Posted by “The biggest surprise you’ll get as the star walks downstage to open Sunday’s show is the new slim, trim Judy before the cameras.” – Uncredited article, 1963
October 6, 1931: Frances (Judy) and Frank (her father) Gumm performed at the Order of the Eastern Star Lodge in Bakersfield, California. It’s reported that Frances sang “Sweet And Lovely” before a crowd of 1,000 people.
October 6, 1934: The second of a three-night engagement for the newly christened Garland Sisters in St. Joseph, Missouri. The ad for the show lists “4” Garland sisters, the error was probably due to the theater or paper assuming that mom Ethel was one of the sisters.
The review of the previous night’s (October 5) show gives us some rare detail about the contents of the act, “The opening number on the program is the four Garland sisters, one of them a mere child but with a voice and expression that reveal both ability and training. She imitates Helen Morgan in ‘Along Came Bill’ [“Bill”] but the number gets a little tiresome when she repeats the chorus. The audience would like to hear more harmonizing. These girls can sing, but use the “hotcha” stuff with restraint, dropping back into good old dominant seventh chords with pleasing effect.”
October 6, 1938: Judy, Ray Bolger, Buddy Ebsen, and Bert Lahr, pre-recorded “The Jitterbug” for The Wizard of Oz. Also recorded on this date were some instrumental inserts for “If I Only Had A Brain” which were part of the original dance music intended for the ultimately deleted extended dance section of the number.
After Ebsen left the film in late October and Jack Haley came in to replace him, MGM had Haley record only the introduction lines of The Tin Man. The rest of the original recording with Ebsen’s voice as part of the group vocals remained in place. The number wasn’t filmed until January 1939. It was cut from the final edit of the film prior to release. Only Harold Arlen’s home movies of a dress rehearsal remain, the original footage has never been found.
Listen to the surviving prerecordings here:
“The Jitterbug” Part 1, Scene 2014, Takes 5, 6, 7, 8:
“The Jitterbug” Part 1, Scene 2014, Takes 11 & 12 (orchestra only):
“The Jitterbug” Part 2, Scene 2015, Takes 13, 14, 15, 16, 17:
“The Jitterbug” Part 3, Scene 2016, Takes 7, 8 (orchestra only):
Complete remastered version of “The Jitterbug”:
“If I Only Had A Brain” Scene 2017, Takes 7 & 8 (orchestra only):
Images: The Daily Music Report for this session and a behind-the-scenes photo that was taken during the filming of the number in early January 1939.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
October 6, 1940: Judy says “goodbye” to childhood. The contents of the article are the standard studio-fed biographical information on Judy. Added are some human interest tidbits such as her dieting and the “fact” that Judy prefers to go to the commissary in her street clothes rather than in costume.
October 6, 1940: Here is the panel version of the story of Strike Up The Band. These panel stories were very popular at the time and told condensed versions of current hit films not just from MGM but from other studios as well. The panels were printed in daily installments. The article also notes Judy’s busy schedule at MGM and that “Metro keeps throwing pictures at her.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Strike Up The Band here.
October 6, 1941: Filming on Babes on Broadway continued with the last day of shooting the Finale sequence. Time called: 9 a.m.; lunch: 12:30-1:30 p.m.; dismissed: 2:24 p.m.
October 6, 1944: Filming on The Clock continued with more scenes shot on the “Exterior Riverside Park” set. Time called: 10:45 a.m.; Judy arrived at 10:45 a.m.; dismissed: 6:32 p.m.
Scan of newspaper ad provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Clock here
October 6, 1945: This fun single-page photo collage appeared in The Australian Women’s Weekly newsprint magazine.
October 6, 1945: Judy had another music rehearsal of the “Who” number for Till The Clouds Roll By. Time called: 11 a.m.; dismissed: 3:10 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Till The Clouds Roll By here.
October 6, 1947: Judy and Gene Kelly had another music rehearsal of “A Couple of Swells” for Easter Parade. At this point, Gene was still Judy’s co-star and continued to be until mid-October when he broke his ankle and was replaced by Fred Astaire.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Easter Parade here.
