apparently a public fight between Judy and husband Sid Luft resulted in a windfall of $950 for a busboy.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 1, 1958: Here’s a great report on Judy’s recent triumph at The Coconut Grove, plus Louella Parsons’s mention of it.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 1, 1967: Judy’s opening night at The Palace the night before (July 31st) was a big hit. Of course!
[The following was posted yesterday but it’s posted here for those who haven’t had a chance to enjoy the audio links yet]
Part of the first night’s performance, Act One to be exact, was included on the ABC Records LP “At Home At The Palace” which was a compilation of Judy’s first three nights. Act One from this night is Side One of the LP. The album was the last legitimate release of a new Garland concert during her lifetime. Sadly, the master tapes of the complete three nights of recording are lost. Only the master tapes of the final album are known to exist. MCA currently holds the rights but has yet to release the album on CD.
Download the remastered LP here (zip file).
Listen to the still unreleased (professionally, anyway) complete Act Two here:
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
July 1, 1989: Oz was in the news during the summer of 1989 due to the 50th anniversary of the film and the upcoming release of the newly remastered film on video and laserdisc. Here is an article about the collection of William Tracy Tesreau of Leadwood, Missouri.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
August 1, 2010: Infinity Entertainment announced the upcoming release of “The Judy Garland Show Volume 5” on DVD. The shows were originally released on DVD in the early 2000s but by 2010 Infinity had the copyrights, temporarily.
Infinity Entertainment Group Proudly Presents
The Judy Garland Show: Volume Five
The Great and Glorious Garland is Back!
DVD in Stores Across the Nation August 31st
LOS ANGELES — Aug. 1, 2010 — For Immediate Release — Come rain or come shine, the legendary, lustrous Judy Garland lights up the small screen once again in this all-new collection, The Judy Garland Show: Volume Five, radiating on DVD August 31 from Infinity Entertainment Group.
Ending its critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated CBS-TV run after just one season (1963-64), the show’s 26 episodes are revered by many today as the beloved entertainer’s finest work.
Featured guests in this star-studded, medley-filled two-episode set are TV’s Renaissance man and Tonight Show creator Steve Allen; famed musician Mel Tormé, a.k.a. “The Velvet Fog”; stage, film and television legend Jayne Meadows; and Tony Award-winning and Academy Award and Emmy-nominated actress Diahann Carroll (Porgy and Bess, TV’s Dynasty).
Included are a Richard Rodgers/Harold Arlen medley, Allen’s original song hits, Tormé’s “Blues in the Night” and such Garland favorites as “Hey Look Me Over,” “Smile” and selections from her Carnegie Hall concert repertoire.
Restored and digitally remastered from the original videotapes and digitally remixed sound in 5.1 surround sound, this program, and its dynamic diva will move you like no one else!
The Judy Garland Show: Volume Five, the fifth in a special collector’s set of 13 volumes, is presented in the letterbox format with an aspect ratio of 4 x 3 and original mono sound and 5.1 surround sound.
Also available on DVD from Infinity Entertainment Group are The Judy Garland Show: Volumes One, Two, Three and Four, The Judy Garland Holiday Special and The Judy Garland Show Collection.
I loved learning about this lawsuit regarding the film. The Harvey Girls has always been one of my favorite Judy films, and I think Susan Bradley was one of her best characters. She was strong and independent.
Thank you! Her character is definitely what one would call a feminist. Sure, she was a mail order bride but when that fell apart she took control of her own destiny rather than just running back to Ohio! 🙂
Agree – in fact, “The Harvey Girls” IS my very favorite film, although I would agree it isn’t her best film generally.
Scott, do you add/edit things regularly? I don’t recall seeing that summer 1950 footage of Judy arriving at the premiere of that movie in last year’s entry. Perhaps I just don’t recall it, but footage of her at this point is very fascinating. To me, all pics of her around this period show a Judy thoroughly DONE with MGM, even though she wouldn’t officially terminate her contract until fall. Very curious stuff indeed.
Hi, yes I have been going in and adding things to the entries. I’ll keep doing so as I gather more information, an more media!
I think you’re right, she was very done with MGM and I think was rebelling in that she gained weight and enjoyed eating whatever she wanted.
She had also cut her hair short and started dying it darker and darker — ultimately exchanging the many shades of auburn or brown she had during the MGM years for black hair.
To me, too, her face seemed to change. Of course there was no mistaking who she was but she wasn’t Lily Mars or even Hannah Brown anymore. It was different.
All the more reason that Tammy Blanchard should have stayed on through Summer Stock!