Judy by the Numbers: "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 8:37AM 
Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. revolutionized entertainment. Though he was best known for the Vaudeville showgirls in the musical review that bore his name, but his reach extended beyond the Follies. He legitimized Vaudeville and funded the show that would spawn the modern American musical. Though Ziegfeld died in 1932, MGM continued glorifying - and profiting from - Ziegfeld's legacy. In 1936, MGM released a biopic, The Great Ziegfeld based on the life of Ziegfeld and his wife, Billy Burke. The success of that film led the studio to announce a spiritual successor in 1938: Ziegfeld Girl, set to star Joan Crawford, Eleanor Powell, and Virginia Bruce. But when the movie was finally made 3 years later, the cast had changed a bit.
The Movie: Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
The Songwriters: Joseph McCarthy & Harry Carroll, from a tune by Chopin
The Players: Judy Garland, Lana Turner, Hedy Lamarr, Jimmy Stewart, directed by Robert Z Leonard & Busby Berkeley.
The Story: After the success of Little Nellie Kelly, MGM had another collaboration planned for young Judy Garland. This time, instead of Mickey Rooney, her costars were two other young starlets: Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr. Ziegfeld Girl was Judy Garland's first adult melodrama, though Garland still played a child. The plot might have inspired Valley of the Dolls.* As one of three showgirls trying to make it in the Follies, Judy is mostly relegated to musical comic relief while Hedy cries and Lana nearly dies. Still, the movie allowed young Judy to stretch her talents dramatically and vocally. Ultimately, that stretch mattered. The movie wasn't the success MGM had hoped for, but Judy got stellar reviews.
Reader Comments (11)
Love this number. Basically every reaction shot (something i normally wish movies wouldn't spend time showing when someone is performing) in this song is one I've felt when Judy sings. I'm always transported (any song) within the first phrase or two.
I LOVE Ziegfeld Girl! I never thought of it as inspiring Valley of the Dolls but I can see where it could have been an influence. The story is nothing extraordinary but MGM was able to pull together a cast that makes the story superfluous anyway.
This was Jimmy Stewart's last film before going off to war so it's interesting to see how much he changed between this and his return film, It's a Wonderful Life.
This was a big step forward for Lana who wrote in her autobiography that the studio had been moving her steadily along but were so pleased with her work in this they kept expanding her role through production making her much more of a prominent player. Though the film wasn't an enormous hit it was a success and from this point on she was a top star in the Metro firmament.
But we're here to talk about Judy and I think the number I'm Always Chasing Rainbows is one of the most exquisite performances she ever gave. It's so simple and heartfelt. On the other hand the elaborate number she has later in the film Minnie from Trinidad is loads of fun and Judy holds her own in it never allowing the massive production to swamp her and having fun with the silly number. It always made me sorry she wasn't given the opportunity to do the Jenny's Dream number from Lady in the Dark. She would have knocked it out of the park.
As for the rest of the picture, Hedy is breathtakingly beautiful and she has a lovely scene with Rose Hobart where they talk about the things that make their respective men theirs, though why she pines for the complete jackass she's married to is a mystery.
Eve Arden is a hoot as a been around-seen it all showgirl...as she puts it herself "The best horrible example you'll ever see!" Edward Everett Horton, Paul Kelly and Charles Winninger all add a lot in support and the film does let Judy move another step closer to adulthood even if she's paired with the callow Jackie Cooper as her love interest.
I just wish the picture had been in color, an odd decision for the studio to not do it that way considering the extravagant eye-popping costumes the Ziegfeld girls wear throughout.
At the end of this series, we will all have to rank our top 10 Judy numbers but this has got to be one of my top five. It's a Judy type ballad; it shows off her wonderful contralto range without her needing to belt it out. And like the character she plays and the perpetual one we love, it is winsome.
Hey guys, I have been MIA for the last few weeks but I'm back for my morning fix of Judy Garland at her best.
@Leslie19 - Winsome, Wistful, longing, hopeful, those are the emotions that are Garland's home turf so to speak. She is so expressive without being hammy.
Anne Marie & others - Sheila O'Malley a film critic and blogger made an observation about Garland's acting skills that I think is absolutely true. She says that Garland was a method actor before anyone really knew what method acting really was.
Anytime she sings a song, you can see her really feeling the truth of that song and the emotions it might evoke. She didn't know any other way, she dove in and felt it all.
Which is why we find her so natural and riveting today.
I agree with this observation, but I would love to hear your
thoughts...
1. That coat (is that a coat?) and the hair and her svelte face—gorgeous.
2. Very meta, everyone watching her with approval and devotion as she once again sings about her signature "blue bird" and "rainbow." (The song itself predates "Over the Rainbow" by over 20 years.) Well played, MGM.
I haven't seen this but I must. Judy Garland and Lana Turner's parallel yet divergent trajectories--romantic and otherwise--are fascinating. The director Leonard did amazing work on Pride and Prejudice the previous year. That film is simply gorgeous.
joel, The Saga of Jenny is one of my favorite numbers as spectacularly performed by Julie Andrews on film. Disturbing and exhilarating all at once.
brookesboy-I'm a huge fan of the Julie Andrews production number and performance. It's one of the best things she's ever done.
I was actually thinking of it in relation to the "Minnie the Moocher" production number in this because of Judy's sly reading of the lyrics. Once you have a chance to catch up with the film-**TCM DVR alert-they are showing the film this upcoming Saturday at 3:30 AM**-I think you'll see what I mean. She's right at home with the ribald double meaning of some of the lyrics and with her innate sense of fun and wit which are so evident when you watch clips from her various personal appearances she really could have made the number great.
Lady in the Dark was filmed in 1944 (right in Judy's prime) but at Paramount with Ginger Rogers in the lead. Her version of Jenny's Saga is pretty good, she still had her sense of humor at that point before she hardened into the haughty grand lady, and the staging properly surreal but not as exciting as the Andrews version from Star!
Here's the link to Ginger's take on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI1FL-Tl9fU
I think Ziegfeld Girl is my favorite Judy movie between The Wizard of Oz and Meet Me In St. Louis, or at least it's the one I watch the most often. Judy sings beautifully and this number in particular is in my top five of all Judy songs. I have many, many people singing it on my ipod but no one quite does the melancholy like Judy...ever.
But it's also fun to just watch the movie because the costumes are ridiculous and entertaining. Lana is over the top dramatic, and Hedy is probably the most beautiful woman ever in the movies (don't hate me Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, or Vivien Leigh).
@ Dave in Hollywood:
Really?
I mean, really?
joel, thank you so much for the link! I'm at the office now but I'll watch it when I get home. This sounds so intriguing. I love Ginger during that period. And Star! is one of my favorites, even though critical history has not been kind, which is unfortunate and unfair.