ABOUT THE FILM:

Words And Music is producer Arthur Freed's second all-star musical based (very loosely) on the lives of famous songwriters. These films were designed to showcase their great songs as presented in new interpretations or facsimiles of their original stage presentations, and featuring the new talent at the MGM Studios.

This time the focus is on the great team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Their partnership began in 1919 and ended with Hart's death in 1943. During that time, they penned many great standards, including "Blue Moon"; "Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered"; "Manhattan"; "Where Or When"; "You're Nearer"; "Johnny One Note"; "With A Song In My Heart"; and "I Wish I Were In Love Again". Incidentally, they wrote the score for the stage version of Babes In Arms, part of which was used in 1939 for the first "let's put on a show" musical also titled Babes In Arms, starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.

Although Hart was dead by the time Words And Music went into production, Rodgers was still very much alive and enjoying great success on Broadway as one half of the songwriting/producing team of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Rodgers had script approval on Words And Music, but was so busy in New York that he had Freed hire his brother-in-law Ben Feiner, Jr. as an associate producer (he also helped adapt the screenplay).

The film is highly fictionalized as were most of the screen biopics of the day. No mention is made of Hart's alcoholism partly being a result of his struggles and inability to deal with his homosexuality. As this was taboo in 1948, the writers played up Hart's short height and resulting depression. The casting of Mickey Rooney as Hart helped emphasize the stereotype of the dynamo "little guy" who's big on talent but short on height and therefore self esteem. Rooney gives a great performance in spite of the rather whitewashed material. This was Rooney's last film under contract to MGM.

Words And Music is also Judy and Mickey's final film appearance together while at the same time being their first appearance together in color. Back in 1944 they had been tagged to appear together in Freed's Technicolor revue film Ziegfeld Follies of 1946 duetting together on "I Love You More In Technicolor Than I Did In Black And White". That never happened. Now, four years after than planned outing, Judy plays herself as a guest at a fictional party in Hart's new Hollywood home. This was Judy's last guest appearance in an MGM film. She had previously appeared as herself in Thousands Cheer (1943) and as "Madame Crematante" in Ziegfeld Follies of 1946.

Judy's first day of work on Words And Music was May 20, 1948.She and Mickey rehearsed "I Wish I Were In Love Again". The previous year and a half had been tough for her. She had filmed two huge musicals, The Pirate and Easter Parade (both released in 1948) and was thin and exhausted. She did get a two month break and was scheduled to return for Words on May 17th, but was still too worn out to make it. She really should have taken more time off, but the studio offered to pay the $50,000 they had withheld from her salary for the delays she had caused on The Pirate. Always eager to please (to a fault sometimes) Judy felt obligated to accept. She barely got through the simple routine with Rooney, but managed to complete it just a few weeks later, on June 8th. A testament to Judy's talent, the only sign of her sickness on screen is how thin she is. When she and Mickey perform the number, that old magic of theirs is back making it one of the highlights of the film.

Judy then went into rehearsals for The Barkleys Of Broadway with Fred Astaire. This was the planned follow-up to their hugely successful teaming in Easter Parade. But Judy was still too sick to continue. She tried - she was always willing to try and make the studio (and everyone else around her) happy. For a month she tried, but it was too much. MGM was forced to take her off the film and replace her with Ginger Rogers. For the next two months Judy rested under doctor's care. Meanwhile, on September 8th & 10th Words And Music was previewed. The audience preview cards almost unanimously demanded a Garland encore. They just couldn't accept Judy coming on and only doing one quick number with Rooney then disappearing. Fingers crossed, the studio called Judy back. But rather than build a huge production number that she might not be strong enough to complete, they reassembled the extras and rebuilt the Hollywood party set, and Judy did an encore of "Johnny One Note". This time, the costume department had to remove the belt from her dress due to the weight gain in the intervening months. Eagle eyed viewers picked up on this, but no one cared. Judy belted across "Johnny" in her signature, and singular, unique style - again stopping the show! Reviewers singled her out as one of the highlights if not the biggest highlight of the film.

