Remembering Judy Garland on Her 90th Birthday

ABC ^

[Perdogg]

Named Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Mich., Judy Garland was born 90 years ago today, June 10, 1922. She sang with her two sisters, Mary Jane and Dorothy Virginia, as part of the Gumm Sisters, who worked the vaudeville circuit for many years in the 1930s.

[Perdogg]

TCM is playing Judy Garland movies all day, today.

[left that other site]

I loved her in “Judgement at Nuremberg”. A complete departure from her other roles.

[traderrob6]

One of my favs also.

[Errant]

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - The Wizard of Oz (1/8) Movie CLIP (1939) HD

[Perdogg]

TCM will air “The Wizard of OZ” tonight.

[JaguarXKE]

I recently bought the reissue of The Wizard of Oz on Blue Ray. The restoration process was phenomenal - both the picture and sound. Watching Oz on BLue Ray is like watching the movie for the first time. They worked with the original negatives and scanned them at extremely high resolution and did the restoration work frame by frame on the digital image. The results are stunning. For the first time, viewers can see the burlap patterns on the scarecrow’s face and a rivet between the tin man’s eyes. Judy’s singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in 5.1 surround sound is pretty amazing too.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I remember seeing her on the Jack Parr Tonight Show...

[Errant]

For some reason, if I get one of her songs in my head, it stays there for two or three days...

[Fiji Hill]

I recently bought the reissue of The Wizard of Oz on Blue Ray. The restoration process was phenomenal - both the picture and sound. Watching Oz on BLue Ray is like watching the movie for the first time. They worked with the original negatives and scanned them at extremely high resolution and did the restoration work frame by frame on the digital image. The results are stunning. For the first time, viewers can see the burlap patterns on the scarecrow’s face and a rivet between the tin man’s eyes. Judy’s singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in 5.1 surround sound is pretty amazing too.

I saw the film for the first time on our black-and-white Majestic TV in 1959. About 40 years later, I saw it in a theater.

My favolrite version of "The Wizard of Oz" is the 1925 film starring Larry Seman and Oliver Hardy--before he teamed up with Stan Laurel.

[Chode]

put the Oz dvd in and cue up Dark Side of the Moon in whatever form you have it when the lion roars the third time... you'll be amazed

[rabidralph]

Were you able to see the midget hanging himself in the background?

[Fiji Hill]

My favorite Judy Garland film is “Pigskin Parade” (1936), which was shot at my alma mater Occidental College. The film also features my favorite song of hers, “The Texas Tornado.” Unfortunately, whoever owns the copyright apparently will not allow the song on Youtube. It’s been up there a couple of times only to disappear.

[Fiji Hill]

Another of my favorite Judy Garland songs is Everybody Sing! (1937).

[Happy Rain]

I liked the musicals she made with Mickey Rooney.

Problem: “So and so or this and that in the neighborhood needs money but we ain’t got!”

Solution: Mickey, “Lets put on a show!!!”
Judy, “Yeah!!!”

[Fiji Hill]

I hate to be a birthday party pooper, but here's FDR Jones. This may have been a bestseller in early 1939, but it's probably not a big hit on FR.

[calex59]

Judy Garland was constantly complained at by her studio bosses when she was young. Their complaint was "she was too fat", they gave her amphetamines, which were legal then, to help her lose weight(IMO her weight "problem" was in the mind of the studio people), which of course made her an addict. She took amphetamines and another drug to help her sleep most of her life and died from an accidental(some say suicide)overdose at the age of 47.

One of my favorite actresses of all time she was a phenomenal talent, frequently shooting complex scenes in one take. One that comes to mind is when she sang the song "Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", showing up on the set just before rehearsal time, telling the crew "Let's just shoot this one"and wrapping it up in one take.

Thanks to the overwork, the constant harping at her by studio heads and the drugs they supplied her with, a great talent and a good person had a troubled life and died way to young.

[jaz.357]

For some reason, if I get one of her songs in my head, it stays there for two or three days...

That is called an "EAR WORM".

[calex59]

PS, just a little addition to post #17, the movie in which she sang “The Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe”, was “The Harvey Girls”, they walked through the choreography once and did one take and wrapped it.

[Radagast the Fool]

Such an amazing talent!!
One of my favorite scenes of hers is in “Easter Parade”; “We’re Just a Couple of Swells” with Fred Astaire. Pure magic!!
Also, as a youngster, “Dear Mr. Gable”, where she sings to a portrait of the REAL King of Hollywood.

[miss marmelstein]

Everything you say about the great Garland is correct. What a talent! I was lucky enough to have a mother who loved her and so I grew up watching her movies and listening to her records.

For me, her greatest moment is singing “The Man Who Got Away,” in the remake of “A Star is Born.” Absolutely gorgeous arrangement.

[DManA]

In her Grand Rapids Mn hometown her father was a popular, and known homosexual. But when he started preying on young boys the city fathers strongly encouraged him to move elsewhere.. L.A. was more tolerant of those kind of things.

[Errant]

Thanks, I didn't know it had a name. It usually stops after listening to something relaxing or soothing.

If I Only Had A Brain!

[Last Dakotan]

Named Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Mich Minnesota.

ABC News is always repaired on FR.

