Posted by “Judy is Great!” – 1967 Palace Reviews
September 6, 1934: This as promotes the “Three Garland Sisters” “Grace – Beauty – Songs” who were scheduled to be part of the stage act at the Michigan Theater in Detroit, Michigan the following night (September 7th. Hot off of their success in Chicago, the sisters and mom Ethel worked their way home to California and this was the first stop.
September 6, 1939: Judy concluded her engagement at The Capitol Theater in New York. She and Mickey Rooney opened the show on August 17th in conjunction with the NY premiere of The Wizard of Oz. They performed a 26-minute show five times a day between showings of the film, seven a day on the weekends. Mickey left on August 31st and was replaced in the show by Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr who performed with Judy through this end date.
Judy went back to California and had no film work until early 1940. During the interim, she made many radio appearances and recorded songs for Decca Records. It was the last long break between filming and other obligations that Judy would enjoy until she became pregnant with Liza Minnelli in 1945.
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 6, 1939: Here are more examples of The Wizard of Oz. in the trade magazines, including photos and information about the “Carriage Tour.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
September 6, 1940: Judy Garland is growing up. On this day at MGM Judy was filming scenes for Little Nellie Kelly on the “Exterior Street & Taxi” set, which was on MGM’s Backlot #2.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Little Nellie Kelly here.
September 6, 1941: The last day of filming the “Hoe Down” number for Babes on Broadway on the “Interior Gym” set. Time called: 9 a.m.; lunch: 12:30-1:30 p.m.; dismissed: 5:35 p.m.
Photos provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Babes on Broadway here.
September 6, 1942: Thanks to Judy’s urging, Gene Kelly was set on the path to superstardom. Decades later Kelly said, “I owe her an eternal debt.” Kelly did, in fact, appear in Skyway to Glory as the article notes, although it wasn’t his film debut and was renamed Pilot No. 5 before its release in 1943.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on For Me And My Gal here.
September 6, 1943: Sidney Skolsky’s syndicated monthly column “Skolsky’s Hollywood” featured a story about Judy as an “Autograph Hound.”
HOLLYWOOD, September 6 – While patrolling my Hollywood beat I drop into the Metro commissary. At the tables opposite me sit Ingrid Bergman and Hedy Lamarr. Miss Bergman is sitting with Bill Grady and Miss Lamarr is sitting with John Loder, who is visiting.
I sit there, and while waiting for food, I keep looking at the faces of Miss Bergman and Miss Lamarr. I am kept pretty busy, going from face to face. And I guess that I don’t have to tell you that I am looking at very nice scenery.
After about 15 minutes, Miss Lamarr has finished her lunch and leaves with John Loder. This makes it much easier for me, for now I just keep looking at Miss Bergman and do not have to shift from face to face.
Presently, Judy Garland and Betty Asher, her press agent and companion, enter. Judy takes a seat next to me, probably because she knows I am one of her fans, but more probably because my table is now the only one with vacant chairs.
Judy is now facing Ingrid Bergman, and after she gives her order, she said to Betty and me: “That’s my favorite actress – Ingrid Bergman. Hasn’t she got a lovely face?”
I agree to this, as who wouldn’t? Then Judy says, “I’m thrilled just sitting here looking at her. This is the first time I’ve ever seen her in person. I’d like to get her autograph.”
“Why don’t you?” I said, realizing it would be very interesting to see Judy Garland ask Ingrid Bergman for an autograph.
“I’d like to,” said Judy, “but I’m afraid I’d embarrass her. There I’d stand and I’d say, ‘Pardon me, I’m Judy Garland, and you’re my favorite actress. Could I have your autograph, please, Miss Bergman?’ Why, she’d be embarrassed, and she’d be forced to say, ‘Certainly, Miss Garland. And I think you’re wonderful, too. May I have your autograph?’ She’d believe that I was fishing for a compliment.”
“I’ll introduce you to her,” I said. “No,” said Judy, “if I do it, I want to do it on my own. But don’t you think she’d be embarrassed?”
“Would you be embarrassed, Judy, if Ingrid Bergman or another actress walked over and asked you for your autograph? asked Betty Asher.
“I’d be thrilled,” replied Judy.
“Well, I’m sure,” said Betty, “that she’d feel the same way. Don’t forget, she’s a movie actress just like you.”
Then, just before Judy got dessert and when Miss Bergman was getting ready to leave, Judy did it. She got up from the table and walked toward Ingrid Bergman.
I sat watching. Judy Garland and Ingrid Bergman were soon shaking hands. Then Miss Bergman tore off part of the menu and wrote on it. Then Judy tore off part of the remaining menu and wrote on it. They were both smiling. Then Miss Bergman and Billy Grady walked toward the door. Judy returned to the table.
