Posted by “A little audience gathered as she sang. Within 24 hours she was under contract.” – 1937 MGM Studios press version of Judy’s audition.
February 22, 1926: “The Gumm Sisters” (Judy and her sisters) performed at the seventeenth anniversary of the Canisteo Lodge #271 and Washington’s Birthday Dance, Masonic Order, Coleraine, Minnesota.
February 22, 1937: Judy sang at an MGM Dinner Dance. She sang her new signature song, “(Dear Mr. Gable) You Made Me Love You.”
February 22, 1939: The Wizard of Oz was in its final few days of filming (except for some retakes in March and a few pick-up shots in June). This set still was taken on this day, featuring the Gale Farm, specifically the spot where Judy sang “Over the Rainbow.”
Filming of the iconic song took place on either February 23rd or 24th or both. The final day of filming was the 24th, followed by the cast posing in full costume and makeup for publicity photos the next day.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
February 22, 1945: Filming on The Harvey Girls continued with scenes shot on the “Exterior R.R. Station,” which was the “Billy The Kid Street” on MGM’s Lot #3, dressed up to be the fictional town of “Sandrock” in the film. The first photo shown here was taken on this day.
The playback disc for the film’s ultimately deleted “March of the Doagies” (misspelled on the disc) was pressed on this day. The prerecording had been made on February 17, 1945, and filming on the number began on March 27, 1945, again on “Billy The Kid Street.”
For more about the shooting locations of Judy’s films on MGM’s backlots, check out The Judy Room’s Judy Garland on the MGM Backlots pages.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Harvey Girls here.
February 22, 1947: Judy was scheduled for filming on The Pirate but canceled. The assistant director’s notes state: “Miss Garland was on her way to the studio but had to return to her home as she was ill and nervously exhausted after spending a sleepless night.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
February 22, 1950: Here is the playback disc for the reprise of “You Wonderful You” in Summer Stock. The date on the disc is the date the disc was created, not the date of the pre-recording. The song was pre-recorded on February 13, 1950.
Label image provided by John Newton. Thanks, John!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on Summer Stock here.
February 22, 1957: Judy’s performance in The Wizard of Oz as shown on TV in 1956 was apparently considered for an Emmy Award.
According to this article published on February 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, there was some controversy about the Emmy Awards and their nomination process. Noted in the article was the withdrawal of “the odd notation of Judy Garland for ‘Best Actress – Single Performance’ in the old 1939 movie, ‘The Wizard of Oz…'”
The film premiered on CBS TV in 1956 and was not shown again until 1959 at which time it became an annual tradition.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
February 22, 1957: Judy recorded “Mean To Me”; “By Myself”; and “Blue Prelude” for the “Alone” album at the Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood, California. The album was released on May 6, 1957.
Listen to “Mean To Me” here:
Listen to “By Myself” here:
Listen to “Blue Prelude” here:
Check out The Judy Garland Online Discography’s “Alone” pages here.
February 22, 1959: Judy’s sold-out performances at The Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida, were still going strong. Judy was featured on the cover of the local “Amusements” newspaper “magazine” insert although the actual article was simply a news blurb.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
February 22, 1963: Judy and husband Sid Luft returned to their suite at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco at 6:30 p.m., to pack and “catch a train,” Judy told a fan. From 8:25 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. they bought magazines in the hotel’s newsstand, then left in a rented car at 8:30 p.m. The papers were reporting that Judy and Sid were “in seclusion having a second honeymoon” but they were also both also recovering from a case of Asian flu. Judy quipped to the press “we’re a couple of sick honeymooners.”
Currently playing in theaters was Judy’s latest film, A Child Is Waiting, co-starring Burt Lancaster.
Scott – I think these pages are fantastic and the MGM “Daily Music Report” images are fascinating! Thank you so much for sharing. Would you be so kind as to share more of these daily music reports pertaining to the underscoring sessions especially for St. Louis, Ziegfeld Follies, and Summertime to name a few? That would be amazing and much appreciated!
Many thanks!
Simon
Thank you! I like the Daily Music Reports as well. I can post the non-Judy ones. I wasn’t sure if anyone would be that interested in them. 🙂
Thanks Scott! All recordings from Judy’s films are fascinating! On your discography pages, I note that underscoring for Easter Parade was recorded on Feb 18 and 19, 1948. If you have the daily music reports for those sessions, could you please add them to this year’s Feb 18 and 19 pages, respectively? It would make the Easter Parade recording list complete :-).
Again, thanks for sharing these interesting docs! You’re a legend!
Kind regards,
Simon
I can add them, no problem. I wasn’t adding them yet, on purpose, as I’m concentrating of Judy’s activities on each day. I intended to go back and add the scoring session music reports for all of Judy’s films once I’ve completed the “On This Day” project which will be in April. At that point, I’ll have an entry for every single day of the year. 🙂
Fantastic! Thank you!
You’re welcome! 🙂