Judy Garland in Annie Get Your Gun

[Musical Master]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 5:23pm

Do any of you think that she would've been great as Annie Oakley? Even though Betty Hutton was energetic and funny in the final film, I believe that Judy would've made another great role for her to play if the sad circumstances never happened to her during that time.

[ggersten]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 5:29pm

One edition of the DVD has some of what Garland did film - and on that other site... e.g.

(and, heresy, I don't think she would have been great as Annie Oakley. I don't think she could project the spunk or fighter in Annie - and indeed, Ms. Garland may have been too "refined" - even in this number)

Edited to change the link to one with dialog...


Doin What Comes Naturally Updated On: 6/28/13 at 05:29 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 5:29pm

The footage they shot shows me she would not have been great as Annie Oakley, at least not at that point in her life.

Ten years earlier, maybe, if her heart was in it, which it definitely was NOT when they fired her from the film. You can see it the takes. She looks bored, disconnected, she has lost all sense of comic timing, even her singing isn't good.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 5:55pm

Yeah, she really was not in good health during filming and the lack of energy or commitment might be one of the causes of her firing. But though her singing is still better than Hutton's (which is alright).

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 6:37pm

All you have to do is watch Betty Hutton in the movie and you get how it makes all the difference in the world to have someone with "wattage" in that part.

And it's even more remarkable when you realize that Hutton was given the big cold shoulder by Howard Keel and everyone else at MGM. Hutton was "borrowed" from Paramount at a HUGE expense to step in for Garland. And they all treated her like crap because they were Garland supporters.

That had nothing to do with Betty Hutton. She was just doing her job (incredibly well). And to think she gives such a joyful, focused, and nuanced performance in that movie, knowing she was completely miserable every single day she showed up on the set ... it makes Hutton all the more wonderful in the role.

[theeatah]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 6:49pm

Dolores Gray claimed that Arthur Freed wanted her to star in the film version once Garland proved unworkable, but the London producer of the stage version wouldn't let Gray out of her contract.

I think she would have been wonderful.




Dolores Gray as Annie Oakley Updated On: 6/28/13 at 06:49 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 6:50pm

The reports of her ill health are, as always exaggerated.

Garland would have been brilliant if MGM had fired the sadistic hack choreographer Busby Berkeley a few weeks sooner. Hell, he should have been fired a few YEARS sooner.

Berkeley was an asshOle to her, making her life hell all over again, as he had done 10 years earlier, when he was choreographing the numbers in the Andy Hardy and "Babes in Arms/on Broadway" musicals she did with Mickey Rooney.

By the end of the 1940s, Berkeley was a washed-up, sadistic (did I say that already?), one-trick pony whose kaleidoscopic choreography was outdated and Garland knew it. She wanted him replaced with her good friend, the young and talented Chuck Walters--and she let everyone know.

In return Berkeley declared war on Garland, berating and humiliating her as he had done in the 1930s. It worked. She started taking more uppers to wake up and downers to sleep, which resulted in showing up late or not at all.

In the end, both lost. Both were fired.

But just listen to her recording of "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun" (audio only) here. She would have been PERFECT:

http://gamerchick02.tumblr.com/post/17579312200/i-listened-to-judys-version-of-this-posted-here

[Musical Master]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 6:52pm

Good god, MGM sure had a lot of assholes back then.

But I heard that Louis Calhern, who replaced Frank Morgan who died during filming, was the only one who gave Hutton any sort of kindness and respect. I still love Betty Hutton in the role for her kind of energy that is amazingly well done.

I can't help but to feel bad for both Garland and Hutton for different reasons.

Right as always PJ, Berkeley was a crazy, mad person who wants 24/7 perfection. In the 1930s, it worked but when the 40's came around, NO ONE wanted to hire him, he even got FIRED during filming of Girl Crazy which did star Garland.

Updated On: 6/28/13 at 06:52 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 6:56pm

The cast and crew were furious that Garland had been fired and treated Betty Hutton badly.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:02pm

Oh and Garland's versions of Anything You Can Do and They Say It's Wonderful with Keel, is also extremely amazing as well especially the latter.



Updated On: 6/28/13 at 07:02 PM

[lovebwy]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 7:11pm

She most certainly would have been better than Betty Hutton. Hutton was a professional victim all her life, constantly complaining about her ungrateful children. I could never stand her. And she was terrible in Annie (when she replaced the irreplaceable Dotty Loudon).

[PattyO'Furniture]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 9:35pm

"she has lost all sense of comic timing,"

Her "That's what you've got a sleeve fer" was pretty damn on it, if you ask me.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 10:05pm

She never lost her "sense of comic timing." That's the kind of mindlessly repeated "Poor Judy" drivel that gets on my tits.

Even in her worst shape, her "sense of comic timing" was flawless.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 10:24pm

To each his own. I think she was terrible in the numbers that were filmed and prerecorded.

I understand the many reasons why, but in my opinion she was not good in any way shape or form. That's why they let her go. She was sinking the film, which had cost them an enormous amount of money to make. The rights alone set a record back then. They couldn't afford to let her give a performance like that, so they replaced her (at an even greater expense to try to save the film).

Updated On: 6/28/13 at 10:24 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 10:40pm

Busby Berkeley was sinking the film.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:17pm

^My thoughts exactly PJ.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:49pm

In her autobiography Merman claims that MGM hoped Judy woudl take over the role of Annie on Broadway while Merman was on vacation, as a kind of warm up for the film. I don't doubt the idea was floated but it never happened. It's harsh to judge by the short segments filmed but Garland is on another planet in "I'm an Indian Too" and given her performance you can understand why she was fired from the film.

Her soundtrack pre-recordings give a better idea of what the film AGYG might have sounded like.

At Colony records years ago I found an odd bootleg LP of Garland's tracks... done up to LOOK like an MGM soundtrack release (even copying the yellow label and the style of the the MGM soundtrack album liner notes.)

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/28/13 at 11:57pm

Garland objected to Berkeley's maniacally over-frenetic staging of the number (which makes it even more racist to a modern sensibility) and probably made a conscious decision (a fatal one, in hindsight) to sabotage the number.

At any rate, Berkeley was using his megaphone and bully pulpit to abuse her and sandbagging her to make her look bad.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 12:13am

Betty was good, but no one can top Garland. I'm not very familiar with the backstory, but judging from that recording she would've been fabulous in the role with the right support.

I'm surprised that a choreographer could have that kind of power over over such a legendary icon.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 12:14am

In the DVD which featured outtakes of Judy, I really liked this moment:

Judy: Yep, come on Grandma, let's get you cleaned up.

Busby: Action! (?)

Judy: How'd you get your nose so dirty? Hey you cut before I got my line.

Isn't that proof enough that Busby's life job was only to piss the hell out of Judy? NO ARGUEMENT NEEDED.

Updated On: 6/29/13 at 12:14 AM

[emida]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 2:30am

I'm sure she would have made a perfect Annie Oakley with the right director and more support from the studio.

Her They Say It's Wonderful with Howard Keel is simply beautiful. I would have loved to hear her sing Anything You Can Do.

[zamedy]

Posted: 6/29/13 at 7:09am

This has nothing to do w/AGYG, but here's a fabulous clip of Garland and her friend, Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), who was apparently the only cast member from THE WIZARD OF OZ who attended her funeral.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrYJQDFxngs