Get Happy (75 page)

The entrance The physical description of M-G-M is mostly taken from various issues of
Lion’s Roar
, an elaborate magazine the studio sent to distributors and theater owners.

On the five George P. Erengis, “MGM’s Backlot,”
Films in Review
, Jan. 1963.

As Mary Astor Astor,
A Life on Film
, p. 185.

When Judy Schatz,
The Genius of the System
, pp. 174, 359.

“It had the climate” Davis,
The Glamour Factory
, p. 7.

To those who agreed William Saroyan, “Best Angel God Ever Saw,”
Saturday Evening Post
, Nov. 16, 1963, p. 94.

“There seemed to be” Gil Perkins to GC.

“Your problems” Hepburn,
Me
, p. 225.

District Attorney Buron Fitts Marx and Vanderveen,
Deadly Illusions
, pp. 200–202.

“It’s not” Rooney,
Life Is Too Short
, p. 186.

Ava Gardner liked Gardner,
Ava: My Story
, p. 46.

Even the mother Black,
Child Star
, p. 320. And see “The Judy Garland Story.”

“Don’t think they” My account of Judy’s sexual encounters with M-G-M’s executives is taken from the unpublished “The Judy Garland Story,” as are the remarks attributed to her.

“I often thought” Ibid.

“Yes or no” Ibid.

“Young girls” Selznick,
A Private View
, p. 76.

“Mr. Mayer had spies” Ann Rutherford to GC.

At the end Marx,
Mayer and Thalberg
, pp. 128-29.

“His relationship with God” Behrman,
People in a Diary
, p. 158.

“I hate disloyalty!” Marion,
Off with Their Heads!
, p. 325.

When Lena Horne Lena Horne to GC.

The list of those he assaulted Crowther,
Hollywood Rajah
, p. 168.

Sensing the menace Powell,
A Life in Movies
, p. 530.

Short in stature Grady,
The Irish Peacock
, pp. 242–44. I am borrowing this observation from Grady, who was M-G-M’s chief talent scout for many years.

“When Dad died” Judy Garland, “The Real Me,” as told to Joe Hyams,
McCall’s
, April 1957.

“We have just signed” “The New Pictures,”
Time
, Dec. 27, 1943.

On a lot crowded James Stewart, as quoted in
Rainbow Review
, winter 1975.

“Make no mistake” Rita Maxwell to GC.

Left with almost nothing The figures are from papers submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court.

“It looked as though” Dorothy Walsh (Morrison) to GC.

“They didn’t know” Title unknown,
Redbook
, Nov. 1961.

She was to play “Schumann-Heink, Great Singer, Dead,”
The New York Times
, Nov. 18, 1936. The
Times
obituary gives a detailed account of Schumann-Heink’s life.

Accompanied by her mother “‘Baby Nora Bayes’ Sings On WHN Awaiting Pix,”
Variety
, June 17, 1936.

“If they don’t want Deanna” “Juveniles—Judy Garland, Tom Kelly—Air Views on Life, Films,”
New York Post
, Feb. 15, 1938.

Her first suitor Pasternak,
Easy the Hard Way
, pp. 165–69.

She poured so much The Directors Guild of American oral history project. Interview with David Butler, director of
Pigskin Parade
, p. 137. Directors Guild, Los Angeles.

“The voice!” June Levant to GC.

“Daffy and delightful” The New York newspaper reviews of
Pigskin Parade
are dated Nov. 14, 1936.

A “fat little frightening pig” Title unknown,
National Enquirer
, Oct. 23, 1960.

“What I like to do” James Reid, “Who Said ‘The Terrible Teens’?”
Motion Picture
, May 1940.

“The Boss” Marion,
Off with Their Heads!
, p. 260.

After her tearful exit
Deanna’s Diary: Fan Club Publication of Deanna
Durbin Devotees
, vol. V, no. 1 (1941); Dunning,
Tune In Yesterday
, pp. 178-81.

“When am I” Frank,
Judy
, p. 93.

“Mayer let Tiffany go” Stanley Kramer to GC. Kramer was then an assistant film editor at M-G-M.

On February 2, 1937 For a description of Ben Bernie, see Dunning,
Tune In Yesterday
, pp. 59–60.

It was a song As with so many other events in Judy Garland’s early life, there are several different versions of how she arrived at an important point in her career, namely the day she sang “Dear Mr. Gable” at Clark Gable’s birthday party. The most complete and, to my mind, the most plausible chronology was provided by John Graham in a chapter titled “Shall I Sing a Melody?” from his unpublished Garland biography. I have largely followed his outline of the days leading up to that moment.

