Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin wrote that Judy Garland's voice was "one of the most enduring sounds of the 20th Century." She and her two older sisters had been vaudeville performers ever since she was 2 years old. A little girl with a big voice, after years of traveling the country, still performing on vaudeville stages. the family landed in Southern California when Frances Gumm's named had been changed to Judy Garland. She performed on some radio shows. At age 13, she signed a contract with MGM, the top Hollywood studio for musicals, and started work as contract player. Over the course of the next 15 years of her contractual employment, Judy Garland would prove to be one of the most extraordinary and charismatic talents on the MGM lot. She could act, she could dance and. Lord, how she could sing.
Judy Garland is TCM's Star of the Month. Her movies will be featured every Friday in June. This month also marks the centennial of Garland's birth. The TCM (Turner Classic Movies) salute starts June 3rd at 1:00p ET with an airing of PIGSKIN PARADE (1936). This is a college football musical comedy starring Betty Grable. Judy does three songs and that's pretty much it. PIGSKIN PARADE was made at 20th Century Fox when Judy, I believe, had just turned 13 and was about to start her MGM years. She was still an unknown talent, a Hollywood hopeful.
The Regency was a big, popular revival movie theater on the upper West side of New York City near Lincoln Center. (You get a glimpse of it in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS as Woody Allen's characters walks to a Tower Records store).
Back in the late 80s, I went to The Regency one Saturday evening to see PIGSKIN PARADE. I did not expect that large theater to be packed, but it was. After young Judy sang "It's Love I'm After," the place erupted into terrific, enthusiastic applause.
The other June 3rd movies featuring young Judy Garland are BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938, EVERYBODY SING starring Fanny Brice, LISTEN, DARLING starring Mary Astor as her mom, BABES IN ARMS and BABES ON BROADWAY. Those last two co-star Mickey Rooney.
On Friday, June 10th, THE WIZARD OF OZ airs uncut and commercial free at 8p ET. I definitely want to be seated in front of my flatscreen TV for that one.
On Friday, June 24th, there's the restored, remastered, highly acclaimed 1954 remake of A STAR IS BORN. After Garland's MGM contract was terminated in 1950, she did concert dates here and abroad and then made her big screen comeback in a film that brought her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress,
It was Hollywood legend that, after its exclusive engagement, Warner Bros studio head Jack L. Warner had 40 minutes cut out so that nationwide theaters that would play it in continuous screenings could squeeze in one or two more screenings.
The remake was directed by George Cukor. Warner made the cuts without Cukor's or Garland's knowledge. Over the next few decades, the search for the lost footage was like a Hollywood search for the Holy Grail. Footage was found -- footage that included two musical numbers Warner deleted -- and the restored, remastered A STAR IS BORN had a special 1983 premiere at Radio City. Garland's A STAR IS BORN leading man, James Mason, attended as did Garland's daughters, Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft. Lorna's dad produced the film when he was married to Judy.
I was there too thanks to Lorna. She got me a ticket. (I had done a TV interview of her.) Yes, the place was packed. There were people standing in the aisles. You would've thought New York had just won the World Series based on the overwhelming cheers and applause after Judy sang this number in A STAR IS BORN. Here's "The Man That Got Away."
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