“I saw that you got it,” I said. “She was very lovely, just as grand as she is on the screen,” said Judy. “Do you know what? She said that she saw me sit near her, and that she wanted to meet me, but didn’t want to come over for fear of embarrassing me.”
There you have seen a couple of movie actresses acting like movie fans, and now I will continue on my Hollywood beat and let you see some more performers acting when they aren’t facing the camera.
September 6, 1943: Presenting Lily Mars was still enjoying a very popular first run in theaters around the country. The reviews were good as critics and the public enjoyed the film’s considerable charms. The following are a couple of those reviews.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Presenting Lily Mars here.
Judy Garland, Van Heflin At Rivoli Today
‘Presenting Lily Mars,’ Musical Comedy, with Richard Carlson
Lilting melodies mingle with comedy and haunting love story in “Presenting Lily Mars” which brings Judy Garland to the Rivoli theater today, where she is appearing in one of the most intriguing roles of her career. Judy is teamed not with another singing star but with a polished dramatic actor in the person of Van Heflin.
The story is engaging. It deals with a young girl who wants to become a musical comedy star, a producer who cannot see her possibilities and the various complications that follow when the very resolute young lady sets out to show him the error of his ways.
Judy “crashes” a party, insists on acting Shakespeare for the impresario, manages to get his prima donna insanely jealous but finally wins out, takes her place in the spotlight – and wins a husband.
Amid fun and romance are such hit numbers as “Mirage,” executed by Bob Crosby and his band, who figure prominently in the picture; “Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son,” a hit for Judy; “Kulebaika” [sic] exotic number sung by glamorous Marta Eggerth, and others.
Tommy Dorsey, Bob Crosby, and their orchestras are featured.
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“Presenting Lily Mars” at Cecil Theater is Pleasant Amusement
By MAGLOPH
Bright entertainment is provided by “Presenting Lily Mars” at the Cecil theater where Judy Garland and Van Heflin are starred in the screening of the Booth Tarkington novel.
It’s the story of a young girl who wants to be a great actress and that particular talent for depicting the not-know-how as opposed to the know-how which Mr. Tarkington has used so successfully in his books is one of the qualities which makes “Lily Mars” so hilarious.
There is, of course, music – with Judy Garland and Marta Eggerth doing the singing and Bob Crosby’s and Tommy Dorsey’s orchestras the accompanying. Tunes included “When I Look at You,” “Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son,” “Broadway Rhythm,” “3 O’clock in the Morning” and “Every Little Movement.”
Especially good is the scene in which Miss Garland parodies the song which belongs to Marta Eggerth, star of the stage show she is in. A series of amusing scenes result when Miss Garland attempts to impress Van Heflin who is cast as a director.
Spring Byington is excellent as Lily’s mother and her little sisters, Patricia Barker, Janet Chapman, and Annabelle Logan provide considerable entertainment.
September 6, 1943: Two blurbs about the upcoming appearance of the Hollywood Cavalcade Bond Tour scheduled for September 12 in Pittsburgh, PA. The last item is from Sid Chalit’s column, noting Judy’s “recent run-down condition” and MGM’s refusal to allow her to have a radio series (which was merely a rumor – Judy was too busy to keep up with a weekly radio show).
September 6, 1944: Filming continued on The Clock on the “Interior Alice’s Apartment” and “Interior Crusaders Tomb” sets. Time called: 10 a.m.; dismissed: 6:20 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here.
September 6, 1958: This being a Saturday, Judy gave two concerts on this day at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. A matinee at 2:30 p.m. and the regular nightly show at 8:30 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 6, 1963: “Luft Agrees He ‘Won’t Molest’ Judy Garland.” Judy and her husband Sid Luft’s tempestuous relationship played out in the papers. According to biographer Gerald Frank, in his book “Judy,” Luft told the story that he and Judy had an emotional meeting on this date after Luft had dinner with their kids (Lorna and Joe Luf) at Judy’s home.
Photo: The family in happier times in Chelsea, London, in 1960. Photo by Bob Collins. L-R, Lorna Luft, Judy, Liza Minnelli, Joe Luft, Sid Luft.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 6, 1967: Judy’s Palace tour was going strong. Next up (on September 8) was her concert at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Also shown is an ad for Judy’s late September concert at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 6, 1968: Judy and her current companion Tom Green visited the Doctors Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
September 6, 2010: This sing-along Wizard of Oz Blu-ray was released in the UK, one of the many versions of the film that Warner Home Video released in 2009 and 2010 in celebration of the film’s 70th anniversary.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
Judy’s diction in this song is absolutely impeccable…as well as her absolutely fantastic singing voice for which she was rightly world-famous …The Unique Talent of Hollywood’s greatest Talent of all time…Judy’s enduring Legacy will continue to live on for the Ages !