Rainbow

If you are looking for an in-depth, warts and all, look at Judy Garland. this is not your film. This 1978 bio pic is extremely sugar coated. Her father being a homosexual is merely hinted at through dialogue because that wasn't a subject that could be spoken of at the time. Her drug abuse is played about as deeply as an episode of Saved by the Bell.

This is a light film that walks one through the highlights of the life of Judy Garland from the point of being part of the Gumm Sisters singing group through her being cast in the Wizard of Oz. Andrea McArdle is slightly miscast since her voice is much bolder and Broadway than the real Judy Garland. (Thus a few of the undeserved reviews here about how loud she is)

McArdle was the original Annie on Broadway, and she has appeared in other regional, off-Broadway and more Broadway productions for over 40 years. So I find it humorous that there is a review here saying she can't sing!

I love the 30's music that Ms. McArdle sings throughout the production. The songs stick with you long after viewing. The supporting cast is great and it's a nice saccharin view of the days of yesterday and the Movie Studio system of the 30's.

Really very thin on plot, dealing as it does with a relatively short period in Judy Garland's life (and how much plot can one extract from "stage performer becomes film performer"?), and really just a showcase for a series of singing performances from Ms McArdle. Still, McArdle is definitely noteworthy, and this is ultimately not bad TV biopic fare.

When some actual plot does occasionally rear its head, it all seems to be handled in a fairly shallow way, without any real delving into the stories big emotional mines, such as Garland's relationship with her parents, reaction to her father's death and her treatment - and medication - by the studios.

Judy Garland/Wizard of Oz trivia: Piper Laurie, who plays Judy Garland's mother in this film, would go on to play Auntie Em, Dorothy Gale's mother-figure in Return to Oz.

Fan-magazine equivalent of a biography, in this case a television-budget glimpse into the early life of actress and vocalist Judy Garland (née Frances Gumm). Director Jackie Cooper, who reminds us he befriended the real Judy during their years together at MGM, lays the pathos at our feet right from the start, with Broadway's Andrea McArdle belting out a lonesome "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", followed by a reprise of the song 15mns later! Cooper, and writer John McGreevey (working from a substandard book by Christopher Finch), perhaps were hoping to show us Judy's natural pluck and verve despite upheavals in the Gumm household--but, if so, somebody forgot to tell young McArdle. With her hangdog face, crooked mouth and watery eyes, she's about as far from plucky as a Garland substitute can be. Obviously chosen for the part due to her stage pipes as the original "Annie", McArdle has apparently studied Judy Garland but doesn't attempt an imitation (perhaps unwisely, as her singing voice lacks warmth). Cooper stages innumerable scenes around the piano with McArdle in song--always surrounded by adults nodding to each other, pretending to find her adorable--but he never gets at what was so unique about Judy Garland. She appears to us as just another kid songbird. The Hollywood studio sequences are also underwhelming, with key details and conversations coming off as suspect (made worse by repetitive moments, poor editing and mediocre acting). One can only scoff at what amounts to be a woe-is-me look at a poor little rich girl, one who finds herself wondering aloud, "When will I be in the right place at the right time?" as she walks the lot of the biggest movie studio in the world. One Emmy nomination and win: Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special to Howard Schwartz. ** from ****

I don't enjoy picking on a young person, but this biography, which ends just prior to the release of THE WIZARD OF OZ, is ruined by young McArdle's performance. Best known for originating the little orphan in ANNIE on Broadway, she has a lovely voice, and I hope she's had a fulfilling life. But she's just dreadful here. Let's forget for a moment that she doesn't look or sound like Garland in the slightest. But it's a robotic, comatose performance, and even when she sings, her voice is that of a generic Broadway babe born and bred by a monstrous showbiz mama. There's nothing new here that even those with the slightest knowledge of Garland won't already know. The cast is OK, although whoever put that awful wig on Rue McClanahan should be tarred and feathered. This is the biopic equivalent of CliffsNotes, and everything feels hollow and uninspired. If you want to check out a MUCH better version of this material, watch the first half of LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME AND MY SHADOWS, which features an extraordinary performance by Tammy Blanchard as the young Judy.

I saw this back in '78, and parts of the dialogue and music have stuck with me for the past 21 years. In fact, I had just quoted one of the songs at work the night before I discovered that this was running on my local cable "on demand" for free! The cast is excellent, and Andrea McArdle's voice is amazing.

Perhaps a few of the performances were a little "stiff" or "wooden," but I think that speaks more to the direction of the film, and the fact that people back in those days WERE more stiff and wooden (read: "proper") than they are now.

It doesn't have the production quality of a theatrical release, but keep in mind, this was a made-for-TV movie. I thought the entire production was brilliant, and am so happy to have been able to see it again after all these years!