When she ended Rooney’s account of what happened that day on the set of
Parnell
can be found in his autobiography
Life Is Too Short
, pp. 102–105.

Flustered as she was
Life
, Feb. 14, 1937.

Judy, wrote columnist Sidney Skolsky John Graham, from his unpublished Garland biography.

“I have never seen” Ann Rutherford to GC.

Broadway Melody
I am listing Judy’s pictures, here and afterward, in the order of their release dates, not the dates of their actual production, which sometimes overlapped.

As Metro had anticipated
New York Herald Tribune
, Sept. 3, 1937.

Many reviewers
New York Daily Mirror
, Sept. 3, 1937.

So visible had she become Selznick,
Memo from David O. Selznick
, p. 153.

She was that rarity Pasternak,
Easy the Hard Way
, pp. 225–26.

“There are moments” Lillian Sidney to GC.

Placed near the bottom For the sake of consistency, I am, unless otherwise noted, using New York City release dates throughout this book.

She was “a kid” Astor,
A Life on Film
, p. 142.

“Judy, none of your tricks”
Movie Mirror
, March 1938.

“There was always” Ralph Blane to GC.

Even after she had reached Viertel,
The Kindness of Strangers
, p. 271.

Small wonder Judy Garland, “I’m Judy Garland—and This Is My Story,”
New York Journal-American
, Feb. 25, 1964.

Once she actually started Fordin,
The World of Entertainment!
, p. 7.

Trying to turn Jackie Cooper, “‘This Was a Little Girl Who Was Used and Used and Used and Hardly Loved at All,’”
TV Guide
, Nov. 4, 1978.

A movie star in the making
New York Post
, Nov. 26, 1937.

“From the time” Judy Garland, as told to Joe Hyams, “The Real Me,”
McCall’s
, April 1957.

Stood in front Peter Wyden, “What Happened to Judy Garland?”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, July 2, 1950.

“My idea of a good time” Judy Garland, as told to Joe Hyams, “The Real Me,”
McCall’s
, April 1957.

Metro was not playing games Ann Rutherford to GC.

Mayer’s chicken soup Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg, “New York Close-up,”
New York Herald Tribune
, Aug. 27, 1951. Joe Hyams, “A Star Is Born—and Raised,”
New York Herald Tribune
, Sept. 20, 1956.

The day after Joe Mankiewicz to GC.

Arranged with all the care Epes W. Sargent, “Exploitation,”
Variety
, Feb. 9, 1938.

“M-G-M’s Sensational Singing Star”
New York Sun
, Feb. 10, 1938.

Nonplussed James Goode, “Judy,”
Show Business Illustrated
, Oct. 31. 1961. Roger Edens described the scene for the magazine’s writer.

“Kid has”
Variety
, Feb. 16, 1938.

When she reached Pittsburgh
Variety
, March 2, 1938.

“It was the most incredible” Saul Chaplin to GC.

In Pittsburgh “Judy Garland’s Pittsb’g Record at Current Scale,”
Variety
, March 9, 1938.

Hoping to cash in “Inside Stuff—Pictures,”
Variety
, March 9, 1938.

Declaring that she had “Life Goes to a Party with Judy Garland, Who Becomes the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi,”
Life
, March 28, 1938.

“Local Girl Starred”
Itasca County
(Minn.)
Independent
, Dec. 18, 1936.

On the morning of March 31 Judy’s trip to Grand Rapids is recounted in the
Grand Rapids
(Minn.)
Herald-Review
(March 30 and April 6, 1938) and the
Itasca County
(Minn.)
Independent
(April 1 and April 8, 1938).

That week’s issue “Life Goes to a Party with Judy Garland, Who Becomes the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi,”
Life
, March 28, 1938.

After making an appearance John L. Saxhaug to GC.

Defying the blizzard Bill Binet to GC.

Summing up her stay “Judy Posed for Grand Rapids Picture,”
Itasca County
(Minn.)
Independent
, April 6, 1938.

She believed Judy Garland, “My Story,” magazine unknown, Jan. 1951.

In a scene Ibid.

“Metro has acquired” “LeRoy Will Produce ‘Wizard of Oz’—,”
Daily Variety
, Feb. 24, 1938.

For the film announced that day I am measuring popularity in raw numbers. By all accounts, more people have seen
The Wizard of Oz
, in movie houses and in its many showings on television, than any other film.

