The Letter B and the beginning of a whole week of the A to Z Challenge. Head on over to the A to Z and see all the other people who joined in on the fun.
BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY-1948-MUSICAL
DIRECTOR: Charles Walters
STARS: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Oscar Levant
OSCAR NOMS: Best Cinematography (colour)
OSCAR WINS: Nil
PLOT: Battling married couple split when she wants to take on drama
LOVE: When they danced to "They Can't Take That Away From Me."....sublime!
TRIVIA: Judy Garland was the star of this movie but was let go due to her erratic behaviour. When she found out Ginger Rogers was hired, she sent her a skunk! She also appeared on the set one day, looked daggers at Rogers, ignored her and wouldn't leave. Unfortunately, she had to be forcibly ejected from the set.
BILLIE BURKE- AUGUST 7, 1884- May 14, 1970
OCCUPATION: Actress
OSCAR NOMS: Merrily We Live
OSCAR WINS: Nil
TRIVIA: The 2nd wife of the great Florenz Ziegfeld and known as Glinda, The Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz. She was a huge trend setter during the 1910's and wore fashions from the Paris Coutier, Lucille, better known as Lady Duff Gordon. Lady Duff was the bitch from the Titanic who would not let 2nd or 3rd class passengers on the Life boat when the ship was sinking.....only 12 people were in that life boat. Found out Billie Burke has a crater on Mercury named after her:)
Hi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteAs you know, musicals aren't my favorite movie genre, and I therefore I have not yet seen B of B. (Don't hold your breath. :) I always got a kick out of Oscar Levant as a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. During one of Levant's guest appearances, Johnny asked him what he does for exercise, to which the chain-smoking musician replied: "I stumble and fall into a coma." :)
Judy sent Ginger a skunk? Have you been watching the new TV series entitled Feud about the bad blood between film legends Bette Davis and Joan Crawford on the set of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
I remember Billy Burke and admired her Glinda character in Oz.
Have a good one, dear friend BB!
Yup, Judy was a real stinker:) I love Oscar Levant and I would say, if you went to YouTube and watched all the Oscar Levant excerpts from the musicals you would enjoy it.
DeleteI did not know that about the lifeboat, just awful, what a terrible woman! Her fellow passengers must have been complicit, though. Did she survive? We may have this film as OH has a lot of musicals on DVD!
ReplyDeleteYes, she did survive as well as her husband and they were vilified afterward
DeleteI love those old musicals. Could watch them over and over again. I was a Judy Garland fan despite her shenanigans. Such a great talent.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big Judy Garland fan because she was truly mixed up and just had too many drugs and alcohol
DeleteI love that the things we remember from these old films are not the films themselves, but the drama and messed up lives of their stars. :-)
ReplyDeleteB is for Battle of Beaumont Hamel
I remember both and love the films for what they are
DeleteJudy Garland sounded like a real charmer.
ReplyDeleteYou know what, Judy Garland actually was but, at that time, she felt very alone and used and she was badly used by the studio.
DeleteThe Barkleys of Broadway sounds good, I'll check it out!
ReplyDeleteIt's an excellent movie and hope you get to see it.
DeleteThis is another one I haven't seen! The Judy Garland story is funny all these years later, but would have been very irritating to those involved at the time.
ReplyDeleteIt sits an xcellent musical. Ginger just felt sad for her and so did Fred even at that time.
DeleteI wonder how Judy Garland made the arrangements to send the skunk, not your average item found in a gift catalog, LOL.
ReplyDeleteBetty
I'm not sure but she did
DeleteNot letting people on the lifeboat, I would say she was something a might worse than a "bitch".
ReplyDeleteInteresting blog.
Hey, It's Ann visiting from A to Z So Much to Choose From and
Science Ladybug
Lady Duff and her husband were vilified afterward and never regained their stature like before.
DeleteWell, pretty bad on Judy and Billy's part as actresses. Two very spoiled ladies. Billie was the worst though!
ReplyDeleteOh no.....Billie Burke was not on the Titanic...it was her dress maker, Lady Duff Gordon who was. Lady Duff was the mean snot. As for Judy Garland, Ginger and Fred knew she was dealing with her drug issues plus other things so they forgave her even though Ginger was sad about this.
DeleteFor Judy Garland's image, good thing most people just remember Wizard of Oz
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, yes. The sad thing is the studio started giving her the uppers and downers while making The Wizard of Oz, or at least escalated it because they wanted their star slimmed down
DeleteI didn't know Billie Burke's connection to the Titanic. Very sad.
