I’ll tell Rex. Sounded strangely Italian to me, but what do I know about Judy G except I can’t stand to watch or hear her. We used to have a cat whose nervous suspicion bordered on psychosis. We called her Marion, but we should have named her Judy.
Mr. Klampe, You are correct sir! My apologies. Between this and the Tarzan yell that actually was Johnny Weissmuller, not some weird recording of 3 voices, I am forced to scrutinize my resources and be sure my notes are legible. Thank you for the correction. Your input is always welcome here.
I knew a woman in LA who befriended Liza while they were both inmates at Betty Ford. Liza’s claim to her, repeated on 60 Minutes, was that she’d landed in rehab thanks to Bailey’s Irish Creme. Assuming that’s the truth, what a thing to say. Better to be an honest drunk or pill popper.
I’d heard that many A-List actors thought Mickey Rooney was more talented than anyone in Hollywood. When I could stomach a few minutes worth of one of the many awful films he was in, I had to admit there was something to that claim. The trouble is, over the 90-odd years he was rolling up all the credits that comprise his endless filmography, there seem to be very few movies there that even rise up to the level of good. I guess there was nothing he could do about the physical stature that precluded him from getting all those leading man roles that Duke and Gary and Cary and Jimmy were getting in all those Ford and Hitch and Capra and Hawks classics.
Not to come to her defense, but I’m a little sympathetic with Judy as viewing her as the poster child of what Hollywood and Fame does to a soul, especially a feminine soul. I can’t imagine a worse fate for a young person than to make it big in Hollywood, then or now. I did enjoy her with Fred Astaire in “Easter Parade” – a light bit of fluff with no discernible plot, but affable characters singing and dancing (albeit the movie is probably a half hour too long for its own good, and the cheesy slow-mo special effects with Fred’s “Stepping Out with my Baby” did not age well at all – were they even any good when they first came out?)
I remember enjoying Young Frankenstein, but I’ve never been able to see the comedic brilliance in the other Mel Brooks movies. Here and there a funny gag, but as a whole just very . . . not funny.
I have an aversion to Easter Parade and White Christmas ever since reading Philip Roth’s abominable Nathan Zuckerman gloat over the manner in which Irving Berlin schmaltzed up the two biggest days in Christendom with his compositions.
I should add that I can actually think of worse fates than being a young star in Hollywood. Please forgive my momentary lapse into hyperbole.
I’ve never seen White Christmas. Is it to be avoided? I enjoyed Holiday Inn (which must soon fall to “Woke” mob for the Abraham song). I really liked Walter Abel in it – I could’ve sworn I’d seen him in more things, but IMDB drew nothing but blanks in my memory.
Ken — Complete agreement re. Irving Berlin who seems to have created the pop-musical-art version of this country. Committed an amazing number of musical sins, starting with ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band.’ The sad thing is that there was so much real American music, and Berlin parodied it, and in doing so seems to have created a whole musical industry that still goes on. Look at what’s happened to country music. And now they’re doing it to Berlin himself, as at the Rushmore fireworks last night. Serves him right.
On Rooney, how about his performance in The Black Stallion?
Mr. Brownlow – being a completely uncultured American, would you please point me in the direction of real American music so that I can learn to appreciate it? I grew up listening to Billy Joel and the Beatles and Michael Jackson on vinyl on my parents’ record player – my sense of music was practically destroyed at an early age. I’ve since done what I can to try to learn to better appreciate music, starting with Gregorian chant and polyphony, and dabbling with Mozart and Haydn, and I’ve had some moderate success in trying to retrain my ear. I enjoy a lot of Italian opera, although some still leaves me completely puzzled (I still can’t figure out what’s so great about “Rigoletto” – but I keep trying). As far as American Music goes, I know I’ve heard Copland panned in this forum, which is fine by me since I know little of his work. I’ve listened to and enjoyed everything from Dixieland Jazz and the Blues to Doc Watson and other country and bluegrass music. But most of it is very discombobulated in my mind with no clear understanding of any sort of American music tradition. Any information you could offer would be greatly appreciated!
That being said, I would watch Fred Astaire dance to the jingle from an Ice Cream Truck. I’m just a sucker for that kind of stuff.
The Reign of Love, a sequel to The Morality of Everyday Life, proposes a constructive alternative to the abstract ideologies that dominate both Left and Right. Now available from the TFF Store. Hardcover now available!
