Posted by “I’ve always wanted to do a picture with Judy Garland. We’ve done a lot of radio programs and Army shows together, and I think she’s the greatest female talent in town. As a matter of fact, I think she’s the greatest talent, male or female.” – Bing Crosby, 1954
March 8, 1938: More pertaining to Judy’s current Everybody Sing tour.
March 8, 1939: This agreement was drawn up by MGM, noting that King Vidor would be directing The Wizard of Oz. Note how it specifies that MGM would be “entitled forever to all rights in the results” of the film and that they “need not” give him credit for his work.
Vidor took over the direction of the film after Victor Fleming left to rescue another troubled production, Gone With The Wind. Vidor was a class act and never took credit for his work out of respect for Fleming until after Fleming’s death. In one interview, Vidor noted that he was proud of the work he did, especially his staging and filming of “Over the Rainbow.”
Image provided by Harper Collins Publishers. The Wizard of Oz: The Official 75th Anniversary Companion by William Stillman and Jay Scarfone. Published by Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; © 2013 by Author. Authors’ credit: Scarfone/Stillman Collection
Check out The Judy Room’s spotlight on The Wizard of Oz here.
March 8, 1940: The news broke about the recent plot to kidnap Judy. On March 7, Robert Wilson of Buffalo, New York, called the Hollywood police and told the night desk sergeant, W.A. McDonald, that “Judy Garland will be kidnapped tonight.” Wilson asked McDonald if he knew Garland. McDonald answered, “Yes.” Wilson then asked, “Do you know where she lives?” and after McDonald answered “Yes” again, Wilson gave McDonald Garland’s correct address. Wilson and his accomplice, Frank Foster, had cased Garland’s home for two nights, and Wilson told McDonald that they knew the servants would be off that night. They planned to take Garland at midnight into the mountains and ask for a ransom of $50k. Police traced the call to a Santa Monica hotel and arrested Wilson. Wilson had planned to meet Foster at Sunset Boulevard and Stone Canyon Road and then walk up to Garland’s home at 1231 Stone Canyon Road. At the last minute, he panicked and anonymously called the police, not realizing his call would be traced and a hotel employee would identify him. According to the newspaper reports, a group of reporters, photographers, and 16 policemen descended on Garland’s home, where she and her sister Virginia were entertaining some friends. The officers guarded the home. “
“I’ve never been threatened before,” Garland calmly told them. “I’m sure everything will be all right—but make yourselves at home.” The newspapers featured Wilson’s mugshot and a photo showing Garland serving refreshments to the detectives. Garland’s mom and stepfather, Ethel and Will Gilmore, were in Santa Cruz when the events happened and returned home immediately after police wired the Santa Cruz authorities.
One article noted that Ethel reported that “recently Judy had been followed to or from the studio by a youth and that once she found, scrawled in red clay on the family mailbox: I love Judy Garland. Obviously, there were crazed Garfreaks long before the Internet!
Fortunately, the kidnap plot never endangered Garland, but it was another indication of her new star status and already rabid fan base (“The Garland Cult,” as it became known). The event resulted in the first of three case files the FBI opened regarding Garland during her lifetime. This kidnapping plot generated the first FBI file on Judy, Case #7-3071. The second case, #9-7966, was opened a year later after MGM received a questionable letter sent to Judy. A third was opened in the spring of 1968, #87-99683, addressing the issue of two rings that Judy claimed had been stolen from her.
March 8, 1941: Ziegfeld Girl
March 8, 1941: The trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald” featured this article about the recent Academy Awards ceremony. The ceremony took place on February 27, 1941, and one of the highlights was Judy singing “America.”
Listen to that performance here:
March 8, 1941: In the “What The Picture Did For Me” column of the trade magazine “Motion Picture Herald,” S.L. George of the Mountain Home Theatre (Mountain Home, Idaho) gave this feedback on Little Nelly Kelly (released in 1940):
One of the best audience pictures we have had in the past year. Everybody liked it and told us so. Did a little better than average business.
March 8, 1944: Meet Me In St. Louis filming continued with scenes on the “Interior Dining Room” set. Time called: 10 a.m.; Judy arrived at 10:40 a.m. (but was not ready); dismissed: 5:40 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Meet Me In St. Louis here.
March 8, 1945: Filming continued on The Harvey Girls. Time called: 11 a.m. The assistant director’s reports note: Judy Garland had an 11 a.m. call; she phoned from her dressing room at 10:50 and asked whether we needed her. Assistant director told her we would phone her when needed. At 11:15 Assistant Director phoned her and told her she would be needed for 1 p.m.; then changed it to 1:30 call; she was ready at 2:11. Dismissed: 6:05 p.m.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages about The Harvey Girls here.
March 8, 1947: Columnist Erksine Johnson wasn’t too happy about the casting of Judy in Annie Get Your Gun. Johnson also mentioned that Gene Kelly would “do an intricate dance number atop a cargo crate as it’s swung by a huge crane from ship to wharf” in The Pirate. Kelly swung from a crate in the film’s final cut, but it was not part of any intricate dance number.
On this day at MGM, Judy had the day off because she was not on call and no work was scheduled for The Pirate.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Pages on The Pirate here.
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography page devoted to Annie Get Your Gun here.
March 8, 1947: Go see Till The Clouds Roll By and then purchase the new MGM Records album featuring songs from the film’s soundtrack!
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on Till The Clouds Roll By here.
March 8, 1948: Here’s another Max Factor ad featuring Judy, with some unusual (and lovely) artwork of her.
March 8, 1949: Judy’s second day of work on her next film, Annie Get Your Gun. She was with co-star Howard Keel in MGM Rehearsal Hall A for song rehearsals (noted as “Rehearsal #1”). Judy was due at 11 a.m., arrived at 11:15 a.m., and dismissed at 4:45 p.m. Songs rehearsed: “Anything You Can Do” and “They Say It’s Wonderful.”
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography page devoted to Annie Get Your Gun here.
March 8, 1951: Judy recorded another appearance on “The Bing Crosby Show,” which was broadcast from Hollywood by CBS Radio on March 21, 1951. Crosby always recorded his shows two weeks ahead of the broadcast date.
Judy sang “Carolina In The Morning” and with Crosby, “How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I’ve Been A Liar All My Life?” which Judy was originally going to perform in Royal Wedding. She was taken off the film before any pre-recording had been done. This is the closest we’ll get to hearing how she might have performed the song in the film.
The show has survived and was released on the 1993 CD “When You’re Smiling.”
Download the entire out-of-print CD here (zip file).
Listen to Judy and Bing’s version of “How Could You Believe Me?” here:
March 8, 1954: In this article, Bing Crosby heaped praise on Judy, “I’ve always wanted to do a picture with Judy Garland. We’ve done a lot of radio programs and Army shows together, and I think she’s the greatest female talent in town. As a matter of fact, I think she’s the greatest talent, male or female.”
March 8, 1954: This uncredited blurb incorrectly states that the song “I’m Off the Downbeat” had been cut from A Star Is Born to make room for “a new number.” “I’m Off the Downbeat” was a song written for the film, but it didn’t get past the songwriting phase. It wasn’t used for the film at any point, and Judy certainly never recorded it.
On this date, Judy was in the middle of rehearsing and filming “Lose That Long Face,” which could be the “expensive” replacement the blurb refers to, although no other song was deleted to make way for It.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
March 8, 1955: Judy received the “Look Magazine” award for Best Actress, announced several days earlier and given out on Red Skelton’s TV show on this day.
Check out The Judy Room’s Spotlight on A Star Is Born here.
March 8, 1961: The first day of filming on Judgment at Nuremberg at the Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Judy spent eleven days filming her scenes through March 19th.
Photos provided by Kim Lundgreen. Thanks, Kim!
Check out The Judy Room’s Filmography Page on Judgment at Nuremberg here.
March 8, 1964: “The Judy Garland Show” “Episode Twenty-Three” aired on CBS-TV. The show was taped on February 21, 1964, at CBS Television City, Stage 43, Hollywood.
The theme of the show was “Songs From The Movies.” Judy sang: “Once In A Lifetime” and “I Feel A Song Coming On” (medley); “If I Had A Talking Picture Of You” and “Toot, Toot, Tootsie” (medley); “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face”; “Love Of My Life”; “The Boy Next Door”; “On The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe”; “Alexander’s Rag Time Band”; “You’re Nearer”; “Steppin’ Out With My Baby”; “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”; “The Man That Got Away”; “Be A Clown” and a reprise of “Once In A Lifetime.”
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
March 8, 1966: Judy canceled a scheduled return to “The Andy Williams Show” due to a case of laryngitis. She had flown home to Los Angeles from New York, arriving the day before. The show was planned for taping on March 11 and airing on April 4. She would have received a fee of $7,500. Also, on this day, a sheriff’s attachment was placed at her Rockingham home. Though the repossession of the home was avoided, Judy’s financial affairs were at an all-time low By June 1966: her assets – only $12,163.29; her liabilities – $122,001.08, which included 120 creditors; this amount does not include the $00,000 she owed the IRS. Judy rehired her business manager from the mid-1950s, Morgan Maree, Jr., who worked out a monthly expenses list for Judy: $600.00 for automobiles; $700.00 for her house payment (mortgage); $3,000.00 for monthly staff salaries; $3,718 monthly retainer for Bauter, Erwin, and Schwab (Judy’s law firm); $833.33 for Maree’s monthly fee; $1,283.88 for Guy McElwaine & Associates, public relations; and $3,000.00 for Sid Luft (as part of the divorce settlement).
Photo: Snapshot of Judy taken on April 12, 1966.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
March 8, 1968: In his column, Earl Wilson noted Judy’s attendance at the opening of Gail Martin’s (daughter of Dean Martin) opening at the Plaza Persian Room (March 6, 1968). He notes Judy’s “mod” outfit. Included here is a snapshot of Judy from that night in the outfit described by Wilson.
Check out The Judy Room’s “Judy Garland – The Concert Years” here.
