Lorna Smith in A Celebration-Issue5-Autumn 2013

The International Judy Garland Club–A Celebration–Issue 5–Autumn 2013

It was with great anticipation that I opened the new publication from the International Judy Garland club. I knew Gary Horrocks had been working on it for six months because he often contacted me asking for my memories of the time when Judy was in England making the movie, I Could Go On Singing. As this was over fifty years ago certain details are blurred – precise dates are gone from my memory but Horrocks has researched and noted these facts. I do remember the day we were present at the Palladium when Judy filmed the "Bluebird" number was before the day we watched her at the recording studio singing, “I Could Go on Singing.” This corresponds to the reporting in publication, so I am relieved the memory is not completely gone!

Sitting in the dress circle of the Palladium listening all day to the playback of “Bluebird” will never leave me, neither were the moments when Judy came out in different stages of readiness and chatted to extras in the stalls, and finally filmed the sequence.

It was a joyous day and just recently, I chatted with Christopher Finch, author of “Rainbow – The Stormy Life of Judy Garland” at the Judy in Hollywood function 2013 and discovered he had been there this same day.

Later in that summer I remember shaking hands with Judy (wearing the black dress) for a few moments back stage at the Palladium after she had done some filming on “I Could Go On Singing.” The exact details of day have faded but recently Steve Jarrett found this photo of Lorna Smith and I peering out of one of the boxes overlooking the stage watching Judy and Saul Chaplin chatting on stage. So we really were there!

Horrocks,  as  editor,  has researched this period thoroughly, interviewing everyone involved with the production of this movie. This was a very emotionally difficult time for Judy, being in the midst of a divorce from Sid Luft, father of her two small children. There were times when Judy found it hard to concentrate and these facts have not been ignored or glossed over. They have been reported in a factual manner that “She was anxious, insecure, occasionally suicidal, exhausted and sometimes short tempered, feeling isolate, desolate and abandoned when her agent David Begelman left her to go back to the States” (page 8). I doubt that any of Judy’s movies have been researched as thoroughly as this one has and if one is a Judy fan, it is an absolutely must to obtain a copy of this publication. Not only were the club members invited to Abbey Road recording studios on numerous occasions and also to be present at filming at the Palladium often, but Lorna Smith (who ran the club then) was invited to Shepperton Studio to participated in the celebration of Judy’s fortieth birthday.

In addition, another club member, Bob Murrell, as the props master on the film, kept Lorna informed of the activities at the studio.

This issue also covers Judy's appearance in the Stanley Kramer movie, “Judgment at Nuremberg,” “A Child is Waiting,” the CBS television special with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin filmed in January 1962. Also covered are the recordings for “Gay Purr-ee” in November 1961, recordings at New York’s Manhattan Centre April 1962 and Judy’s appearance at the Palladium March 1963, which coincided with the premiere of the movie.   

Horrocks has prevailed upon Lorna Smith to keep writing her memories of Judy and in this issue we have Part 3 of “Getting to Know Judy.” Lorna went from being a representative of the club to be a real friend to Judy, and she was greeted with genuine pleasure every time they met. Twenty-two pages of her memories and photographs are in this issue and Lorna is, in effect, bringing her book, “Judy, with Love” up to date including details which were impossible to include at the time she wrote the book.    

Smith talks about how the British club came into being following the disbandment of the US club. She was concerned at that time how she would obtain information of Judy’s activities in the States. But she need not have worried because the American correspondents, Sonny Gallagher, Eileen Steere, Charlotte Stevenson, Betty Welch along with Jennie Wheeler and Wayne Lawless reported regularly. Gallagher was the American representative for many years and joined a clipping service to be sure Smith received all the news about Judy. All this marvelous information is in the Rainbow Reviews 1963-1968. I am grateful to Lorna for giving me copies in 1997. This information helped me write about these years of Judy’s life in my book, “Always for Judy: Witness to the Joy and Genius of Judy Garland.” to be published soon. The club archives continue to be a resource for those interested in Garland history. I am sure the club records have helped other authors writing about Judy. John Fricke was a member when he was sixteen years old!  David Shipman, “The Secret Life of an American Legend” was also a member at one time and Sonny Gallagher told me how he passed a lot of his material to Gerald Clark for the writing of “Get Happy.” So three cheers for Lorna Smith for gathering this information and to Gary Horrocks and Dr. Justin Sturge for retaining and reviving it every now and again so we can rejoice in Judy again.