I was watching
‘A Star is Born’ on tv today, and I cranked up the volume when she sang ‘The Man That Got Away’. Her rendition still sends chills down my spine. But the millennial here got a bit irritated and said what is that noise? 
…Does anyone still remember Judy Garland? Love her voice?
I didn’t love her voice - I loved her singing. And it probably isn’t the kind of singing style your millennial grew up with.
And let’s face it, a lot of the love for Judy Garland is from the sympathy for her absolute disaster of a personal life.
61 year old opinion. I never cared for her at all. Her voice is far too…MGM musical. She over emotes. it’s what they wanted, but it just doesn’t do it for me.
And her train wreck of a life just dominates my image of her whenever I see her.
We saw her just yesterday as the mystery guest on What’s My Line. She was there partially because Jacqueline Susann was also a mystery guest, and Judy was going to star in the movie adaptation of Valley of the Dolls. Which she got fired from, for being drunk.
Judy looked drunk or high. She was “ON!” and acted like she was everybody’s best friend. It was kind of weird.
But I love The Wizard of Oz.
In the early 1990s, I read a biography of Judy Garland, and kept thinking, “Are you sure they aren’t talking about Axl Rose?”
I’m surprised she lived as long as she did.
I own both “A Star is Born” and “Easter Parade” on DVD and watch them regularly. Judy Garland to me has one of the best, purest voices ever, and in spite of her personal problems, she projected incredible joy onscreen.
I tried to watch A Star Is Born today, but it bored the shit out of me.
Dorothy, I mean Judy Garland? Still okay in my book.
Judy Garland was manipulated mercilessly by her studio, seduced by men twice her age (bandleader Artie Shaw for one, who kept going back to that well for several years, and others), given pills to wake up and pills to sleep, and booze in between, and then tossed on the scrap heap when they were done with her. Her mother was a stage mom who pushed her into the life. A sad story, for sure. I can’t imagine anyone else doing the role of Dorothy as well, though.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas has to be the saddest Christmas song in the world, the way she sang it.
actually here in my part of the world her family lived here when she was a child for about 2 or 3 years …her stepdad was described as a quiet milqtoast type the girls were adorable and somewhat talented but the mom was described as a" one of the meanest and hateful bitches that ever set foot in town "and everyone let sorry for them because of her
In the dept of “what mundane thing would you do if you could go back in time instead of ohhh…stopping Hitler”
I’d do what I could for Judy Garland. I enjoyed her in Judgment at Nuremberg….but I can’t say I LOVE her.
Now Liza??? I heart Liza.
She’s great in Wizard of Oz and I feel sorry for her, given all her troubles. Haven’t seen an entire other movie of hers, just bits and pieces, and have no opinion otherwise.
I grew up watching Judy Garland movies, and adored her acting, her singing, and her dancing. I didn’t learn about how the studios treated her until I was well into my twenties, and all I could think was, “shit. think what she could have been if they hadn’t screwed her up so thoroughly.” I think she’d have been an amazing dramatic actress, too, if she’d ever been given the chance.
She might not have been a teenage movie star, without all that manipulation – she would have weighed more, for one thing. She might have been a successful band singer a la Doris Day or Frank Sinatra, and then moved to movies later as a more mature personality. She certainly could have lived a longer and happier life.
She was given the chance for dramatic roles at least a couple of times – besides Judgment at Nuremburg there was I Could Go On Singing – but that wasn’t what her fans wanted. It’s not clear whether those kinds of roles were what she wanted either, but she didn’t have much chance to choose.
I remember seeing her TV show in the early 60’s. My father commented on how her voice had deteriorated, and it was difficult to listen to at first. But after a bit I forgot about that and was just caught up in the emotion. She could catch you up, carry you away, and then set you down exhausted at the end of the song. That’s what I remember, more than the gushy MGM musicals. Those songs proved to me that she was, indeed, a great actress who didn’t hold back anything.
With the exception of The Wizard of Oz, I haven’t seen any of her movies in a very long time and none of them all the way through.
Her singing was wonderful, and it came through in her speaking voice, as well. A very full quality that I also appreciate in the voices of Cher and Dolly Parton. I mentioned that here a ways back, calling that quality “luscious.” Sounds pervy but I don’t mean it that way.
Very much not to today’s tastes, but I think she’s fabulous. She’s one of those singers whose vocal quality is very distinctively her own. You could listen to just a half-second of her singing “Ahhh,” and unmistakably identify the voice as hers. Such a warm, powerful, and unique tone.
She was also endlessly criticized for her weight, so her mother put her on “diet pills” at an early age to keep her slim. I recently re-watched Meet Me in Saint Louis and really noticed how thin she was. Yeah, she had a bit of puppy fat when she was a young teen, but in her case the cure was worse than the disease.
I guess I must then like a singer who over-emotes.
It has nothing to do with her biography, of which I know vitually nothing beyond this thread (or maybe I did know it and forgot).
When Judy Garland started out, she was paired with Deanna Durbin, who, after being known as the girl who saved Universal, quit show business when she didn’t like being typecast, and lived to 91.
Loved her in The Wizard of Oz, but that’s about it. I am complete meh about her in every other movie she ever did.
Oddly enough, I feel exactly the same way about her daughter Liza Minnelli. Cabaret is one of my favorite films, and it would not be at all the same without her. Otherwise, she gets a big meh from me too in everything else she’s done.
I always preferred Deanna Durbin to Judy Garland. Better actress with a stronger voice. I still remember the Largo Al Factotum from For the Love of Mary. She also successfully managed her life and career. At the peak of her fame (second only to Bette Davis in earnings) she divorced her husband and Hollywood, married some other guy and retired to a farm outside of Paris.
Judy Garland seemed more like a fixture. A sad story, but I find it difficult to sympathize with the foibles of the rich and famous. They had alternatives. Durbin managed it.
Nothing wrong with that. MGM musicals were extremely popular. Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland movies alone probably paid for the salaries of everyone in the studio,
But they feature her a lot in That’s Entertainment! and it seems to me like she’s singing for the balcony, not the camera.
But she was great in Judgement At Nuremberg.