The star, the producer and the budget For my account of the making of
The Wizard of Oz
, I am indebted to two excellent, full-length histories, Aljean Harmetz’s
The Making of The Wizard of Oz
and
The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History
, by John Fricke, Jay Scarfone and William Stillman. Michael Patrick Hearn also gives a concise but informative account in his introduction to the published version of the screenplay.

But Temple Fordin,
The World of Entertainment!
, p. 9.

Many of his old friends Wilk,
They’re Playing Our Song
, p. 146.

Looking toward Fricke, Scarfone and Stillman,
The Wizard of Oz
, p. 18.

The difficulty, for the technical staff anyway Dooley,
From Scarface to Scarlett
, p. 611.

It turned most yellows Harmetz,
The Making of The Wizard of Oz
, pp. 220–21.

“LeRoy Starts” Fricke, Scarfone and Stillman,
The Wizard of Oz
, p. 62.

“He just didn’t quite understand” Hay,
MGM
, p. 284.

“He just didn’t have” Harmetz,
The Making of The Wizard of Oz
, p. 140.

Even her acting Ibid., p. 143.

“There was more of Fleming” John Gallagher, “Victor Fleming,”
Films in Review
, March 1983.

After one of the male midgets Dona Massin was present when the plight of the unfortunate midget was first reported: Dona Massin to GC.

“We had a hell” Harmetz,
The Making of The Wizard of Oz
, p. 188.

Her seemingly uncontrollable attacks Astor,
A Life on Film
, pp. 141–42.

“We used to long” Lahr,
Notes on a Cowardly Lion
, p. 195.

Rarely involving himself Joe Mankiewicz to GC. For an account of this meeting see also Paul Attanasio, “Joseph Mankiewicz, Master of the Movies,”
The Washington Post
, June 1, 1986.

“I wanted” Schickel,
The Men Who Made the Movies
, p. 154.

Trimmed as well Fricke, Scarfone and Stillman,
The Wizard of Oz
, p. 122.

In England Ibid., p. 195.

Overlooking the fact Harmetz,
The Making of The Wizard of Oz
, p. 81.

Nothing could have prepared them Inez Robb, “Rooney, Garland ‘Mobbed’ in N.Y.,”
Los Angeles Examiner
, Aug. 14, 1939.

Indulging in a rare moment “Leo on Diet,”
Hollywood Reporter
, Aug. 18, 1939. Another Metro executive, J. Robert Rubin, joined Mayer and Schenck in sending the telegram to LeRoy.

After interviewing her
New York Journal-American
, Oct. 24, 1939.

“What a wonderful thing” Wiley and Bona,
Inside Oscar
, p. 99.

The second time Ibid.

Her old pal Fricke,
Judy Garland
, p. 53 (caption note).

“Our sweetest songs” “To a Skylark,” ll. 89–90.

“‘Rainbow’ has always been” James Bacon, “Judy Was Always Girl of Somewhere Over Rainbow,”
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
, June 23, 1969.

Oz
had given her Judy Garland, as told to Joe Hyams, “The Real Me,”
McCall’s
, April 1957.

Audiences were still Freed Collection.

Judy had made “Names and Credits of the Box Office ‘Big Ten’ of 1939,”
Box Office Digest: 1940 Annual
.

“For Mr. Grauman” Judy Garland, as told to Gladys Hall, “Judy Garland’s Gay Life Story, Part II.” Magazine unknown.

A movie star needs Gerald Clarke, “Judy Garland,
The Wizard of
Oz
Star in Bel-Air,”
Architectural Digest
, April 1992.

“We’re going to move” Dorothy Walsh (Morrison) to GC.

An idealized vision
Lion’s Roar
, Feb. 1945, includes a photograph of Judy standing in front of the house and the picket fence.

“Did I hear” Ethel M. Gumm, “Deep, Deep in My Heart,” 1931.

Although publicity photographs Lupton A. Wilkinson, “Fame Is Fun for Judy,” newspaper unknown, Oct. 8, 1939.

“Ethel didn’t love” Dorothy Walsh (Morrison) to GC.

“They were absolutely” Ibid.

“That was the most awful” Watson and Chapman.
Judy: Portrait of
an American Legend
, p. 26.

“From here on in” Frank,
Judy
, p. 144.

“He was a fast-talker” James Milne to GC.

They finally confessed failure California Superior Court, County of Los Angeles. Index No. D260983.

Many years later Ina Mary Ming (Miller) to GC.