TCM Schedule for Friday, June 10, 2022 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month - Judy Garland

[Staph]

In the daylight hours and in prime time, TCM is celebrating Star of the Month, Judy Garland, in the month of her hundredth birthday. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Little Nellie Kelly (1940)
1h 40m | Musical | TV-G
The daughter of Irish immigrants patches up differences between her father and grandfather.
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Charles Winninger

This movie has Judy Garland performing "Singin' in the Rain" more than 10 years before Gene Kelly most famously sang it in Singin' in the Rain (1952). The song was first heard on screen in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929).


8:00 AM -- Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
2h 11m | Musical | TV-G
Three showgirls in the Ziegfeld Follies face romantic trials on their way to the top.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr

The scene in which Susan Gallagher (Judy Garland) auditions for the Ziegfeld Follies is strikingly similar to Judy's actual audition for MGM in 1935. Like her character, Judy came in with her father (Frank Gumm) as her accompanist and was flopping until Roger Edens, like Slayton (Paul Kelly) in the film, took over the audition, coached her to sing more softly and subtly, and got her the MGM contract.


10:15 AM -- Presenting Lily Mars (1943)
1h 44m | Musical | TV-PG
A small-town girl fights for her big chance on Broadway.
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Judy Garland, Van Heflin, Fay Bainter

Actor Gil Stratton commented about Judy Garland: "MGM killed her, absolutely. All of us at Girl Crazy (1943) were on layoff for a month - on full salary - while she was doing retakes on Presenting Lily Mars (1943). Two pictures at once. And that wasn't the only time they did that to her."


12:00 PM -- Girl Crazy (1943)
1h 39m | Musical | TV-G
A womanizing playboy finds true love when he's sent to a desert college.
Director: Norman Taurog
Cast: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Gil Stratton

Judy Garland's character's name, Ginger Gray, is a tribute to Ginger Rogers, who played the part on Broadway when the character was named Molly Gray. Rogers wrote that one night onstage in the play, her costar Allen Kearns accidentally said, "Ginger, I love you" instead of "Molly". The mistake got such a huge laugh from the audience that they decided to continue to do that in subsequent performances, pretending it was a mistake.


2:00 PM -- For Me and My Gal (1942)
1h 44m | Musical | TV-G
An unscrupulous song-and-dance man uses his partner and his best friend to get ahead.
Director: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Judy Garland, George Murphy, Gene Kelly

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Roger Edens and George Stoll

Judy Garland helped Gene Kelly get cast in this film when MGM didn't want him. He repaid her the favor with the movie Summer Stock. Judy Garland was at the end of her contract with MGM, and Gene Kelly insisted she be in the film with him.


4:00 PM -- The Pirate (1948)
1h 42m | Musical | TV-PG
An actor poses as a notorious pirate to court a romantic Caribbean girl.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Walter Slezak

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- Lennie Hayton

After filming Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) for MGM, Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland vacationed in New York City; enamoured with the play, Minnelli called the studio asking MGM to purchase "The Pirate" filming property rights for him. After investigating, MGM production office responded "we already own it!" Minnelli and Garland repeatedly attended the play's performances during their New York stay; with Minnelli inscribing sketches and notes of the sets, costumes, and production details. Returning to Culver City, Minnelli hired, bringing Barbara Karinska to "Hollywood" to execute and duplicate all the original play's costumes. Not a costume illustrator, Karinska brought with her Tom Keogh, a costume illustrator. In design meetings, the illustrator, with Karinska would discuss and develop Minnelli's costume design concepts. Minnelli had been a scenic designer for the "Radio City Music Hall" during the 1930s, prior to his Hollywood directorial career. Minnelli met with the MGM Art Department art directors designing all the stage sets. With Cole Porter composing the music, Minnelli turned the play into a musical comedy film for Garland and Gene Kelly.


6:00 PM -- In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
1h 43m | Musical | TV-PG
Feuding co-workers in a small music shop do not realize that they are secret romantic pen pals.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Cast: Judy Garland, Van Johnson, S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall

Liza Minnelli appears in the final scene. She's the little girl with Van Johnson and her mother, Judy Garland.



WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: DAYTIME & PRIMETIME THEME -- STAR OF THE MONTH JUDY GARLAND



8:00 PM -- The Wizard of Oz (1939)
1h 41m | Musical | TV-G
Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.
Director: Victor Fleming
Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger

Winner of Oscars for Best Music, Original Song -- Harold Arlen (music) and E.Y. Harburg (lyrics) for the song "Over the Rainbow", and Best Music, Original Score -- Herbert Stothart

Nominee for Oscars for Best Art Direction -- Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning, Best Effects, Special Effects -- A. Arnold Gillespie (photographic) and Douglas Shearer (sound), and Best Picture

"Over the Rainbow" was nearly cut from the film; MGM felt that it made the Kansas sequence too long, as well as being too far over the heads of the children for whom it was intended. The studio also thought that it was degrading for Judy Garland to sing in a barnyard. A reprise of the song was cut: Dorothy sang it to remember Kansas while imprisoned in the Witch's castle. Garland began to cry, along with the crew, because the song was so sad.


10:00 PM -- The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz: 50 Years Of Magic (1990)
3h | Documentary | TV-G
The story of how MGM created one of the most beloved family films of all time.
Director: Jack Haley Jr.
Cast: Leonard Maltin, Marlee Matlin, Lindsay Wagner

This was originally shown as a short feature immediately following the 1990 telecast of "The Wizard of Oz".


11:00 PM -- Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
1h 53m | Musical | TV-G
Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor

Winner of a Juvenile Oscar Award for Margaret O'Brien for outstanding child actress of 1944

Nominee for Oscars for Best Writing, Screenplay -- Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Best Cinematography, Color -- George J. Folsey, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture -- George Stoll, and Best Music, Original Song -- Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin for the song "The Trolley Song"

Judy Garland scoffed at the idea of portraying yet another teenager (She was 21 when filming began.) and wanted nothing to do with the film. Her mother even went to MGM chief Louis B. Mayer on her behalf. However, Vincente Minnelli convinced her to play the part of Esther Smith, and Garland later fell in love with the story. In her later years, she considered it one of her favorite roles.


1:00 AM -- The Clock (1945)
1h 30m | Romance | TV-PG
A G.I. en route to Europe falls in love during a whirlwind two-day leave in New York City.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason

In the scene where Alice and Joe sit down at the base of a statue after exploring a New York museum and discuss their lives, Judy Garland pulls off her high-heels and self-massages her bare feet for the entirety of the conversation. This was not part of the script and completely Garland's improvisation, because her feet were badly hurting. Although performing such on action in public would not have been considered "proper" by the standards of the time, the director kept it in because he felt it made Garland's character more relatable. Garland floated the idea of propping her feet in Joe's (Robert Walker) lap and having him massage them as they spoke; however,this was rejected as being too risque and unrealistic.


2:45 AM -- Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
3h 10m | Drama | TV-14
An aging American judge presides over the trial of Nazi war criminals.
Director: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark

Winner of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Maximilian Schell, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Abby Mann

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Spencer Tracy, Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Montgomery Clift, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Judy Garland, Best Director -- Stanley Kramer, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White -- Ernest Laszlo, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White -- Rudolph Sternad and George Milo, Best Costume Design, Black-and-White -- Jean Louis, Best Film Editing -- Frederic Knudtson, and Best Picture

On Judy Garland's first day on the set, cast and crew greeted her with warm and lasting applause. It was a welcome return to films for her, and her mood was further elevated by the lower pressure of acting in a cameo, rather than carrying a picture as she had done in almost every film she made since childhood. Still her joyful attitude made it difficult for her to perform her dark emotional scenes. "Damn it, Stanley, I can't do it. I've dried up. I'm too happy to cry," she said. He gave her a ten-minute break before continuing to great effect. "There's nobody in the entertainment world today, actor or singer, who can run the complete range of emotions, from utter pathos to power...the way she can," Kramer said.

[CBHagman]

1. A banner day!

The Guardian just put out a list of Garland's best, and there are several on today:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/09/judy-garlands-20-best-films-ranked

[CBHagman]

2. Also, I see the funny description under "The Wizard of Oz"

...but the sisters in Meet Me in St. Louis scare me as much as anything in The Wizard of Oz, although Rose does learn to self-regulate during the course of the movie.

[Staph]

3. I remember reading that description of The Wizard of Oz recently,

so I had to include it!