TAMMY BLANCHARD . COM

Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows was 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 Judy Garland by Tammy Blanchard.

The film, which chronicles Garland’s life from her first public performance in 1924 until her death in 1969, is divided into two parts: the first part depicts Judy’s rise to fame in the 1930s, her descent into drugs, and her fall from grace in the 1950s. The second part of the drama begins with Garland’s marriage to Sidney Luft, and proceeds to chronicle her successful return to movies with A Star is Born, her personal issues (weight, debts, etc), and her untimely death at the age of 47.

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 husband’s homosexuality. 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,” to the studios of Metro Goldwyn Mayer to audition. 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.” Thirteen-year-old Judy signs an MGM contract but, because of her age, the studio doesn’t know what to do with her and keeps giving her radio appearances. Tragedy strikes one night when Judy is told 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 Suzy and Jimmie are in tears over their ill father, their mother shows no emotion at all. Frank dies the next day.

1939: Judy’s movie career is now blooming. Now sixteen (and played by Tammy Blanchard), she finds herself in competition with MGM’s new glamorous star, Lana Turner, who is everything Judy isn’t: tall, thin, and blond. Judy also becomes jealous as Lana steals everybody’s, including Mickey Rooney’s, attention on Judy’s birthday. 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. This causes much concern, especially for her mother, who has now remarried. Judy continues to see Artie and is shocked when he elopes with Lana Turner, leaving her heartbroken and reluctant to return to the studio since she feels she has to compete with all the goddesses. While filming the I 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. Aged just nineteen, Judy marries composer David Rose, but the marriage lasts only eighteen 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. Judy and Vincente married in 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 and vows never to take them again.

1947: Now mother to Liza, Judy is forced to renew her contract with MGM. While filming The Pirate, Judy has a mental breakdown and Vincente finds out she’s taking the pills again. The marriage spirals downward from there.

1950: Judy is suspended indefinitely and tries to commit suicide by slashing her throat with a broken glass. She is fired by MGM and her marriage to Vincente falls apart due to his exhaustion of her mood swings. During this time, she meets Sidney Luft (Victor Garber). Sidney helps Judy with her show business comeback at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.

Part Two

Early-1950s: Judy marries Sidney in 1952 and a few months later she gives birth to a second daughter, Lorna. In 1953, Judy’s mother Ethel dies in a parking lot after suffering a heart attack. Initially, Judy does not react to the news, having been estranged from her mother for years, but while filming the The Man That Got Away sequence for A Star is Born, her first film since MGM fired her, Judy misses her mark, and starts crying in her dressing room, not exactly sure if she’s upset over her mother’s death. She receives an Academy Award nomination for her performance. In 1955, a day before the 27th Academy Awards, Judy gives birth to her son, Joey, but on the night she loses the award to Grace Kelly, much to the shock and disappointment of Judy’s friends.

Late-1950s: Judy is now struggling with debts, her weight has ballooned, and at this stage, her marriage to Sidney 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 Sidney continues to collapse, Judy wins custody of their two children.

Mid-1960s: Judy gets her own TV series, but after it is canceled 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 flees the stage in tears. Judy later marries for a fourth time, this time to Mark Herron. This marriage lasts a mere five months as Mark turns out to be gay and is discovered in bed with a male pool cleaner (which is never shown), and Judy throws him out. Lorna begins to understand the connection between her mother’s erratic behavior and her medication. Judy reconciles with Sidney, who books her at the London Palladium, this time with Lorna and Joey. Sidney 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 takes Lorna and Joey to live with him in Los Angeles.

1969: Judy Garland marries for her final 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 on June 22, Judy dies from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. A hysterical Lorna sobs in her father’s arms. The film ends with Judy performing Get Happy.