Judy by the Numbers: "Dear Mr. Gable"
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at 7:32AM Anne Marie is charting Judy Garland's career through musical numbers...
In 1936, 14 year old Judy was selected to perform at Clark Gable's birthday party. Gable, the biggest MGM star at that time, was to have an all out bash. For Judy's performance, Roger Edens wrote an intro lyric to an old MGM property, "You Made Me Love You," which directed the 1917 song specifically at Gable. At the party, Judy jumped out of a cake and sang the star his song, charming not only the birthday boy, but also his boss, Louis B. Mayer.
The Movie: Broadway Melody of 1938 (MGM, 1937)
The Songwriter: James V. Monaco (music), Joseph McCarthy (lyrics), Roger Edens (new title & intro)
The Players: Eleanor Powell, Robert Taylor, Judy Garland, Clark Gable's photo, directed by Roy del Ruth
The Story: The result of her hit at the birthday party was that Judy Garland was cast singing her new song in Broadway Melody of 1938. The Broadway Melody series was designed for MGM to try out up-and-coming talent; Buddy Ebsen made his debut there, and it helped make Eleanor Powell a star. Judy was no exception. All of the reviews raved about her: NYT called out her "amazing precocity" while The Hollywood Reporter asked why she'd been kept under wraps so long. "Dear Mr. Gable" would become her first single, too. Judy Garland was an overnight hit, but it would take her 2 more years and 5 more movies to become a star.
Reader Comments (11)
That is a sweet, bordering on precious, scene. That it doesn't fall over into mawkishness is thanks to Judy not pulling any child actor tricks such as trying to be overly cute or winsome. She seems just like a normal kid pouring her heart out to her idol.
Gable gave her a charm bracelet as a thank you for the song with the inscription "To my best girl Judy-From Clark Gable which she said she wore until he married Carole Lombard but kept always.
When I was a kid, I listened endlessly to an album that had some songs from classic Hollywood, and this song, plus The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe and Get Happy, were a few of my favs. Maybe it was a compilation from That's Entertainment?
I remember when i first heard this story as a kid I was in awe. I couldn't imagine any star at the time getting a birthday party in which other stars sang to them. the studio system was such a fascinating beast.
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU.
I was o b s e s s e d with this song when I was a kid. Memorized it back-to-front and warbled it to myself whenever I had a free moment kind of obsessed. I love it, and her, and this series.
Joel6- thanks for that tidbit! A sweet story.
Now it begins.
This is the first appearance of the real Judy, the slight longing in her voice (which even appears in Get Happy) and the direct connection to her audience. We love Judy, because like Margaret we each imagine that we singing the song.
joel6 - that story is the icing on this adorable cake!
Leslie19 - Great point. She's improving as a performer every time, but her performer personality definitely shines through for the first time in this clip.
When watching it this time I noticed that the camera keeps Garland in profile, then switches to a direct view but her eyes are averted during the singing of the song. Only when she begins talking are we allowed to look at Judy from the front, but her eyes are downcast (on the book) not looking out at the audience.
This careful framing gives us the feeling we are observing a private moment, and as @Joel6 notes, the performance doesn't slide into full mawkishness. The camera, director, and future star are very adept at not giving us too much. It's a great performance and right up there with Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" at the piano.
Garland was a full blown talent even at this young age.
Is this the first time that Judy has sung a ballad on screen? I really think it's as simple as that. If you slow down the song so that the singer really shows what she's got, well who is better than Judy? The emotional power she brings to even the most basic stuff is amazing. I've always said she's the best lip-syncher ever, and it's got to be true. She keeps acting even when the sound isn't really coming out of her voice.
True confession - the first album I ever bought was Judy Garland's greatest hits for 69 cents in 1973. I bought it at the same time as The Singles by Carpenters, I mean I didn't want to be TOO square after all. Snerk. I think it's clear that I love strong alto voices with an inherent melancholy sadness. :-)
PS I always thought it was Roger Edens, not Eden. Not sure if I was wrong, but since this series will be preserved for "time and all eternity" (that's for Nathaniel), it might be worth double checking.
Whoops. Thanks for the catch, Dave! I'll fix it.
@ Dave
Interesting how Judy Davis gives Judy Garland a real run for the money with the lip-syncing of some of Garland's recordings starting from Meet Me in St. Louis. Of course, she only had to do it for the one miniseries. (Angela Bassett was also pretty incredible with the Tina Turner material.)
If you like those strong alto voices, I highly recommend k.d. lang's Drag, where she sounds eerily like Karen Carpenter on her cover version of "Theme from Valley of the Dolls."