Judy by the Numbers: "A Great Lady Has An Interview"
Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 8:38AM Anne Marie is tracking Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...
Our time travelling comes to an end this week with a movie that was filmed before The Harvey Girls but, due to expensive reshoots, wasn't released until months later. Ziegfeld Follies (not to be confused with Ziegfeld Girl) is a plotless series of excuses for MGM to throw its considerable stable of talent into a series of comic and musical sketches tailor made to show off the stars - and the studio - at their finest.
The Movie: Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
The Songwriters: Kay Thompson (lyrics), Roger Edens (music)
The Players: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, William Powell, Esther Williams, directed by Vincente Minnelli
The Story: According to rumor, originally this enjoyable little slip of a number was designed for Greer Garson. However, when Garson backed out, it became a number about Garson, lampooning her accent, image, and Oscar-bait dramatic roles. However, the satire was all in good fun, in large part due to the lyrics by Kay Thompson.
Though this was Thompson's first credit on a Judy Garland performance, she had been working with Garland since befriending the young starlet on a radio show in 1939. On top of a successful nightclub career, Thompson would become MGM's top vocal arranger and vocal coach, working with Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, June Allyson, and more. But more than Thompson's vocal control rubbed off on Judy. Watch this clip with Audrey Hepburn, and compare the physicality - from poses to gestures, between Kay and Judy.
While Kay Thompson would remain close friends with Judy Garland, eventually even lending Liza a hand, her own movie career never took off. Instead, Thompson would become world famous for another career: as the creator and writer of the children's series Eloise.
Reader Comments (14)
It's been years since I've seen this because Ziegfeld Follies as a whole is a slog to work through. The musical numbers are by and large amazing, the best besides Judy's number are two Fred Astaire numbers-Limehouse Blues with Lucille Bremer and The Babbit and the Bromide the only time he danced with Gene Kelly, but the comedy cutouts are painfully flat and it seems to go on forever!
Back to this number. Judy's sensational and having tons of fun but looking at it now with all that came after and the endless number of impersonators of her it's perhaps the gayest thing Metro ever turned out. Her exaggerated make-up, her dramatic movements, the lavish set and having her surrounded with a phalanx of safety gays adds a whole different level that I'm sure the powers that be at the time never intended!
I had heard that it was offered to Greer Garson first and at the time she was deeply into her Great Lady phase and couldn't see the humor of it. She eventually loosened up and would kid about her persona herself, just a few years later she gave a breezy performance in the charming Julia Misbehaves as a dancer who returns to her long estranged husband and daughter, played by Elizabeth Taylor, for the girl's wedding.
Judy and Kay Thompson did share a similar style at times, not surprising with her role at MGM. Kay was Liza Minnelli's godmother so I'm sure there quite a bit of young Liza mixed in with Eloise.
As good as Judy is in this, goddamnit, I wish Greer had gone for it! It would have been classic, and I think it would have freed up her image to do a fun movie like Julia Misbehaves years earlier. She proved in Random Harvest she could sing and dance, and there were certainly many faces to Greer, as she would showcase years later on Laugh In.
I never knew Kay Thompson wrote lyrics. Singer, dancer, arranger, actress, author, even dress designer--she really could do anything. I still am pissed she was robbed of an Oscar nomination for Funny Face. How to Be Lovely, that lilting number with Audrey, fills my soul with glee: "dooo-eee-oo, dooo-eee-oo". And Kay literally steals the movie from both Audrey and Fred Astaire--not an easy feat.
I need to track down this film to see Limehouse Blues--I am a huge fan of Julie Andrews' version in Star!, and would love to see how Michael Kidd's choreography varies from Fred's.
Thank you for this glorious write-up, Anne Marie!
joel6--Are you a consultant for TCM or something? Your wealth of knowledge on classic Hollywood is amazing! Greer Garson was captivating and adorable in a little song and dance number in Random Harvest. Had she not turned "40" or been whisked out in favor of younger newbies like Deborah Kerr, I wonder where her career would have gone.
Strange that this was filmed only 5 or 6 years later than Wizard of Oz as Judy looks so MUCH older.
Garland is sending up Garson?? If u never said, I wld've thot she is parodying K Hepburn insteaad, who was also in MGM at that time...her hair, make-uo & insufferable MANNERISM could pass for Hepburn too!! Lol
You, too, Brookesboy! LOL
Claran: With no real research and just watching the number (I have the movie on Laserdisc), I too had always thought that Judy was sending up Hepburn. About the only thing that doesn't fit is that she is wearing a dress and not pants <grin>.
Hi, Pam! Greer is one of my VERY favorite actresses. It's weird that we're discussing this topic, because in the HBO Judy biopic starring another Judy (Davis), there's a scene where Judy is working on her first comeback in the '40s, and she's being called on her bad behavior. And Judy shouts: "Tell Mayer I'm goddamn Greer Garson!"
Ha!
Gotta love that mid-Atlantic accent practiced by Greer, and Kate and even Grace Kelly to get away from their regional speech.
I too, think that Kay Thompson never got the credit she deserved particularly as a “fixer” …the clip with Audrey Hepburn shows that work. ( And that IS Audrey Hepburn singing as best as she ever did)
A few Christmasses ago, I received the book, Kay Thompson from Funny Face to Eloise, a great read if you wish to continue with the subject ( though I am sure it’s already in joel6’s library ).
But I met Miss Thompson before I ever heard of Judy Garland. “I am Eloise. I am six. I live at the Plaza.” I so much wanted to be that little girl. On my very first trip to New York I went directly to the Plaza Hotel. “ Getting bored is not allowed” as if anyone could be bored at the Plaza.
@ brookesboy
You know that the Judy biopic was on your network (ABC) not HBO.
Paul, OMG...you are correct, sir! I am the Queen of Denial LOL.
As a soap fan...Brooke, forgive me!!!
now i'm wondering what Charles Busch would make of this since so much of his persona is Greer Garson-based.
it's hilarious that the EARNEST BIOGRAPHICAL PICTURES being shorthand for critical acclaim has always been around.
As much as I love Judy, I wish Greer Garson did it. She was well into her 30's when she exploded with Goodbye Mr Chips. She had a great run when most actresses start to stop getting work. But after WWII she lost some momentum. She had a great comeback with Sunrise at Campebello but nowadays has been mostly forgotten, only getting trotted out on TCM for St Patrick's day, and even then getting overshadowed by Maureen O'Hara.
Oh man, Ziegfeld Follies is the worst! I agree with Joel on that. The comedy bits are fascinating to watch because they are utterly unfunny. Nothing works. The musical numbers are mostly serious, so this lighthearted stuff from Judy saves the day for sure.
I've always liked Kay Thompson from Funny Face and I have a CD of her and the Williams Brothers performing (Andy Williams and co.) which I like a lot. Think Pink!
I always liked traveling and saving on flights.