mpressions of Garland (1972) shares memories of those closest to star Judy Garland, including interviews with daughter Liza Minnelli and frequent co-star Mickey Rooney, plus a wealth of film clips to illustrate her unique gifts. The singer/actress was, after all, quite a multi-faceted performer and a difficult portrait to paint. As daughter Minnelli put it, Garland was "a brilliant chameleon." Rooney, on the other hand, remembers her as "a normal, abnormal great talent." Garland wins sympathy from Wizard of Oz (1939) lyricist E.Y. Harburg for her childhood lived in the spotlight, but the documentary pulls no punches when it comes to the Garland stories of drug use and MGM's responsibility in her addiction. The usual line is to blame the studio entirely for overworking the young Garland and getting her addicted to pill popping. But Impressions of Garland goes beyond the black and white of Kansas into the full color world of Oz that was Garland - and explores her responsibility in the addiction. Producer Joseph Pasternak clearly states in the documentary that MGM treated Garland nicely and tried to help. He says, "I don't agree that the studio is responsible." Pasternak goes on to muse about Garland's need for success, and how it was much more difficult to sustain a success than to weather a failure. Further, Impressions of Garland characterizes a star in constant need of approval and habitually seeking attention -- one story even has Garland injuring herself to gain attention. Impressions of Garland includes the requisite biographical stats of Judy Garland, born Frances Gumm, starting with her beginnings in vaudeville and moving quickly to Hollywood with her first screen appearance with her sisters in the short La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935). There's a fifteen year old Garland playing opposite Mickey Rooney for the first time in Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) and of course, the special juvenile Oscar Garland was awarded for The Wizard of Oz in 1939. There were five Garland marriages including first at age 19 to David Rose, through her time with director Vincente Minnelli up until her final marriage to Mickey Deans. Liza notes that all the men were different. But they had one similarity ¿ each had a sense of humor. The end of Judy's movie career is given special attention in the documentary. Her final film at MGM - Summer Stock (1950) - is shown as exemplary of the problems plaguing Garland at that time. According to various sources, Garland went on vacation for two weeks after Summer Stock wrapped to rest and get a handle on her weight problem. When she was called back to shoot the big finale (added as an afterthought), she'd lost so much weight (just in two weeks) that many viewers thought the final number had been lifted from a different movie. Even so, after Summer Stock Garland was released from her MGM contract. She was only 28-years old and had made a total of 27 films in just 14 years. In spite of all of the real life drama, Impressions of Garland remembers to pay tribute to the Garland that moviegoers adored. Her on screen magic shines in clips from Easter Parade (1948), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and The Harvey Girls (1946). Two iconic performances are included as well: the Get Happy finale from Summer Stock and Somewhere Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz. And no matter what issues she faced off screen, these performances have forever endeared her to movie audiences, leaving a lasting impression of Garland the actress, singer, dancer - and star.

• published: 14 Sep 2014
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