Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (TV 2001)

The Judy Garland story from the 1930s until her death.

Director:

Robert Allan Ackerman

Writers:

Lorna Luft (memoir), Robert L. Freedman (teleplay)

Stars:

Judy Davis, Victor Garber, Hugh Laurie

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 16 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judy Davis	...	Judy Garland
Victor Garber	...	Sid Luft
Hugh Laurie	...	Vincente Minnelli
John Benjamin Hickey	...	Roger Edens
Sonja Smits	...	Kay Thompson
Jayne Eastwood	...	Lottie
Daniel Kash	...	Arthur Freed
Alison Pill	...	Young Lorna Luft
Aidan Devine	...	Frank Gumm
Stewart Bick	...	Artie Shaw
Tammy Blanchard	...	Young Judy Garland
Al Waxman	...	Louis B. Mayer
Marsha Mason	...	Ethel Gumm
Cynthia Gibb	...	Narrator (voice)
Dwayne Adams	...	Mickey Rooney

Storyline

The movie starts off at the beginning of Judy Garland's life singing when she was two years old. It jumps to when she was 12 and was signed by MGM and later when her father dies. The movie tells about her early struggles with MGM and with the addiction to barbiturates. It then jumps to the marriage to Vincette Minelli and the struggles with that, and leads into the rest of the movie and her marriages to Sid Luft, Mark Herron, and Mickey Deans and ends when she dies in 1969

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Plot Keywords:

drug addiction | award | two part tv movie | woman takes off shoes | homosexuality | 

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Taglines:

Dorothy found the end of the rainbow. Judy spent her life looking for it.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

ABC

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Me & My Shadows

Filming Locations:

Parkwood Estate, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Atlantis Communications, In-Motion AG Movie & TV Productions, Storyline Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

170 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hugh Laurie, who has bright blue eyes, wore brown contact lenses for his role of brown eyed Vincente Minnelli.

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Goofs

Judy watches color TV broadcast of A Star is Born on a vintage black and white television set.

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Quotes

Narrator: It broke Mama's heart when CBS cancelled The Judy Garland Show. So, in the finest Gumm family tradition, we packed up our trunks and took the family act back out on the road. Mama *had* to keep working to pay off her debts, but work required more than she had left, and that meant more amphetamines to carry her through.

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Connections

Features The 27th Annual Academy Awards (1955)

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Soundtracks

"Maybe I'll Come Back"
(uncredited)
Written by Charles L. Cooke and Howard C. Jeffrey
Performed by Judy Garland

User Reviews

Extraordinary for a TV-Movie

I must say that Judy Garland has never been a favorite icon of mine, although many of my friends adore her. My impressions of Judy Garland have always been the classic star who seemingly had it all but lost it due to drugs and addiction. But what struck me most about "Me and My Shadows" was how the film was able to portray Judy Garland as a human being, not just a typical star immersed in tragedy, which unfortunately is too common among Hollywood legends.

Lorna Luft should be truly proud of this film which will I predict sweep the Emmy Awards this year. Judy Davis was mesmerizing!!!! Watching her performance literally sent chills down my spine. I haven't seen an actress completely transform herself into another actress so brilliantly and believably. Faye Dunaway, who was literally Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest", was not even as good as Davis. She has always, in my opinion, been seriously underrated as a dramatic actress. This performance is undoubtedly the best of her career, and she deserves all of the praise she has been garnering. Tammy Blanchard was also remarkable, and Victor Garber was good as well. The acting performances of all were truly breathtaking and just goes to show that true talent doesn't always lie at the feet of the "Hollywood star machine." The pace of the movie was just right, and it seemed to truly encompass the scope of Judy Garland's life, leaving out minor details such as her first marriage and subsequent abortion.

If there was a complaint, it would probably be that Liza Minnelli was not mentioned a great deal here, but the movie itself was not about Liza. This was a truly well-crafted cinematic effort that doesn't particularly cast Garland as a victim, but not as a saint as well. That balance is needed to truly avoid this movie from becoming a sad, soppy melodrama. Overall, this will stand the test of time and really allow the public to see first and foremost the dark side of Hollywood back in the days of the studio system.

I highly recommend seeing this movie. Even if you're not particularly familiar with Garland, the acting and storyline will keep you glued to the television set.

My rating is 9 out of ten.