Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
| Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Based on |
Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir by Lorna Luft |
| Written by | Robert L. Freedman |
| Directed by | Robert Allan Ackerman |
| Starring |
Judy Davis Tammy Blanchard Victor Garber Hugh Laurie |
| Narrated by | Cynthia Gibb |
| Music by | William Ross |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Craig Zadan Neil Meron Lorna Luft Robert Allan Ackerman Kirk Ellis |
| Producer(s) |
Robert L. Freedman John Ryan |
| Cinematography | James Chressanthis |
| Editor(s) | Dody Dorn |
| Running time | 170 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Alliance Atlantis In-Motion Storyline Entertainment |
| Distributor |
ABC (US) Momentum Pictures (UK) |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | February 25 – 26, 2001 |
Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows is a 2001 American two-part, four-hour biographical television miniseries based on the 1998 book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir written by Lorna Luft, the daughter of legendary singer-actress Judy Garland. The miniseries was directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and originally broadcast in two parts on ABC on February 25 and 26, 2001.
The production is notable for its meticulous recreations of Garland's films and concerts, and verisimilitudinous impressions of her by Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis. Garland's original recordings are used to dub Davis' singing.
The miniseries, which chronicles Judy Garland's life from her first public performance in 1924 until her death in 1969, is divided into two parts: the first part depicts her rise to fame in the 1930s, her descent into drugs, and her fall from grace in the 1950s. The second part begins with her marriage to Sid Luft, and proceeds to chronicle her successful return to movies with A Star Is Born, concert performances, her personal issues and her death at the age of 47. Davis' performance was critically acclaimed: she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie.
Christmas 1924: Two-year-old Frances Gumm performs in public for the first time, singing "Jingle Bells". Her mother, Ethel, watches from the audience while her father, Frank, watches from backstage. Ethel is unhappy with her marriage because of her husband's homosexuality. To help herself cope, she moves the family to Hollywood with the hope that her daughters will break into the movie business.
1935: Frank Gumm takes Frances, now using her stage name of "Judy Garland," to the studios of Metro Goldwyn Mayer to audition. MGM chief Louis B. Mayer is not impressed with her rendition of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart', but when she sings a different song an impressed Mayer says, "Little girl. Big voice." Thirteen-year-old Judy (played by Tammy Blanchard) signs an MGM contract but, because of her age, the studio does not know what to do with her and keeps giving her radio appearances. Tragedy strikes one night when she is told her father has been rushed to the hospital. She is also told that doctors have put a radio beside his bed, so he will be listening. While her sisters, Suzy and Jimmie, are in tears over their ill father, Ethel shows no emotion at all. He dies the next day.
...
Wikipedia