October 6, 1948: Judy’s appearance on Bing Crosby’s radio series, “Philco Radio Time” for ABC Radio was broadcast out of Hollywood, California. The show was recorded on September 23, 1948. Crosby always recorded his shows a few weeks in advance of the scheduled air dates.
Judy sang “Over The Rainbow” and duetted with Crosby on “For Me And My Gal,” “Who?”, “Confess,” and “Embraceable You.” The show aired on October 6, 1948.
Listen to, and download, the performances here:
Entire show:
“For Me And My Gal”
“Who?”
“Embraceable You”
“Confess”
Photo: Judy and Bing just a few years prior.
October 6, 1951: Judy and Sid’s recent brawl made the papers again when Sid’s estranged wife, Lynn Bari, attempted to forbid him from seeing their 2-year-old son due to his drinking possibly endangering the boy.
The event took place in the early morning of September 30th, outside a nightclub when Sid’s car hit another car which forced that one into a third car. Allegedly fists flew. Judy came out of the club when she heard the commotion and apparently got involved, with the one clipping noting she had “a beauty of a right hand.”
October 6, 1952: Columnist Hedda Hopper reported that biographer Cameron Shipp was going to write a biography of Judy. That book never happened.
October 6, 1953: Judy posed for these costume tests for A Star Is Born. Erksine Johnson’s syndicated column made note of a special girdle that was allegedly used to help Judy look slim for the film.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
October 6, 1954: A Star Is Born was making its way across the nation. The premiere in LA on September 29, 1954, was already passing into legend.
Check out The Judy Room’s Extensive Spotlight Section on A Star Is Born here.
October 6, 1963: “Episode Nine” of “The Judy Garland Show” premiered on CBS TV. The show was taped just a few days prior on October 4th and was so successful it was rushed through post-production to make this night’s airing. The reason for the rush was the now legendary pairing of Judy with the young Barbra Streisand. Their duet of “Get Happy”/”Happy Days Are Here Again” is one of the best things either of them ever did, and one of the best numbers ever performed on TV. The change was so quick that many newspapers still advertised the originally scheduled “Episode Eight” with George Maharis and The Dillards as Judy’s guests. That show was broadcast on October 20.
Judy sang: “Comes’ Once In A Lifetime” (opener); “Be My Guest” (with Streisand, Smothers Brothers, and Van Dyke); “Just In Time”; “Get Happy”/”Happy Days Are Here Again” (with Streisand); “Happy Harvest” (Streisand comes in at the final line); and “Hooray for Love” medley (with Streisand). Ethel Merman crashed the show by joining in the “Tea For Two” segment and belting out “There’s No Business Like Show Business” with Judy and Barbra.
October 6, 2004: This article notes the ten-year anniversary of the collaboration between Turner Entertainment and Rhino Records and the new partnership with iTunes.
The soundtracks created were the first to use the original studio prerecordings along with other sources to present the most complete soundtrack albums and compilation albums of films from MGM, Warner Bros., and RKO. The MGM musicals were the bulk of the catalog and the most popular. The very first two soundtracks created were full stereo versions of Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946). Those two soundtracks first appeared as extras with the deluxe home media versions (laserdisc and VHS) of the stereo releases of the film. They were the last soundtracks to carry the “MGM Records” logo. The rest of the editions (as well as the non-boxed set versions of Louis and Follies) carried the Turner Classic Movies Music and Rhino Records logos.
RE: “Star:” I have always felt it was such a shame that Garland wasn’t (at least) ten pounds thinner, or properly made up for this comeback role. This is just my opinion, but Del Armstrong’s makeup is incredibly unflattering to her. I love Judy’s appearance in “Gotta Have Me Go With You”, and the Academy Award sequence (where she looks stunning). But in most of the rest of the film, she looks quite matronly and many years older than she was. But, again, it’s the PERFORMANCE that grabs one.
Saw the new “Star” today. Really enjoyed it, but I feel in this version, it is much more “Maine’s” story than “Alley’s, this despite Lady Gaga’s enormous talent. Probably because Bradley Copper directed. Still a very good film, though.
I look forward to seeing the new film. That’s interesting that you noticed it’s more his story than hers. I’ll keep that in mind while watching. It’s gotten great reviews and I hope it does well. It’s a great story for all generations.