Judy Garland on Judy Garland (49 page)

JG:
Yes.

WBW:
Well, that shows you. I didn't know that. They were at a fever pitch in
front
then because I noticed that as you started the song, there seemed to be a swelling of applause and—

JG:
It was marvelous, wasn't it? Oh, I wish we could go back a year and do it all over again.

WBW:
Well, as I said, from the reaction of people around New York, they're waiting for you to appear. Anyway, here's Judy at Carnegie and “When You're Smiling.”

[Plays “When You're Smiling.”]

WBW:
This is the final segment of the
Make Believe Ballroom
and our guest, Miss Judy Garland. Judy. We were speaking before about acting. You were up for an Academy Award as a result of
Judgment at Nuremberg.

JG:
Yes.

WBW:
Is this going to be an extended part of your career now? Dramatic parts?

JG:
Well, I don't know. If the role is dramatic, doesn't call for singing, I enjoy that. I must say, though, I would rather do something that includes music because music [and] singing makes me very happy. I enjoy singing. However, I'll take a good dramatic role if it comes along.

WBW:
What's the picture in England?

JG:
It's a picture called
The Lonely Stage.
It's quite a good story but with music.

WBW:
Given the opportunity, is there any role that you have read or any book you've read that is the kind of a role you'd like to do? Does one strike you offhand?

JG:
I don't know. I really don't. I read a lot of books. No, I can't think of anything offhand.

WBW:
Because you mentioned earlier about trodding the boards on Broadway. Is there any particular vehicle you had in mind?

JG:
No. No. I was just speaking in general, you know.

WBW:
Because I have a sneaking hunch—and I'm not that conversant with agentry and all that—but I don't think you'd have any problem getting a play on Broadway if you really wanted to do one.
[Both laugh.]

JG:
No, I don't think so. At least I'd hope I wouldn't have any trouble. But I haven't been able to give that much time to thinking or choosing anything. I've been going like a
whirlwind,
you know, working.

WBW:
You worked out in the open, as it were, in Forest Hills last year. The night I saw you they had a few planes flying over.
[Judy laughs.]
That must be kind of distracting.

JG:
Well, yes. They only flew over on the ballads, too.
[Laughs.]

WBW:
Speaking of ballads, let's get to a ballad out of the Carnegie Hall concert. I have heard “I Can't Give You Anything But Love” done in every conceivable way. I don't think Jimmy McHugh has ever had it done as well as you do it in this.

JG:
Do you like it?

WBW:
Beautiful.
You did it on your TV special, too.

JG:
Yes. I think it's a pretty song and it's usually always been done at sort of a flapper-age tempo. And I think it's a lovely song.

WBW:
All right. Well, here then is Judy Garland with Jimmy McHugh's “I Can't Give You Anything But Love.”

[Plays “I Can't Give You Anything But Love.”]

WBW:
I guess, again, we would be remiss if we didn't include “Over the Rainbow.” When you did “Over the Rainbow” in
[The] Wizard of Oz,
am I correct, I think Harold Arlen—I did an interview with Harold once—and it seems to me that he told me the tune was originally not going to be in the movie.

JG:
Well, they shot the song. They recorded the song and I sang it, and then they shot the scene. And then when the picture was finished, you know, they take pictures out and preview them; sneak previews here and there in different towns. And they didn't think that it was a very good idea to have the song in the movie. They seemed to feel that it would hold things up. So I think after possibly four or five previews with the song
out
they finally thought,
Well, OK, we'll leave it in. [Laughs.]

WBW:
On the chance that it might go.

JG:
Yeah.
[Laughs.]

WBW:
Because, obviously, this song, as we mentioned earlier, is—you
own
the tune as a singer and as a performer. Harold Arlen, I think, is a brilliant writer.

JG:
He is.

WBW:
He writes things that, first of all, when you marry your performance with that kind of a tune, it's brilliant.

JG:
He is an
amazing
man, you know, because he can write “Over the Rainbow,” which has a childlike, wistful quality, and a new song he's just written called “Little Drops of Rain” that's in this UPA feature-length cartoon. And that has the same qualities as “Over the Rainbow.” And yet, he can then turn and write “Come Rain or Come Shine.”

WBW:
Great blues.

JG:
Or “Stormy Weather” and then also write “Get Happy.” So he's an amazing man.

WBW:
One thing I've noticed in your concerts and in the album, for example, you utilize—I guess you'd call the tunes—most of them are standards. Do you do any current songs?

JG:
Well, I do. Not in this album. After this was recorded I put in “Just in Time” and also a song from
Greenwillow,
I think it was.

WBW:
The Frank Loesser song?

JG:
It's called “Never Will I Marry” and that's about as current as we've gotten. I haven't done any of the brand-new songs.

WBW:
One quick question before we hear “Over the Rainbow.” What is your reaction to current pop music?

JG:
Well, what
kind
of music do you mean?

WBW:
Well, the music—if you were driving in a car or listening at home—that you would hear on radio stations around the country The so-called “top 40” records. In other words, what the youngsters are being exposed to today as the big hits of today. Do you have any feelings on it?