ReplyDeleteOh my, I may not have made it clear...poor Billie was not on the Titanic, her couturier dress maker was, Lady Duff was and Lady Duff was the bitch.
DeleteLove these behind the scenes snippets! I'd love to have seen that ejection of Judy from the set!
ReplyDeleteApparently it was not pretty and Fred Astaire felt horrible for her. The directors and others told Ginger to go to her dressing room after Judy would not leave.
DeleteInteresting back story about the movie, which I've seen a couple of times. Judy Garland had so many problems, didn't she? Thanks for the tidbits about Billie Burke. I didn't know she was such a fashion icon. Shame on Lady Duff!
ReplyDeletePoor Judy did have a ton of problems. Billie was a real fashionista in her heyday.
DeleteWow B sure is for bitches in today's post. Great job.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does stand for that too doesn't it.
DeleteAll sorts of bad behaviour in this post! I'm sure I must have seen the Bs of B when I was a kid - the sort of thing that was on TV on a Sunday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a good movie despite the on set upset
DeleteHa! What a story. I kinda wish we had that kind of service here. Mail someone a skunk. I know so many people I'd skunk... even people I like (that's just plain funny).
ReplyDeleteI have to say, there are a couple of people I would love to send a skunk to but I feel bad for the skunk!
DeleteDamn, how would one send a skunk? Both sound like umm winners
ReplyDeleteThe skunk was ...Hand delivered
DeleteI always enjoy hollywood stories and gossip from the golden years. I did not know that about Judy Garland. That's a crack up.
ReplyDeleteSo the "good witch" wasn't so good, after all. Wow.
Billie ...I feel bad how I wrote this...she was not on the Titanic but her dress designer was and Lady Duff was the bitch
DeleteFred Astair the snappy classy showbiz performer and Ginger Rogers was the best Hollywood had to present, I love the way she swirls and spins in her costumes as only she can do - swoon
ReplyDeleteI so agree!
DeleteMy mother used to love Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. :)
ReplyDeleteSusan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
That's a great shot of Billie Burke. She was a lot more popular in her day than people in modern times realize.
ReplyDeleteYou are right!
DeleteJudy had a rough life. She was good in Meet Me, but Ginger was a better dancer probably.
ReplyDeleteJudywas a great singer and actress and a very good dancer. She could mimic people and had a fun sense of humour but had her demons. Ginger was an excellent dancer, a good singer and a good actress but I think Judy was more talented overall.
DeleteI saw this. I went through an Astaire/Rogers phase in my 20s. I've seen all their films, although this is the oddball as it was a reunion a decade after they stopped being a team.
ReplyDeleteThis is the only MGM film and the only colour film. Their famous early pictures were all B & W and all at RKO
DeleteReally? Judy Garland? Since you told me how short she was I've idolized her even more. And heck, she sent a skunk to Rogers? I wish she was around so I could high-five that little pistol. Haha. Seriously, though, that's bizarre and unsettling. I always learn from you and have fun at the same time. You're the best, Birgit.
ReplyDeleteJudy had her demons and MGM and their Drs have themselves to thank for hooking her on drugs. She could memorize anything quite quickly, had a wicked sense of humour, loved deeply and often the wrong man and every person wanted to help her. I think she was an amazing person and she died way too young.
DeleteOh, you're joining the challenge. Nice.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this about Judy Garland.
I enjoy reading about oldies from Hollywood. And your theme is great, looking forward to reading all the posts!
ReplyDeleteBirgit, Fred Astaire and Ginger Ross were magic on the screen. I recall reading a little about Glinda last year when I did All Things Vintage. Bravo! Thanks for visiting yesterday’s Art Sketching Through the Alphabet “B” (for boys) post. I'm trying to play catch up this morning! :)
ReplyDeleteA skunk! Ooh. How dramatic! I haven't seen this movie and would love to, Birgit! I am going to be building a view-list through April! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine Judy Garland doing the role. She had a different kind of elegance.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of the movie, but had heard of Billie Burke, but didn't know why until you told that she was Glinda. I actually live in OZ, the one depicted in the movie, not the land down under.
ReplyDeleteGreat film, but as far as I'm concerned everything with Astaire was great. I also like Oscar Levant a great deal--such a character.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Tossing It Out