Posted by “I’m saving my money and preparing to enroll in a law school.” – Quote attributed to Judy Garland, 1938
August 7, 1938: Judy has designs to be a lawyer! This article no doubt was part of MGM’s star build-up for Judy and her role in Love Finds Andy Hardy. It should be noted that in almost all of the newspaper ads and photos published at this time, Judy is front and center with “Andy Hardy” Mickey Rooney even though she’s a guest star. The studio knew that they had a goldmine with the two stars.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Love Finds Andy Hardy here.
August 7, 1939: Judy designs her own gowns! Plus Judy and Mickey were set to appear for one night only in Hartford, Connecticut. Below, more Wizard of Oz ads, including a short article about a lucky boy (not yet announced) from Harrisburg, PA, who would be the winner of a trip to Washington, DC, to see Judy and Mickey in person. The dynamic duo was currently on a train heading east to DC and the start of their short tour of the upper east coast, culminating in their engagement in New York in conjunction with the premiere of The Wizard of Oz at the Capitol Theatre.
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 7, 1940: Judy Garland sweaters.
August 7, 1941: Babes on Broadway filming continued with scenes on the “Interior Pitt-Astor” set. Time called: 9 a.m. The assistant director’s reports note 10:02-10:38 – Judy Garland taking time to get in mood for scene. Necessary to cry in scene. Lunch: 12:15-1:15 p.m.; time dismissed: 5:50 p.m.
Photo: Director Busby Berkeley jokes with Mickey Rooney and Judy between takes.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Babes on Broadway here.
August 7, 1941: Paul Harrison’s column reported on the Army’s Number One movie fan who saw 30 films in one month! He listed Judy as one of his favorites.
August 7, 1943: The “Motion Picture Herald” featured a review of Girl Crazy as well as an MGM Promo Page and in the “Ad That Sell Section” an example of newspaper ads for Presenting Lily Mars.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Girl Crazy here.
August 7, 1944: The Clock filming consisted of scenes shot on the “Exterior Station”; “Exterior Tony’s Shop”; and “Exterior Top of Bus” sets. Time called: 10 a.m.; time dismissed: 6:50 p.m.
At this point, Fred Zimmerman was still the director. Vincente Minnelli wouldn’t take over the direction of the film until September 1st.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
August 7, 1947: Judy was recuperating at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA, after an unpublicized suicide attempt. She first spent a few days at the Las Campanas sanitarium in California before going to the Austen Riggs. This blurb mentioned that Judy attended a show at the Berkshire Playhouse and that she “spends much of her time walking around the town and visiting the Stockbridge Golf Club.” She returned to California in late August to begin work on Easter Parade.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
August 7, 1948: This fun promotion for The Pirate featured the story of the film, more or less.
The text in the box reads:
Current version of the stage play, “The Pirate,” in which Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne starred originally, is a technicolor musical from MGM, starring Judy Garland and Gene Kelly.
It is a gay comedy set in a mythical Caribbean island about 100 years ago.
Music for the film was written by Cole Porter, and the director was Vincente Minnelli, husband of Judy Garland.
Their daughter, fourteen-months-old Liza Minnelli, appeared briefly in a crowd scene at the special request of her mother. [note that this is untrue]
Nearly 1000 extras were used for one sequence set on a waterfront.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
August 7, 1948: This critic (article at far left above) did not care for Judy’s presence in Easter Parade, referring to her as “miscast.” He (or she) also notes that “there is a conspicuous lack of comedy and bright dialogue” as well as referring to Peter Lawford as “the limey Van Johnson.” Even the great Judy Garland couldn’t make everyone happy!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
August 7, 1948: Several items from the latest issue of the trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald.” Included is a theater manager’s review of Ziegfeld Follies of 1946. The film was released in 1946 but was still making the rounds internationally, including in Canada.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
August 7, 1949: Reviews and ads pertaining to the current releases of In The Good Old Summertime and 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 7, 1953: Judy’s husband, Sid Luft, was having some legal issues with his previous wife, actress Lynn Bari, and child support. Luft was plagued with Bari’s lawsuits throughout most of the 1950s.
August 7, 1954: Here’s an article about the recent completion of “the production number to end all production numbers,” the “Born In A Trunk” sequence from A Star Is Born.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
August 7, 1955: More from the re-release of The Wizard of Oz, including this nice blurb from Cincinnati columnist E.B. Radcliffe:
BACK PATTING: Some years ago I picked “The Wizard Of Oz,” starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr as an all-time dilly. Got the big laugh from some film exchange friends because the first box office returns weren’t too hot. It had a big revival a couple of years ago. It comes back again this week to the Grand. It’s still a dreamboat, worth more than one look. Happy to give such a worthwhile number an advance plug.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
August 7, 1955: Here’s another notice about Judy’s upcoming TV debut on September 24, 1955.
