I Got Lucky, I Think! and a comparison

[mrsl]

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Target had a sale on 'selected' (don't you love that word?), DVD's for $14.99 and I saw one I couldn't resist. Showboat, Kiss Me Kate, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Annie Get Your Gun, all starring Howard Keel, whom I adore. Most of them are fairly easy to get, except Annie Get Your Gun. I requested it way back when on TCM, and they did run it once or twice, but not like so many of the other musicals. Anyway, just having it in the background on cleaning day is a pleasure and getting 4 of my favorite big time musicals all on one DVD for less than $3.75 per film to me is a real bargain.
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[mrsl]

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I expected just the movies, as in a couple of other two-in-one's I have, but not only are they all digitally enhanced and cleaned up, but at least one is in letterbox format. I listened to Showboat first while cleaning the kitchen but sat down to watch Annie Get Your Gun, and found extras. One of the extras was Judy Garland doing 'I'm an Indian Too', and 'Doin' What Comes Naturly', and never in a million years would I ever think of saying this, but I much prefer Betty's take on the role over Judy. It says that after Judy left, the Indian song was altered quite extensively for Betty from Altman's original vision, and I believe they added a lot of energy to it for Betty. With the 'Naturly' song, Judy was kind of sluggish, and didn't seem very interested, in addition to being kind of put out at the end because they called 'cut' before she got her line in. I can see why they called it, because of the reasons I stated. She certainly seemed like she was finished.

Also, I have to say something about Howard Keel. He was certainly one big, handsome fella!!!! I always liked him, even in his non-musicals, but I do love his singing voice. If I had known he was on Dallas, I probably would have watched it. But in the 50's when most of the MGM musicals were made, he was in his prime. With Esther Williams in Jupiter's Darling he was a terrific match for her, because she was not a little girl, and his size didn't diminish her as it did with so many of his co-stars.
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[JackFavell]

Judy was actually quite ill during the shooting of those sequences.

[charliechaplinfan]

She pulled out or was pulled out because of her health. I have no complaints, I really like Annie get Your Gun and it was my first acquaintance with Howard Keel. It's a film to really sing a long to.

[mrsl]

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I have been a fan of Judy Garland since I was 5 years old, the first time I heard Over the Rainbow, so that makes 59 years so far. When I wrote my post, I was not being snide, or nasty, or critical in any way at all, and if it sounded that way, I don't know how I could have phrased it.

The Altman version of the Indian song, was almost to the extent of being boring because it was so tame, and I believe he was keeping it that way in deference to Judy's health. There was no jumping, very little dancing, and none of the frolicking that appeared in Betty's version. Betty was hopping all around, dancing with the indians, being tossed in the air by them, etc. It was a fun number and Judy was just listless throughout it all. However, the late 40's and early 50's were a bad time for her. After 3 replacements, she was finally fired by MGM, so perhaps her pill problem had increased and nobody helped her as Mickey Rooney argued. She was such a treasure, I would have thought Mr. Mayer would have helped her with rehab and kept it quiet. In any case, being able to see the four (two and two), songs within minutes of each other, there is no doubt that this part was for Betty all the way.
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[JackFavell]

I may be wrong, but I read that Judy had had a miscarriage right before these scenes were filmed and was extremely ill. The studio did not give her enough time to recuperate before rushing their moneymaker into this production. She had NEVER had any time off or a vacation from the time she signed with the studio up until this point, and they didn't even allow her to stay in the hospital to recover. I wonder how many of us would look listless under those circumstances.

I believe I read that Judy had kicked her pill habit at this time, during her pregnancy, but would go back to it soon after this dreadful time in her life.

[knitwit45]

Anne,I don't think anyone thought you were being snide or nasty, you just said she looked listless. Those who responded were trying to explain why. What a sad time for the poor woman.

[mrsl]

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I've always felt so sorry for her, and can't help but wonder where was her family during her young days? Even if her parents didn't say anything, (talk about people who should have been hung by their toes!), her two sisters were both older than her. You would expect at least one out of four people would come forward and question the things they saw her going through.

I guess I'm overly sensitive because lately it seems like whatever I say, someone comes forward and makes me feel about 2 inches tall because I phrased something the wrong way. I do not have a caustic way of speaking, but I guess when I put it on paper, it comes out like sandpaper. I have an extremely dry sense of humor and I laugh and smile a lot when talking, but that doesn't come across on paper.

[Birdy]

Anne,
I know what you mean about how things come across; I suffer the same malady.

I always enjoy what you write and appreciate that you state your opinions and don't mind if others do.
Like the fact that I always thought Howard Keel had too many teeth in his head.
I'm sure his number the same as the rest of ours, but there you go.
We do agree on a few other handsome fellas, however!
Congrats on your lucky find of the package set.
Birdy

[JackFavell]

I was just trying to respond to your initial post, mrsl. I had found out some of this information myself in the last year or so, and I had always had the same feeling from those clips of Judy. I felt terrible when I read what had actually happened to her, and WHY she was so listless.

Anyway, I hope my responses didn't upset you too much. I never meant to sound harsh or come down on you at all. I simply like to set the record straight when it comes to Judy - there is so much info out there and it is hard to tell what is real and what is mularkey.

[charliechaplinfan]

Judy is one of the Hollywood stars that has been labelled as difficult without anyone ever realising why she got that reputation. I didn't know of the miscarriage but I did know that Mayer called her fat when she was younger and put her on harsh diets, pushing her so hard that she got into the routine of uppers and downers.

Nobody thought you were calling Judy, Anne, just telling us about the extras your disc had.

[Professional Tourist]

In the interest of keeping the record straight, I have studied Judy Garland's life and career extensively, and to my knowledge she never miscarried a child. She did have three abortions over time, but none during her marriage to Vincente Minnelli, during which time Annie Get Your Gun was filmed.

Judy was definitely in poor health during the time she was attempting to film Annie, which was made worse by the misguided efforts of director Busby Berkeley. Berkeley was eventually replaced as director, but by then Judy was on the verge of nervous collapse and could not go on.

A couple of good books I could recommend for those who may be interested in reading more about Judy would be "Judy" by Gerold Frank and "World's Greatest Entertainer" by John Fricke.

[JackFavell]

Thanks, PT, very much for the clarification. Whew!

I probably should have kept my mouth shut on all counts! I must've remembered wrong about the reason being miscarriage, but I was sure that she was quite ill. I thought I had first heard about it in the documentary that John Fricke helped to produce a couple years back, which was very good. I am not sure whether the doc was linked with the book or not. I thought the book came out after the documentary...

[mrsl]

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Thanks to all of you, I'll try to smile more when I'm writing

Seriously, Judy, Marilyn, and Elvis, three of the biggest names ever to hit the American entertainment community. In the ladies cases, I'm pretty sure, their families just laid back and let them bring in the money, pay the bills, and generally take the reins in the family care and feeding. Elvis was a sweet, southern boy who never lost his initial belief in the people he thought really loved him. All of them were taken advantage of in one way or another. Judy and MM were similar to abused wives who had been down-trodden so much they had lost all belief in themselves, but in their cases it was directors and studio moguls. Elvis' doctors were so proud of being his physician, they failed to consult one another regarding what drugs were being ordered, and he got into that vicious circle of one to sleep, one to eat, one to wake up, etc.

In any case, I am so happy with this DVD, I'll probably watch all four movies again next week.
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[charliechaplinfan]

I think Elvis's story was the saddest of all, there was no one around him to try to save him. Judy and Marilyn had 'issues', I say that in the kindess way because I adore them both, Elvis seemed more centred which made his early death all the more tragic.