[Fast Moving Angel]

put the Oz dvd in and cue up Dark Side of the Moon in whatever form you have it when the lion roars the third time... you'll be amazed

For those of us who don't have the Oz DVD (but love Dark Side of the Moon), could you please tell us what happens?? :-)

[Chode]

the songs track alone with the movie like it was on purpose...

1. Pop the CD of Dark Side of the Moon in the player and set it at "play/pause" at 00:00 on the first track so it's cued and ready to go.

2. Start The Wizard of Oz and skip past the intro fluff until you get to the actual film.

3. When the black and white MGM lion roars for the third and final time, immediately press play (unpause) on the CD player. Careful: The roars can run together.

4. Mute the movie. The opening credits will accompany a crescendo of sound effects from the CD.

5. Here's the key that will tell you if you've done it right: At about the 1:17 mark, the name Mervyn LeRoy (the producer) should fade onto the screen exactly in sync with the first note of the first musical track, "Speak to Me/Breathe." If they're not together, rewind both and try again. It should only take about 3-4 tries, max, to get it right. Trust me, the precision makes a difference.

6. Optional: Put the CD player on "repeat all" mode so that it will start over at the beginning of the album once its done. Some people claim that the CD continues to sync all the way through the movie, but it certainly requires a greater time commitment to find out.

What to look for

If you don't want to be swayed by seeing things that other people have told you about, skip over this section. Otherwise, here's some examples of interesting connections to look for:

1. As Dorothy balances on the fence during the song "Breathe," the line heard is "balanced on the biggest wave, race toward an early grave." When she falls into the pig pen, the song changes, as if on cue.
2. As Dorothy sings "Over the Rainbow," at one point she looks from one side of the sky to the other, as though following an airplane. There is a corresponding sound of a plane speeding by.
3. The first appearance of Almira Gulch on her bicycle occurs simultaneously with the alarm clock at the beginning of the song "Time."
4. As Gulch argues with Dorothy's Aunt and Uncle over the fate of Toto, the music chimes back and forth dramatically.
5. The song "Great Gig in the Sky" occurs exactly in sync with the tornado sequence. It starts slow with the wind, crescendos chaotically as Dorothy is sucked into the funnel, and fades down as the storm lapses into Dorothy's daydream.
6. The sound of the cash register, signifying the beginning of the song "Money" occurs at the moment that Dorothy steps out the door into Oz.
7. The line "Who knows which is which?" fittingly enough, corresponds to the encounter between Glenda the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch of the West.
8. The Scarecrow scene is matched up with the song "Brain Damage."
9. As Dorothy bangs on the Tin Man's chest cavity, the sound of a heartbeat echoes.

...And that's just scratching the surface. There's no limit to what you'll see if you really look for connections, and many eager experimenters have already tried to catalogue exhaustive lists online. Some even recommend putting the CD on repeat so that it plays continuously through the movie. This makes the possibility of it matching even more far-fetched, and truth be told, the evidence gets less compelling in the subsequent playings.

The Verdict?

[rw4site]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xe1anq_judy-garland-the-texas-tornado_music

[patriot08]

Love Judy Garland!
Favorite Garland movie ‘Meet Me In St Louis’
with the wonderful Margaret O’Brien- and introducing the Christmas song ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.

[JoeProBono]

[Fast Moving Angel]

The Verdict?

That sounds awesome -- someone took a lot of time in putting that together. Thanks for sharing!

[oilfieldtrash]

Idiots. She was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

[ansel12]

This is my favorite version.

JUDY GARLAND - Over the Rainbow - 1943 Command Performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hABGhMiPk

[Chode]

welcome...

[John W]

One of my favorites. Filmed radio show for our troops during World War 2. Rarely seen footage of Garland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8hABGhMiPk&list=FLyY0jWrKTHMo79qsjHku82Q&index=114&feature=plpp_video

[Zionist Conspirator]

Were you able to see the midget hanging himself in the background?

That's not a midget hanging himself. It's the bird you see earlier in the scene at the Tin Man's cottage . . . some sort of long necked, long legged bird, like a crane or something.

[rabidralph]

Hanging itself :-)

[GreenHornet]

For some reason, if I get one of her songs in my head, it stays there for two or three days...

Just sing a few verses of "The Night Chicago Died" to yourself, and the Judy Garland songs will go away.

[trisham]

The “Trolley Song”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0odXnKhKBxQ&feature=related

“The Man Who Got Away”..excellent film quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYVIGjZk_U&feature=related

[Bratch]

Just sing a few verses of "The Night Chicago Died" to yourself, and the Judy Garland songs will go away.

Curse you. ;)

[Errant]

Haunting and beautifully sung from her heart. I truly hope she has found what was missing in her life on earth. After learning more about her, it seems something must of happened in her early life that stole much of the joy of living away from her.

[Errant]

Brooks and Dunn usually does it. :)

Brooks and Dunn - Only in America

[Fiji Hill]

I often get an earworm--a song I can't get out of my head. The most recent was Campus Capers by Ted Wallace & The Campus Boys.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Hanging itself :-)

No . . . it was picking something off the ground and then stretching its wings.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Y’all know Judy Garland was a lifelong liberal Democrat and homosexual icon, right?