The Judy Garland Show with Steve Allen and Mel Torme (episode 11, aired 5th January 1964)

 

Sleigh bells herald the start of the show. On a frost-tinged studio landscape the show’s dancers pull along on a sledge upon which is seated Judy with Tracy Everitt. Everyone is wrapped in woollens against the cold except the show’s star who wears a huge fur hood like the Snow Queen. She snaps her fingers and sings ‘This Could be the Start of Something Big’ to a playback recording.

Next comes ‘Be My Guest’. Judy is joined by Steve Allen, and in a guest spot, the show’s regular special musical material writer, Mel Torme. A hilarious moment comes when Judy recites her old school song:

“We’re from old Metro

In Culver City

That great big busy town

We had to learn our lines and our arithmetic

With all that overworking

No wonder we are sick!

Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Lana Turner,

And Freddie Bartholemew!

That’s why we’re speaking so loud of it

Because we’re so proud of it

Dear old Metro we’re true to you!”

 

At the end of the scene Judy mistakenly calls Mel ‘Mort’, (after Lindsey). An error he wouldn’t let her get away with. Later in the show he reveals his bruised ego by quipping, “just call me Mort…” Perhaps the audience wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t pointed it out.

A hauntingly beautiful moment comes when the next setting is introduced. The studio that had been frosty in the show’s opening has suddenly become subject to a downfall. Judy comes on in a trench coat to sing ‘Here’s That Rainy Day’. A chorus of dancers with wet-look umbrellas criss-cross the stage around her. This is an economically staged number, but incredibly effective and a particular favourite of this fan. It warrants repeated viewings and always seems fresh.

Steve Allen appears next and demonstrates his ‘many faces’ in an elaborate and rather exhausting comedy sketch. When things calm down Garland joins him to sing songs from Allen’s score from his musical Sophie, based on the life of one of Judy’s original mentors, Sophie Tucker. This scene includes the song ‘I’ll Show Them All’ which Judy sings as a riposte to all those people who bullied her or had little faith in her.

Mel Torme’s solo number prior to the commercial break is an interesting one that reveals much about his character. ‘Comin Home, Baby’ was a hit of his at the time. It is a very good song, arrangement and vocal performance, but the staging in this show is quite absurd. A scaffold holds numerous motorbikes on the set, and several glamorous dancers in very elegant evening gowns circle Torme as he sings. For most of the song they remain aloof and ignore him.

In his memoir about The Judy Garland Show, Torme reveals some of his insecurities about his masculinity. A Time magazine article had previously shown him seated on a motorbike and captioned the photo with “He was frighteningly manly”. Torme was dismayed that journalists interpreted his actions as an attempt to “prove [his] masculinity”, yet the unintentionally comic staging of ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ only serves to perpetuate this further (Torme, 1970: 58). Torme was similarly insecure about his status as a star; he didn’t enjoy having to conduct Judy onstage during taping for the series (Torme, 1970: 68). In his first film Higher and Higher (1943) he had been overshadowed by Frank Sinatra and now on The Judy Garland Show the host was calling him ‘Mort’!

After the ad break Mel returns on his bike to meet Judy. They talk in a cod Wild One nonchalant, blasé manner, discussing the extended New Year party that Torme attended from October… The chat segues naturally into ‘The Party’s Over’ from Bells Are Ringing.

One of the most delightful Tea for Tea chats of the entire series follows. According to a DVD commentary recorded by the guest Jayne Meadows, Judy had invited her to tell a story about her experience of being down a manhole during filming for Steve Allen’s television series. She had told Judy about this, and Garland invited her on to retell it for the TV audience on The Judy Garland Show as she had found it so hilarious. In the scene, Judy sits back, wide-eyed and increasingly amused. Miss Meadows tells the witty tale of hanging “like a gorilla” off the rungs of a ladder, becoming increasingly light headed by the subterranean gas. The most hilarious moment comes when Meadows asks Garland “by the way have you ever been down in a manhole?” To which Judy remarks “No not lately!”

The chat could have gone on longer but Meadows points out that a studio hand is signalling them to stop. The next scene fades in. Judy introduces Rise and Shine – two brilliant songwriters. Torme and Allen plugging some disastrous songs. Judy suggests they sing some songs they wished they had written instead. The medley includes ‘That’s the Glory of Love’, ‘Makin’ Whoopee’, and ‘Lets Fall in Love’. The scene demonstrates the dexterous way the singers can intertwine numerous songs, but a moment of calm beckons.

Unusually the Trunk segment does not start with a ballad, but with a calypso tune, ‘An Island in the West Indies’.

The moment of calm however is ushered in by Judy’s reference to the New Year:

“We have a whole New Year ahead of us, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, and a little more loving, have a little more empathy, and maybe, next year at this time we’d like each other a little bit more.”

She then sings a stunningly beautiful version of ‘Through the Years’. Her voice is incredibly strong, and the emotions heart felt.

 

President Coolidge is the cousin in ‘Maybe I Will Come Back’.

This is such a delightful show, packed with memorable moments that it seems to whizz by. Judy is noticeably relaxed in the company of Allen and Meadows and this makes for an enjoyable Sunday evening programme. In the Trunk segment Judy proudly shows off a portrait of her that Roddy McDowall has taken.

What a remarkable episode this is. Definitely one to treasure!