August 7, 1958: Did Judy “dis” Liberace? According to Mike Connolly’s column, she did while with her musical mentor Roger Edens, watching Liberace perform at The Coconut Grove. Judy had just given her last performance of a two-week run at The Grove on August 5th.
August 7, 1961: The influence of Judy’s managers, Freddie Fields and David Begelman of Freddie Fields Associates is reflected in Earl Wilson’s column. Judy was talking about divorcing husband Sid Luft, while Fields and Begelman were allegedly trying to get a new biographer for her as well as a new residence “sans Luft.”
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 7, 1963: While working on her new TV series, “The Judy Garland Show,” it was reported that Judy hurt her back. Luckily it wasn’t serious because she found time to meet with other celebrities concerning civil rights (see below).
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 7, 1963: Judy joined forces with other stars such as Charleton Heston, Ertha Kitt, and Marlon Brando to fight for civil rights. They and other celebrities had a meeting in Hollywood regarding the upcoming civil rights march in Washington, D.C. Also, this Q&A column from the Chicago Tribune notes the “emotional following” by Judy’s fans.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 7, 1964: More legal woes for Judy. Estranged husband Sid Luft filed a petition with the courts to keep Judy from trying “to take their children ‘surreptitiously from the jurisdiction of the United States.” Judy and boyfriend Mark Herron were currently in London.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 7, 1965: Here’s an article about MGM makeup artist Jack Kevan, who worked on some of Judy’s films including The Wizard of Oz.
August 7, 1966: More details about Judy’s money and marital woes.
[NOTE: I had this info wrong, originally putting it on the post for August 6th, it was actually rebroadcast on Sunday, August 7, 1966]
On this night, CBS rebroadcast the episode of “The Ed Sullivan Show” originally aired live on October 3, 1965, which featured Judy singing “Come Rain Or Come Shine”, “By Myself”, and “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody.”
August 7, 1967: More from Judy’s engagement at The Palace. According to the news reports, the theater opened up the balcony for the first time in years to accommodate the fans as wells as ABC Records who was recording the concerts for release on an LP.
Also reported was some legal trouble for Judy and Sid regarding the rights to the 1963/64 TV series, “The Judy Garland Show.” The rights to the series remained convoluted and confusing for decades to come. Pioneer obtained the rights to restore them onto DVD in the late 1990s (resulting in two fabulous boxed sets) but now the rights have again become convoluted and confusing again.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
August 7, 1989: Here is another article about the wonderful TV movie “The Dreamer of Oz” starring John Ritter who gave an outstanding performance as Oz author L. Frank Baum.
August 7, 1999: At the end of the millennium, there were quite a lot of lists and articles about the best of the past century in film and other genres of entertainment. Judy was usually in the top ten of classic film stars.
Re: The Judy Garland Show: I purchased the Pioneer “Trunk” sets for several thousand back in ’06. They are double-sided discs, and you can be certain I wash my hands thoroughly before playing a disc. They are the most precious Garland DVDS I own, as they are so rare. A lot of money, but boy, was it WORTH it.
I was lucky enough to get both boxed sets when they came out. The late Scott Schechter gave me an extra copy of one of them, which I eventually sold on eBay, but not for the crazy amounts I see them being sold at. I couldn’t charge anyone that much! They’re such gold, aren’t they? I wish they would get a true HD upgrade onto Blu-ray disc or HD digital download. That would be wonderful.
I know this is your gorgeous site, and NOT a “discussion board”, but I couldn’t help but reply. From everyone in the business I’ve spoken to, the current image is probably the best possible, as “Blu Ray”, or “HD”, is culled from FILM or digital. Old video tape masters have no “negative”, so the (terrific) image we have now (I was STUNNED when I first saw these in ’99) are, I believe, the best we can see. But who’s complaining? The clarity is amazing (except, of course, in the majority of “Judy Sings Songs From the Movies”).
Thanks for writing! I encourage people to comment as discussions are always welcome.
That’s a great point about the videotape for The Judy Garland Show. And they do look so great as they are on DVD right now. I think they’d look even better in Blu-ray even if they’re not true HD by today’s standards. It’s been so long that at this point I think they would introduce her show to a whole new generation.
I realize this isn’t a discussion board, but I had to reply. From everything I’ve researched, old video tapes cannot be upgraded to “Blu Ray” or “HD.” Only film negatives, or the current digital way of filmmaking. I don’t think the images could possibly look better than they do now. But who’s complaining? When I first saw THESE images in 1999, I was shocked. Such clarity!!