Garland’s Got Rhythm!

In the 2001 TV movie, “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows,” the production of the show stopping “I’ve Got Rhythm” number from “Girl Crazy” (1943) is used to demonstrate how hard Garland (Tammy Blanchard, who earned an Emmy for her expert portrayal) had to work and the rough treatment she experienced at the hands of director Busby Berkeley (Michael Rhoades).



“Eyes! Give me eyes!” the director yells at her, over and over again.



Is that what the real life Garland experienced while making the movie?



In this behind the scenes shot, you can see Garland, Tommy Dorsey, and Mickey Rooney filming the number that took nine days to film (four more than were scheduled) and immediately put the production $60k over budget. Oops. I was unable to spot Busby in the photo.



From January 4-14, this scene was shot with take after take after take. Berkeley continued to make the number more elaborate and drove the star to exhaustion. On January 29, her physician ordered her not to dance for the next three weeks and confined her to bed rest. From the book Chuck Walters: The Director Who Made Hollywood Dance by Brent Phillips:

[Berkeley] possessed a restless talent, a caustic tongue, and an alchoholic’s short temper. Accusations and inter-office memos were flying. Garland, in particular, was upset by his callousness. “[Judy] was a very sensitive girl,” Walters explained, “and Buzz treated his actors like a piece of scenery or a piece of furniture. He’d shove ’em around, move ’em around. Time meant nothing, lines meant nothing. It was just where his camera was, and where you had to be when he wanted to swoop around and slide in for a close-up. ‘God dammit!’ he’d say, ‘I told you to turn on that line so I could come in!’ And he’d push Judy and place her and made her feel very awkward.

As a result of his treatment of Judy, Berkeley was fired and replaced by Norman Taurog. Chuck Walters took over the staging of the rest of the songs.



At least there was no smoking on the set!

See more Judy Garland photos at my main website.