Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows

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Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
Directed by Robert Allan Ackerman
Produced by Robert L. Freedman
John Ryan
Written by Lorna Luft
Robert L. Freedman
Starring Judy Davis
Victor Garber
Hugh Laurie
Music by William Ross
Jim Harrison
Cinematography James Chressanthis
Editing by Dody Dorn
Distributed by American Broadcasting Company
Momentum Pictures, (UK)
Release date(s) 2001
Running time 170 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows is a 2001 television film based on the memoirs of Lorna Luft, the daughter of Judy Garland. The production is notable for its meticulous recreations of Garland's films and concerts, and verisimilitudinous impressions of Garland by Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis.

Contents

[edit] Plot

[edit] Part One

Christmas 1924: Two-year-old Frances Gumm performs in public for the first time, singing Jingle Bells. Her mother, Ethel, watches from the audience while her father, Frank, watches from backstage. Ethel Gumm is unhappy with her marriage because of her husbands homosexuality, so, to help herself cope, Ethel moves the family to Hollywood in hopes that her daughters will break into the movie business.

1935: Frank Gumm takes Frances, now using her stage name of Judy Garland (Tammy Blanchard) to the studios of Metro Goldwyn Mayer to audition. At first, MGM chief Louis B. Mayer is not impressed with Judy's rendition of "Zing! Went the Strings of my Heart", but when Judy sings a different song an impressed Mayer says "Little girl. Big voice". Judy signs an MGM contract but because of her age (Judy Garland was only thirteen at this stage), the studio don't know what to do with her, so they keep giving her radio appearances. Tragedy strikes one night when Judy is told that her father has been rushed to the hospital. Judy is also told that doctors have put a radio beside her father's bed, so he will be listening. While Suzie and Jimmie are in tears over their ill father, their mother shows no emotion at all. The next day, Frank Gumm dies.

1939: Judy's movie career is now blooming. MGM purchases the rights to L. Frank Baum's classic children's book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Rumours spread that Shirley Temple might be playing Dorothy, but, when 20th Century Fox refuses to lend her out to Metro, Judy is cast. Judy is prescribed some pills to help her sleep and to give her energy to work, and she is also forced to lose weight. Judy is then seen filming the Yellow Brick Road dance with the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion. On the first take, they all close in and shut Judy out, prompting director Victor Fleming to yell "You three dirty hams! Let that little girl in there!". The film turns out to be a huge success, and Judy is catapulted to international stardom.

Early 1940s: Judy begins a romance with bandleader, Artie Shaw, who has already been married and divorced twice, which causes much concern, especially for her mother, who has now remarried. Regardless, Judy continues to see Artie until he elopes with Lana Turner, leaving Judy heartbroken. Then, while filming the "I've Got Rhythm" sequence for "Girl Crazy", Judy is continually being reprimanded by her director, the no-nonsense Busby Berkeley over not putting enough energy into her performance. Eventually, Judy collapses on the set and is granted three weeks rest despite the doctor's instruction that she needs six. The narrator of the film then reveals Judy married composer David Rose when she was just nineteen. Their marriage lasted only nine months.

1944: Judy (now played by Judy Davis) meets Vincente Minnelli (Hugh Laurie), who is the director of her next film, "Meet Me in St. Louis". Judy is then shown filming the "Trolley Song" sequence. Garland and Minnelli married in June 1945, on their honeymoon, Judy tells Vincente she plans to quit MGM when her contract expires. She also tells him she is pregnant, and she throws away a bottle of her pills, vowing never to take them again.

1947: Now a mother to Liza, Judy is forced to renew her contract with MGM. While filming "The Pirate", Vincente Minnelli finds out that Judy is taking the pills again. The marriage spirals downwards from there.

1950: Judy is suspended indefinitely and tries to commit suicide by slashing her throat with a broken glass. Judy is then fired by MGM, and her marriage to Vincente Minnelli falls apart after she discovers him in bed with another man (which is never shown). During this time, she meets Sidney Luft (Victor Garber). Sid helps Judy with her show business comeback at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.

[edit] Part two

Early-1950s: Judy marries Sid Luft and a few months later gives birth to a second daughter, Lorna. In January 1953, Judy's mother Ethel dies in a parking lot after a heart attack. Judy also makes "A Star is Born", her first film since MGM fired her. She receives an Oscar nomination, losing to Grace Kelly (Judy gave birth to a son, Joey, on the night of the Oscars).

Late-1950s: Judy is now struggling with debts, her weight has ballooned, and at this stage, her marriage to Sid Luft is starting to crumble.

Early-1960s: After overcoming a life-threatening illness and slimming down, Judy tours America, the high point being a concert at New York's Carnegie Hall. As her marriage to Sid Luft continues to collapse, Judy wins custody of their two children.

Mid-1960s: Judy gets her own TV series, but after it is cancelled she is forced to go on the road again. Things start out fine, but her concert in Melbourne, Australia ends on a sour note when she stumbles on stage and the audience poke fun at her before walking out while Judy walks off stage in tears. Garland later marries for a fourth time, this time to Mark Herron. This marriage is short-lived as Herron turns out to be gay, and Judy throws him out. Lorna begins to understand the connection between her mother's erratic behaviour and her medication. Judy reconciles with Sidney Luft, who books her at the London Palladium, this time with Lorna and Joe. Sid gives Lorna some instructions on how to take care of her mother. However, life with Judy Garland (which included constantly - and secretly - moving from one place to another because of Judy's inability to pay bills), and looking after her mother and brother becomes too much for fourteen-year-old Lorna, who collapses from exhaustion. Fearing for his children's safety, Sidney Luft takes Lorna and Joe to live with him in Los Angeles.

1969: Judy Garland marries for a fifth time. Her new husband is Mickey Deans. The couple settle in London. Liza, Lorna, and Joey call Judy on her forty-seventh birthday on June 10, and say they will come and spend the summer with her when school finishes in two weeks. Sadly, two weeks later, Judy dies from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. A hysterical Lorna sobs in her fathers arms.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Won

[edit] Trivia

  • In the scene where Judy loses the Best Actress Oscar to Grace Kelly, Sid Luft says "It's the biggest robbery since Brinks". It was Groucho Marx who famously stated this.

[edit] External links