JG:
Well, no. You mean twist music or rock 'n' roll?

WBW:
Rock 'n' roll. Whatever.

JG:
I've never liked rock 'n' roll very much. There are, strangely enough, a couple of good twist songs, you know. It's a shame that the composer had to make twists out of them
[laughs],
but I think youngsters now are being exposed to the kind of songs we grew up with, from what I gather. I'm sure you're doing that and I think it's a good idea.

WBW:
We managed to survive. All right, here's Miss Judy Garland and Harold Arlen's “Over the Rainbow.”

[Plays “Over the Rainbow.”]

WBW:
Judy, I thank you very much for taking time out—this is a phrase I'm sure you've heard before—from a very busy schedule or I think in England they say “shed-yoo-ul.”

JG:
Well, either one, I think it means the same.

WBW:
Yeah.

JG:
I'm not sure! [
Laughs.]

WBW:
A very busy schedule and spending your first anniversary of Carnegie Hall with us here at the
Make Believe Ballroom.
On behalf of—and I'm not exaggerating
—millions
of people who didn't get a chance to see
you at Carnegie and who hear the album and who love your work, I thank you very much.

JG:
I thank you, Bill, and I think it's a wonderful thing. I'm very flattered that you're playing the album.

WBW:
Good night.

JG:
Good night.

Airing December 7, 1962, Judy's dazzling appearance on Jack Paar's show solidified her viability as a television personality. Not only did she look slim and radiant, she was sharp-witted, and exhibited an energy and warmth that communicated effectually through the broadcast medium. Whether truthful or tall tales exaggerated for effect, Judy's anecdotes were hysterical and well received by both studio and home audiences. “I liked myself for the first time on television,” she later recalled. “I thought I was kind of funny. Jack made me show off.”†

As Paar later recalled, “Everyone knew of Judy the singer … but what I discovered was her ability as a conversationalist. On Judy's first TV appearance with me, we talked more than she sang, and that was a side of her which was my discovery. I often had her on the program where she never was allowed to sing. I only wanted to hear her talk. Judy was very funny offstage as well. Never bawdy, it was rather a grand manner that she had, and at times you would have thought she came from a high social background rather than her ‘born in a trunk backstage' upbringing.”*

Variety
took note, declaring Judy to be “a picture of mental and physical health,” and calling her appearance “a highly rewarding and gratifying display.” Soon after, reports that a television deal was in the works were confirmed when, on December 28, 1962, Judy entered a four-season, $24 million contract with CBS for a weekly Garland variety series. As she told the press just a few months later, working on a series would allow her to remain close to home and family, and also promised financial stability. “You know how I look on this series?” she asked. “As a secure way of living. I can get up in the morning and go to work and come home at night to things that are familiar and mine. I'm so tired of being on
the road. The concerts have been marvelous for me, but I've been living in hotels now for the last three years and I've had it.”*

Jack Paar:
I've learned in show business: the greater the talent, the smaller the introduction. I shall never forget the time I saw Red Skelton in a supper club. I've seen him several times, but the house lights dim and a voice simply says, “Ladies and gentlemen, one of America's clowns,” and the simplicity of that introduction I shall never forget. And if that be true, then Judy Garland needs no introduction at all—except to say that she's pure magic. So … abracadabra: Judy Garland.

[Entering to “Over the Rainbow” and one-minute-long standing ovation, Judy takes a seat next to Paar.]

JP:
And I'm crying. I don't know why. I'm very touched by things like that.

Judy Garland:
Oh, you're very sweet.

JP:
Well, let them have a look at you. That's what they want to see. They want to see Judy Garland. You know all of us have given our hearts to you so many times that you have permanent possession of it. Can we talk tonight about anything? Silly little things?

JG:
Sure! Yes, anything you want. Anything you want.

JP:
Someone's gonna review this show and call it “Punchy and Judy.” Now watch, they'll do that.
[Judy laughs.]
I know those cats, you know. But anyhow … What a great laugher. She laughs, boy, at red ties, they say.

JG:
[Touching his tie.]
I laughed at
this
one!
[Laughs.]

JP:
C'mon. Boy, you sure got over Norman Maine in a hurry. [All
laugh and audience applauds.]
Ha-ha! Oh boy. Hey, listen. She has the
greatest
stories and this is one of the great talkers in show business, but no one ever heard her talk, I mean no one professionally. Listen, tell them about
the days at M-G-M … some of the stories about Mickey and Liz Taylor and those people. Just tell us the stories you want to.

JG:
Well, I hardly know where to start.

JP:
Tell them what you said about Liz.

JG:
Well … [
audience laughs]
now it wasn't anything like that.

JP:
No, no …

JG:
Well, as you know, she's this marvelous sort of femme fatale.

JP:
Yes.

JG:
I can always just remember her as a girl with a lot of chipmunks and horses, and she was only about three feet high and two years old at Metro. I can't imagine this marvelous sort of [
with a grand gesture]
Cleopatra, you know. That shows
my
age.