One of the standout shows of the series, this episode is a treasure because it perfectly showcases the two talents that are Garland and Minnelli in some very fine performances. The second of their London Palladium shows in 1964 would be taped for television, but that filmed stage show, although wonderful did not quite work as well at capturing the warmth and intimacy of their relationship as this television appearance.
For the most part, this episode works well because it does away with some of the more distracting elements of the other less memorable or disjointed episodes in the series. Most of the programme is devoted to Garland and Minnelli singing; the only pause from this comes towards the end with a sketch by Jerry Van Dyke, and song and dance performances from the Brothers Castro. These are ‘stick the kettle on’ moments before a very satisfying Trunk section and comic duet from the mother and daughter team.
Garland’s pre-title song on the show is Gershwin’s ‘Liza’ – the song that gave Minnelli her name. The setting is dominated by enlargements of Liza as an infant, some taken on the set of The Pirate during filming in 1947. Finally, as Judy reaches her last note, Liza enters bang on musical queue.
After some brief chat between Judy, Jerry and Liza [“Imagine calling Judy Garland mama!” … “Imagine calling mama Judy Garland!”] Liza glances across stage to see Judy walk onstage to the bongo drum intro of ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’. This song had become one of the highlights of Judy’s tours of recent years and the Live at Carnegie Hall LP. In her book Always for Judy, Joan Coulson says that she does not think ‘there has ever been a more exciting theatrical performance’ than Judy singing ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ to the accompaniment of the bongo drums that she saw at London’s Dominion in 1957 (Coulson, 2014: 134). This particular rendition is one that undoubtedly absorbs the viewer in the moment and enables she or he to forget that they are actually watching a weekly television programme, rather than a live concert performance.*
Afterwards, Judy encourages Liza to join her for ‘Together Wherever We Go’. This musical sequence continues without a break into Liza’s song and dance number ‘Put on a Happy Face’. Special musical arranger on the show, Mel Torme claims that he originally envisioned Judy singing this song, but it seems more appropriate that Liza perform it here being as it is from ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ – one of the shows that Liza has claimed made her want to take to the stage (Torme, 1970: 65 – 66).
Later in the show, Judy and Liza return for a medley of songs, some of which would be performed at the Palladium the following year: ‘We Could Make Such Beautiful Music Together’, ‘The Best is Yet to Come’, and ‘Bye Bye Baby’ – the latter including a soft shoe dance. Whilst the pair catch their breath Liza puts Judy on her knee. “I do eat my cereal, that’s why I got bigger than you!” she jokes. They finish the spot with a family favourite ‘Bob White What You Gonna Swing Tonight?
Soupy Sales is the comic guest this week. He performs a fine send-up of an über-Garland fanatic, smuggled into the studio in a double bass case, plastered on the inside with photos of his heroine. When he finally meets Judy she dismisses his nervy sycophancy as if she doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. “She really is Miss Showbiz!” Sales exclaims.
The first few bars of a familiar song from Lionel Bart’s Oliver! introduces Garland standing in the darkness behind her faithful trunk… Her performance of ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ serves as another highlight of the entire series. When Judy sings a song, it is easy to forget any other rendition that may have been sung before or since, and so is the case with this number. Note the fleeting sidewise glance of disdain aimed at her bosses who requested that she not use Bart’s lyric “the hell I’ve got my pride”… Judy rightly kept the lyric in, and the original sentiments of the song are kept intact.
Liza has the privilege of using the trunk next in order to dress into her tramp outfit. She sings ‘Let Me Entertain You’ from Gypsy as she blackens a tooth. Judy then appears for daughter and mother to duet on ‘Two Lost Souls’ from Damn Yankees. As performed in tramp costumes the similarities in lyric content with ‘A Couple of Swells’ are undeniable.
They sit cross legged for ‘Maybe I Will Come Back’ and Liza Minnelli becomes the “cousin o’ mine!” As the chorus takes over the vocals, mother and daughter hug; then prance off stage.
A bonus on the Pioneer Arts DVD is Liza’s ballad ‘You Are For Loving’. What a pity this wasn’t in the broadcast version of the show. Her voice is splendid here, projecting in gentle waves.
Let us summarise by returning to where we started: This is one of the standout shows of the series. A time capsule of two talents that is every bit as fresh today as it was in 1963.
Garland’s Gowns (by Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie):
For the first couple of songs in the episode, Judy wears what appears to be a pale knee-length dress with decorative sleeves and hem (It is never absolutely clear when watching a show in black and white what the colour of her outfits are!) In close-up the decorations appear to be rhinestones. This dress, like some of Aghayan’s other Garland creations, has a swooping collar hanging down into the small of her back.
Throughout much of the rest of the show, Judy wears the stripy blouse with bib that she wore on the O’Connor show. Liza wears a matching outfit with sparkly polka dots instead of stripes.
For ‘Two Lost Souls’ they both change into tramp costumes. Judy looks particularly disheveled in this performance! Because audiences would not have seen Liza in tramp costume before, it is a notably useful idea to allow us to see her changing into her outfit. It is quite some transformation because she wears a blonde wig and looks very boyish in the scene. Their costume change is completed by swatting each other with a large feather duster loaded with powder to dirty up their torn suits.
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* In his book, The Other Side of the Rainbow, Mel Torme recalls that Garland was ‘choking’ the end of some of her lyrics and was ‘slack-jawed’ with ‘slightly glazed’ eyes when singing ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’. When his book was published in 1970, readers would not have had immediate access to this video performance to check if what he said was true or not. Upon looking at the footage today, however, it is clear that what he writes is untrue. Judy flubs a lyric at one point, but she knows she has, and glances at Liza (off-stage) and smiles, acknowledging her error, but covering it with a sharpness and deftness that only she can do. The performance is electric.
Further reading:
Coulson, Joan, 2014, Always for Judy, Witness to the Joy and Genius of Judy Garland, California: Yarnscombe Books
Torme, Mel, 1970, The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol, New York: Galahad Books
The Judy Garland Project 