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

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Robert Allan Ackerman

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

25 February 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Child Star | Prescription Drug Addiction | Carnegie Hall | Film History | Stepfather

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 16 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

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
Amber Metcalfe	...	Lorna Luft, age 6
Al Waxman	...	Louis B. Mayer
Marsha Mason	...	Ethel Gumm
Krista Sutton	...	Lorna Luft, adult

Also Known As:

Judy Garland: L'ombre d'une étoile (Canada: French title)
Me & My Shadows (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

170 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:LH | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Parkwood Estate, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Fake issue of Variety with news stories on back cover. Real issues of that publication always have ads on back cover.

Quotes:

Narrator: When Mama signed with MGM, she became the chief breadwinner for her family. It was a role she would play for the rest of her life. Baby Frances Gumm was offically gone. Being Judy Garland became a job. One that would consume her life, and eventually control mine.

Movie Connections:

Features The 27th Annual Academy Awards (1955) (TV)

Judy Judy Judy!!!! (Part 2 Review)

Judy Davis gets the Emmy for this one. Beyond belief performance. Not since Ben Kingsley in "Gandhi" have I seen anyone inhabit a real-life based character the way Davis does here. A career high note. Hate to say it..but this movie really deserved a theatrical release. It's almost too big for TV. Hats off to ABC either way. Great direction by Ackerman. The attention payed to the nuances is surreal. Blink..and you'll swear you're watching the real deal. Solid support from Victor Garber and Alison Pill as a young Lorna Luft. And Tammy Blanchard just bought herself a career. Wave bye-bye to "The Guiding Light", Tammy. Your boat has just sailed.

There has to be some sort of cosmic yin-yang Zen supernatural otherworldly force at work here that placed one "Judy" in the ruby slippers of another to this effect. There is no other handy explanation. A star is born (Blanchard) and another one goes into supernova (Davis). This is great moviemaking. Now, get this sucker to video where I can watch it without commercial interruptions.