Judy Garland was so talented it’s almost unsettling. Seriously – how can anyone possess that kind of voice, charisma, and energetic stage presence.
I’m as guilty of using the phrase “one of a kind” as anyone, but when it comes to Judy, I’m afraid I have to break it out again because it’s just so TRUE.
Her performance of I Don’t Care from In the Good Old Summertime isn’t one of her more famous performances but it’s certainly one of my favorites. She was just so beautiful and packed with personality.
One. Of. A. Kind.
(In the Good Old Summertime Trivia Below…)
In the Good Old Summertime Trivia
- Judy Garland’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, appears in the final scene. She’s the little girl with Van Johnson and Judy Garland.
- The legendary Buster Keaton was working as a gag writer at MGM when the film was made. He was asked if he could devise a way to break a violin that would be both comic and plausible. Keaton, naturally, came up with the perfect way for the violin to fall. The filmmakers, wisely, realized that Buster Keaton was the only one who would be able to execute it properly, so they cast him in the film!
- Buster Keaton was also the mastermind behind the scene where Van Johnson wrecks Judy Garland’s hat. He coached Johnson on how to precisely play the scene.
- This was the first MGM film Keaton appeared in since being fired from the studio in 1933.
- The leads were originally intended for June Allyson and Frank Sinatra (instead of Van Johnson and Judy Garland). However, Sinatra was unavailable and Allyson had to drop out when she became pregnant.
- The film’s working title was “The Girl From Chicago”.
- Unlike most musicals, there is only one character that sings in the movie and it’s Veronica (Judy Garland).