Dad gum it, it’s Gumm! Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969)
I’ll tell Rex. Sounded strangely Italian to me, but what do I know about Judy G except I can’t stand to watch or hear her. We used to have a cat whose nervous suspicion bordered on psychosis. We called her Marion, but we should have named her Judy.
Mr. Klampe, You are correct sir! My apologies. Between this and the Tarzan yell that actually was Johnny Weissmuller, not some weird recording of 3 voices, I am forced to scrutinize my resources and be sure my notes are legible. Thank you for the correction. Your input is always welcome here.
I thought perhaps Judy was a gooey piece of tooth-rotting candy shaped like a bear.
Well, She is not a flowery wreath either, the name can be deceiving…
Never. After all, who is “the King”?
I knew a woman in LA who befriended Liza while they were both inmates at Betty Ford. Liza’s claim to her, repeated on 60 Minutes, was that she’d landed in rehab thanks to Bailey’s Irish Creme. Assuming that’s the truth, what a thing to say. Better to be an honest drunk or pill popper.
I’d heard that many A-List actors thought Mickey Rooney was more talented than anyone in Hollywood. When I could stomach a few minutes worth of one of the many awful films he was in, I had to admit there was something to that claim. The trouble is, over the 90-odd years he was rolling up all the credits that comprise his endless filmography, there seem to be very few movies there that even rise up to the level of good. I guess there was nothing he could do about the physical stature that precluded him from getting all those leading man roles that Duke and Gary and Cary and Jimmy were getting in all those Ford and Hitch and Capra and Hawks classics.
Not to come to her defense, but I’m a little sympathetic with Judy as viewing her as the poster child of what Hollywood and Fame does to a soul, especially a feminine soul. I can’t imagine a worse fate for a young person than to make it big in Hollywood, then or now. I did enjoy her with Fred Astaire in “Easter Parade” – a light bit of fluff with no discernible plot, but affable characters singing and dancing (albeit the movie is probably a half hour too long for its own good, and the cheesy slow-mo special effects with Fred’s “Stepping Out with my Baby” did not age well at all – were they even any good when they first came out?)
I remember enjoying Young Frankenstein, but I’ve never been able to see the comedic brilliance in the other Mel Brooks movies. Here and there a funny gag, but as a whole just very . . . not funny.
I have an aversion to Easter Parade and White Christmas ever since reading Philip Roth’s abominable Nathan Zuckerman gloat over the manner in which Irving Berlin schmaltzed up the two biggest days in Christendom with his compositions.
I should add that I can actually think of worse fates than being a young star in Hollywood. Please forgive my momentary lapse into hyperbole.
I’ve never seen White Christmas. Is it to be avoided? I enjoyed Holiday Inn (which must soon fall to “Woke” mob for the Abraham song). I really liked Walter Abel in it – I could’ve sworn I’d seen him in more things, but IMDB drew nothing but blanks in my memory.
Ken — Complete agreement re. Irving Berlin who seems to have created the pop-musical-art version of this country. Committed an amazing number of musical sins, starting with ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band.’ The sad thing is that there was so much real American music, and Berlin parodied it, and in doing so seems to have created a whole musical industry that still goes on. Look at what’s happened to country music. And now they’re doing it to Berlin himself, as at the Rushmore fireworks last night. Serves him right.
On Rooney, how about his performance in The Black Stallion?
Mr. Brownlow – being a completely uncultured American, would you please point me in the direction of real American music so that I can learn to appreciate it? I grew up listening to Billy Joel and the Beatles and Michael Jackson on vinyl on my parents’ record player – my sense of music was practically destroyed at an early age. I’ve since done what I can to try to learn to better appreciate music, starting with Gregorian chant and polyphony, and dabbling with Mozart and Haydn, and I’ve had some moderate success in trying to retrain my ear. I enjoy a lot of Italian opera, although some still leaves me completely puzzled (I still can’t figure out what’s so great about “Rigoletto” – but I keep trying). As far as American Music goes, I know I’ve heard Copland panned in this forum, which is fine by me since I know little of his work. I’ve listened to and enjoyed everything from Dixieland Jazz and the Blues to Doc Watson and other country and bluegrass music. But most of it is very discombobulated in my mind with no clear understanding of any sort of American music tradition. Any information you could offer would be greatly appreciated!
That being said, I would watch Fred Astaire dance to the jingle from an Ice Cream Truck. I’m just a sucker for that kind of stuff.