 Garland’s Gowns (Ray Aghayan, assistant Bob Mackie):

There are three changes in Show 11. A knee-length pale dress with sequins; the floor-length white dress with sequins that she wore in the O’Connor episode for ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, and also the dress rehearsal outfit of polo neck and white trousers for the Trunk scene.

Further Reading:

Torme, Mel, 1970, The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol, New York: Galahad Books.

The Judy Garland Show: The Christmas Show (22nd December 1963)

This is possibly the most beloved episode of The Judy Garland Show, not just because it is the only show in which Judy sings ‘Over the Rainbow’, but because it is noteworthy as being the episode in which she performs with all three of her children, Liza, Lorna and Joey. The episode is staged as a cosy family get-together, albeit with the premier family of show business. Yuletide guests include Jack Jones, Mel Tormé, Tracy Everitt and a troupe of high-kicking Father Christmasses. Music flows with very few pauses. The effect is of a seamless musical show rather than an episode constructed of different scenes and sketches. The entry of all the guests is done as if they are just calling round to Judy’s house. When Liza arrives she pretends that she really is at her mother’s home and wonders wide-eyed why there is an audience inside the house!

The programme opens with Garland singing her Meet Me in St Louis (1944) classic, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’. The staging in a window with Judy, Lorna and Joey is an homage to Vincente Minnelli’s direction of the scene in the film with Judy singing to Margaret O’Brien. After the song, Judy and her children walk to the front door where she addresses the audience and says she’s going to do what everyone else is doing over the holiday season: spending time with her family. Judy looks elegant and svelte in a long, brocade button-up housecoat with a fur collar and cuffs. The dress manages to make her look tall. After greeting the viewers, she apologises for keeping us on her doorstep and invites us in.

“It’s really an informal evening… make yourself at home, as a matter of fact… consider yourself!’

The Oliver! Soundtrack was popular in the Garland/Luft household. Judy had sung ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ in Show 3 and in the Christmas show she sings ‘Consider Yourself’ with all of her children. Joey Luft gets his solo by singing ‘Where is Love?’ There is a lovely shot of Judy gazing at Joey as he sings atop the piano.

 

Tracy Everitt was one of the regular dancers in the chorus on The Judy Garland Show, and he is usually quite prominent in the routines. In the Christmas show Judy introduces him as “Liza’s Beau”. Liza and Tracy show Judy the ‘Steam Heat’ number they’ve been rehearsing. She says that Judy could take Liza’s place and that Tracy represents Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire “one of those older dancers!” to which Judy gasps open-mouthed.

 

Again, the introduction of this rather dynamic routine as a throw away – demonstrating something they have been rehearsing together – adds to the informality of the episode. Liza and Everitt also perform ‘Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown’ from Irene later in the show.

After ‘Steam Heat’ Judy’s family decorate the Christmas tree while Judy is left alone with the viewers to sing the sweet ‘Little Drops of Rain’ from her animated feature Gay Purr-ee (1962). She would sing the same film’s ‘Paris is a Lonely Town’ in a later episode.

Up until this point, the show has not halted once. It is high time to let the Lufts and Minnellis have a respite and welcome some extra guests! Cue the shy and retiring Jack Jones who bursts through the door singing ‘Wouldn’t it be Loverly?’ Once he has settled in he performs ‘Lollipops and Roses’ for Lorna. She in turn sings a belting ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’. Mr. Jones’s father, Allan, of course had appeared with Judy in one of her earliest films, Everybody Sing (1938), so there is something beautifully cyclical about Jones junior performing with Judy’s daughter.

 

Jack Joins Judy and Liza on the couch with a sleigh rug over their knees to sing some jolly, upbeat winter songs such as ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘It Happened in Sun Valley’. One of the songs included here is ‘Jingle Bells’ – a very important song in Garland’s career, as all fans will be aware.

The camp dancing Santas do a quick routine to ‘Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer’ prior to the advert break.

The next section of the show takes on a more traditional flavour. A group of carol singers arrive with Mel Tormé. Judy massages his ego by announcing that he writes the special material for her show and that he is the composer of ‘The Christmas Song’. It was clear that this – arguably one of Tormé’s best songs – had to be performed on the show.

A medley of carols continues. It is rare to hear Judy sing songs like this. It reminds one of the short subject Silent Night that Judy filmed in 1937. Joey and Lorna perform the latter song as a duet, and Liza and Tracy sing ‘It Came Upon a Midnight Clear’ together. Before long it is time for the carol singers to leave. Judy waves goodbye and the house is peaceful for a second until the dancing Father Christmasses run in and persuade Judy to join them in a chorus line. “Goodbye – whoever you are!” she shouts.

She dims the lights and is joined by Joey and Lorna in their dressing gowns. They remind her about what she usually does each year… which is her introduction to sing ‘Over the Rainbow’. She performs the song on the sofa with the children either side. It is a tender set up, but it is clear that Judy is still singing from the bottom of her lungs. At one point Joey reacts to the ringing in his ear by wiggling his finger inside it!

We have come to the end of the show. Judy, Lorna and Joey take their bows as the credits roll. The crew in the gallery don’t seem to know which camera to catch them on so they disappear from view in the final shots. Never mind. This has been a warm and joyful episode and a perennial Christmas treat for future generations of Garland fans to enjoy.