The classic 1967 movie that Judy Garland was almost perfect for: “She crumbled”
Judy Garland found herself struggling against addiction, a string of abusive husbands, and poor treatment at the hands of Hollywood from a young age, turning her from a popular star of the silver screen into a fading icon, with her movie roles becoming less and less frequent until she tragically died at 47 in 1969.
It wasn’t easy for Garland, whose vaudeville roots, something she began doing when she was just a child, soon brought her to Hollywood, and, at just 16, to The Wizard of Oz. The movie was a turning point for the young Garland, who was exposed to the harsh and rather grim realities of the filmmaking industry while filming the Technicolour musical.
The studio stuffed her with pills to keep her slim, while also forcing her into an unhealthy and extremely limited diet, and this would mark the start of her struggles with substances, which would ultimately kill her a few decades later. She showed such extraordinary talent, yet her experience of The Wizard of Oz was further tainted by repulsive men, like Louis B Mayer, who called her a “fat monster”, while she was reportedly subjected to some rather inappropriate behaviour from certain cast members.
As Garland spiralled into addiction and lived a pretty tumultuous life behind the scenes, she still managed to turn in some incredible performances in the likes of Meet Me in St Louis, A Star Is Born, and later on, Judgment at Nuremberg. The latter came in 1961, seven years on from her last major acting role in the Oscar-nominated A Star Is Born, and while she’d spent those in between years performing concerts, her glory had undeniably begun to fade.
In fact, when she reemerged with Judgment at Nuremberg, which earned her another Oscar nomination, many people were relieved; despite everything, Garland still had that extraordinary talent that had made her a star to begin with. She’d appear in two more movies after that, and launched The Judy Garland Show, which was cancelled after one season in 1964, but a role in a movie that she would’ve been perfect for almost came her way in 1967, which could’ve been her suitable final bow.
Garland was cast in Valley of the Dolls, an adaptation of Jacqueline Susann’s hit novel, which, while critically panned, was so successful that, even today, it stands as one of the best-selling books of all time. A tale of young women who lose all sense of self and stability to addiction as they navigate the entertainment industry, the actor was eyed up to play Helen Lawson, the ‘ageing’ star who was once an icon, only now she finds herself struggling to manoeuvre an industry that casts out any woman over the age of 30.
Interestingly, the character of Neely, played by Patty Duke, was actually inspired by Garland, but the actor was far too old to play the 17-year-old by the time the movie was made, so she was cast as Helen Lawson instead. Garland signed on to the project and began filming, but a week into production, she was fired. She was too unwell and just too dependent on drugs and alcohol that she was in no state to perform.
The fact that she hadn’t been in a film for five years was proof that she perhaps wasn’t cut out for Hollywood anymore. It was all just too much. Duke explained in an interview that it was hard to see Garland in such a state. “There were gentlemen around her who supplied her with wine and other things, and so when she finally did get called to the set, she couldn’t function very well,” she said.
“The director, who was the meanest son of a bitch I ever met in my life,” she said, “kept her waiting and waiting”. In the end, it became clear that Garland wasn’t capable of performing. “She crumbled. She just crumbled, and she was fired, and that was devastating. She should never have been hired in the first place, in my opinion,” Duke concluded.
