Tag Archives: Judy Garland

Broadway Birthday: Liza Minnelli

Posted on March 12, 2021 by boz

Happy birthday to EGOT performer Liza Minnelli, born March 12, 1946, in Los Angeles, the daughter of performer Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, who named her after the 1929 Gershwin song “Liza (All the Clouds’ll Roll Away).” She grew … Continue reading →

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Essential Film Musicals: A Star Is Born

Posted on May 29, 2020 by boz

In 1950, MGM fired Judy Garland. A year later, Vicente Minnelli and she divorced. At a professional and personal nadir, her personal manager (and eventual third husband) Sid Luft engineered a comeback with concerts at the London Palladium and New … Continue reading →

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Essential Film Musicals: An American in Paris

Posted on May 28, 2020 by boz

MGM’s Freed Unit, which began creating musical films in 1939 under producer Arthur Freed’s leadership, reached the peak of its creative and critical acclaim in 1951 with An American in Paris, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. Much of … Continue reading →

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Essential Film Musicals: Meet Me in St. Louis

Posted on May 26, 2020 by boz

After working as an uncredited associate producer on The Wizard of Oz, Arthur Freed was given charge of his own unit at MGM. His first effort was the film adaptation of Rodgers and Hart’s stage musical Babes in Arms (1939), … Continue reading →

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Essential Film Musicals: The Wizard of Oz

Posted on May 22, 2020 by boz

After Disney’s Snow White showed that children’s stories could be profitable, MGM bought the rights to L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, about the adventures of Kansas farm girl Dorothy and her dog Toto in the … Continue reading →

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