Posted by “M-G-M’s technicolor musical ‘In The Good Old Summertime’ brought lovers of fine popcorn from six to sixty to the box office, panting to be separated from their loose change.” – Richard F. Smith, 1949
September 4, 1931: The “Ledger-Gazette” of Lancaster, California, announced France’s (Judy’s) contract signing with the Frank and Dunlap Talent agency. Lancaster was the town outside of Los Angeles where the Gumm family settled after moving to California from Minnesota. A couple of days later, Frances was billed as “Frances Gayne” instead o “Gumm” which was apparently an attempt by the new agency to give her a new identity, or “brand” as we would say now.
September 4, 1934: Here is a “Variety” listing for the “3 Garland Sis” and their upcoming engagement in Detroit, Michigan, the week of September 7. This is the first listing for the newly christened “Garland” sisters. The trade paper had previously listed the sisters by their original stage (and family) name, Gumm.
September 4, 1938: This article reported on the difficulty in creating the looks for the characters in The Wizard of Oz. However, the article doesn’t have all of the facts straight. It lists Ray Bolger as the Tin Man and Buddy Ebsen as the Scarecrow. The roles had been switched long before any makeup/costume tests were done. But then again, the uncredited author also gets Baum’s name wrong, as “Frank L. Baum” instead of “L. Frank Baum.”
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 Biography 1939 Page.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
September 4, 1939: Two pages from the Motion Picture Daily trade magazine that document the success of The Wizard of Oz in this instance in Minneapolis & St. Paul, Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; and Cleveland, Ohio.
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 Biography 1939 Page.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
September 4, 1939: Here’s another notice that Judy and Mickey Rooney would co-star in a film version of the Broadway hit “Good News” which had previously been filmed in 1930. Producer Arthur Freed had wanted to make a film version of the show for quite some time. He was finally able to produce it in 1947 starring June Allyson and Peter Lawford.
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 Biography 1939 Page.
September 4, 1940: More filming of scenes for Little Nellie Kelly on MGM’s Backlot #2, on the “Exterior Brownstone Front” set which was part of the “New York Streets” section. Time called: 9 a.m.; dismissed: 6:05 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Little Nellie Kelly here.
September 4, 1941: Judy signed this contract giving Bob Hope and his publisher the right to use two photos (seen behind the letter) for his book titled “They Got Me Covered.”
September 4, 1943: Judy and a host of other stars embarked on a multi-week, multi-city tour around the country, selling War Bonds, which started in Washington, DC. They were called the Hollywood Bond Cavalcade. The tour lasted through mid-October, at which time Judy went back to MGM to begin early work on Meet Me In St. Louis.
These photos were taken on this day as the stars left Los Angeles for Washington. In the photos: Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Greer Garson, Dick Powell, Betty Hutton, Mickey Rooney, Kay Kyser, and Lucille Ball.
Meanwhile, Judy’s star turn in Presenting Lily Mars was also keeping her name in the papers.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
September 4, 1947: Here’s an ad for Judy’s recent Decca single, “There Is No Breeze” with “Don’t Tell Me That Story” on the “B” side.
Listen to “There Is No Breeze” here:
Listen to “Don’t Tell Me That Story” here:
Listen to the alternate take of “Don’t Tell Me That Story” here:
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s Decca Records Section for more about all of Judy’s Decca recordings and the various releases.
Label from The Rick Smith Collection. Thanks, Rick!
September 4, 1948: Here’s a great photo of the marquee at Ervin Clumb’s Towne Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as published in the trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald.” Included in that same issue was a note on how Easter Parade was one of the top box office champs for the month of August 1948.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
September 4, 1949: This review of the MGM Records soundtrack of In The Good Old Summertime by Richard F. Smith is a great review of the movie as well!
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s In The Good Old Summertime Pages here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on In The Good Old Summertime here.
September 4, 1949: Judy had just returned from her stay at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston when these photos were taken of her out on the town in Los Angeles with her husband Vincente Minnelli and MGM Studio boss Louis B. Mayer. The two had reconciled for the time being.
September 4, 1950: Judy’s sister, Sue, was back in their home state of Minnesota and answered the question “What, exactly, is Judy’s trouble?” with “Sixteen years with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Isn’t that enough?”
September 4, 1951: Here is a blurb noting Judy’s recent divorce from her husband Vincente Minnelli.
Clipping provided by Bobby Waters. Thanks, Bobby!
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 4, 1953: Judy pre-recorded “The Man That Got Away” for A Star Is Born on the Warner Bros. recording stage. It’s the first official performance of this Garland standard.
The session lasted from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., during which four takes were made to complete the number. One was an alternate, “sweet and low” version using a slightly lower key and quieter interpretation. The take is not known to exist, although Judy sang the song using the same approach on July 23, 1963, when she performed it for Episode 4 of her TV series.
Listen to the newly remastered version of the song here:
Photos of Judy pre-recording “The Man That Got Away.” Some were provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Photos of the playback discs from The Rick Smith Collection. Thanks, Rick!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
September 4, 1954: The UK Picturegoer magazine featured this two-page spread “The Amazing Story Of The Making of A Star Is Born.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
Scans provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
September 4, 1954: “Judy Suffers for Her Art With A Good Slap in the Puss.” Here’s an article about how Judy was slapped in the face for A Star Is Born.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
September 4, 1958: Judy performed at the Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Illinois. She had the largest advance sale in the hall’s history ($7.50 was the top ticket price). 17,500 people came to see her with another 6,000 being turned away.
Judy gave the same act she had during her engagement at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, adding Roger Edens’ arrangement of “Chicago” as her closing song. She encored with “How About Me?”; “Swanee”; and “After You’ve Gone.”
This concert was a benefit for the Chicago Home for Girls. Nelson Riddle conducted the 32-piece orchestra, Charles Walters did the staging and Roger Edens provided special material and arrangements. Comedian Alan King opened the first act.
Listen to Judy’s rendition of “Purple People Eater” from this show:
Download the entire show here (zip file):
http://www.thejudyroom.com/songs/OrchestraHall1958.zip
Photo: Judy and conductor Nelson Riddle during the performance.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 4, 1960: The Judy news of the day was that Judy would take up permanent residence in London, England. Judy was currently enjoying the success of her first two-act solo concert format which premiered at the London Palladium. Judy did not end up taking permanent residence in England although she always had great affection for the country and probably would have been quite happy to stay here if things had turned out differently.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 4, 1967: It was Labor Day and Judy was in Boston having performed at the Boston Common just a few days before. She and her son Joe visited Paragon Park, an amusement park in Nantasket Beach near Boston. These photos were taken of the two having fun in the park.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 4, 1967: “Judy Garland Still Weaves a Spell” – Leroy F. Aarons of the Washington Post Service relayed his experience at Judy’s Palace show two nights before closing. See the full article in the September 12 blog post.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 4, 1967: Judy’s engagement at Clowes Hall in Indianapolis, Indiana was a little less than a month away. Check out those ticket prices!
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 4, 1967: Judy’s next stop was the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbus, Maryland. She opened a two-night engagement there on September 8, 1967.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 4, 2018: The FBI announced they had found the pair of Ruby Slippers that were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Read all about the saga here.
Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint were in Chicago filming “North by Northwest” when Garland appeared at Orchestra Hall in 1958. They attended the final concert on September 9th. Links to a few mentions about Judy’s time in Chicago in the Chicago Tribune column “Tower Ticker”
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Cary and Judy shared a terrace at the swank Ambassador East hotel while they were in town-
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Great! Thank you for the info. “North by Northwest” is one of my favorite Hitchcock films.