In spite of it's highly fictionalized story, Word And Musicwas a big success at the box office. With such huge stars as Judy, Mickey, Lena Horne, June Allyson, Gene Kelly, Ann Sothern, Tom Drake, Cyd Charisse, Betty Garrett, Janet Leigh, Mel Torme, Vera-Ellen,and even Perry Como - how could it miss? Most of the musical numbers are charmers. Highlights are June Allyson's "Thou Swell" sung and danced with The Blackburn Twins, Lena Horne's "Where Or When" and "The Lady Is A Tramp" and the wonderful ballet to "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" by Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen.The orchestrations are wonderful, the dancing is wonderful, all in all it's the type of musical that only MGM could make.

• Other songs considered for Judy & Mickey's duet were "You Took Advantage Of Me" (which Judy later sang in A Star Is Born in 1954); and a medley of "Mimi", "This Can't Be Love" (a staple of Judy's concerts in the 1960's), and "I Wish I Were In Love Again".
• Other songs considered for Judy's encore were: "Ten Cents A Dance"; "My Romance"; ""There's A Small Hotel" (sung in Words by Betty Garrett); "It Never Entered My Mind" (recorded for Words by Betty Garrett but not used).
• An alternate version of Lena Horne's "The Lady Is A Tramp" was recorded for British audiences, changing the line "I don't like crap games" to "I don't like card games" - British censors would not allow the use of the term "crap games". This alternate recording has never been released.
• The "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" ballet was another bold step in the progression of dance on film. Gene Kelly wanted it staged as it would be on an actual stage with stage limitations. This enhanced the number immensely, with its revolving set and realistic staging. Per Hugh Fordin's book "M-G-M's Greatest Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit": After conferring with his brilliant cameraman Harry Stradling, [Kelly] went to [producer Arthur] Freed. "I asked Arthur to let me use a 28 millimeter lens and place the camera into a pit on the bottom of the staircase as Vera-Ellen falls down, hit by a bullet, landing very close to the camera, which would distort her face." But Mayer had issued a mandate to the camera department: "The ladies had to look pretty at all times, not matter what." Freed told Kelly to go ahead. "If worse comes to worse we can always reshoot it."
  The number (with the close up of Vera-Ellen) is one of the highlights of the film, one of the best things Kelly and Vera-Ellen ever did, and a far cry from the comic ballet as originally introduced in the 1936 stage show "On Your Toes" by Ray Bolger and Vera Zorina. Part of the credit goes to Roger Edens and his very dramatic scoring of the piece.
  
  

• TIMELINE AT A GLANCE:

  • May 28, 1948: Recording "I Wish I Were In Love Again" - with daughter Liza visiting.

    May 20, 1948: Judy and Mickey rehearse "I Wish I Were In Love Again".
  • May 28, 1948: Judy and Mickey record "I Wish I Were In Love Again".
  • June 1, 1948: Rehearsals for filming of "I Wish I Were In Love Again"
    - Called for 4pm, dismissed (done for the day) at 5pm.
  • June 2, 1948: Filming of "I Wish I Were In Love Again"
    - Called for 10am, due on set 1pm. Assistant Director noted that Judy "was due in makeup at 10am; but arrived at 11:35am". She arrived on the set at 3:05pm - the company was dismissed at 4:10pm.
  • June 4 & 4, 1948: The company was on "layoff" due to Judy being sick and unable to come to work.
  • June 8, 1948: Filming completed for "I Wish I Were In Love Again", including the brief dialog sequence prior to the song. Called for 7am, due on set at 8am. Judy arrived on the set at 9:10am.
  • June through September 1948: Judy was in rehearsals for The Barkleys Of Broadway, subsequently released from the film and took two months of rest.
  • September 8 & 10, 1948: Two previews of Words And Music.
  • September 24, 1948: Wardrobe fitting, testing, and rehearsals for "Johnny One Note"
    - Called for and due on the set at 10am. Judy arrived at 11am. Dismissed (done for the day) at 4:45pm.
  • September 27, 1948: Rehearsals for "Johnny One Note". Judy arrived at 10am, dismissed at 11:40am.
  • September 28, 1948: More rehearsals, plus wardrobe fittings, for "Johnny One Note". Jude was due on the set at 11am, she arrived at 2pm, dismissed at 3:15pm.
  • September 30, 1948: Judy recorded "Johnny One Note". It only took 30 minutes! From 11am to 11:30am. The genius of Judy at work! later that night she appeared on the NBC radio show "Kraft Music Hall" with Al Jolson. She sang "Over The Rainbow" and (with Jolson) "Pretty Baby". This is the only known existing recording of Judy and Al Jolson singing together.
  • October 1, 1948: Judy's last day of work on Words And Music. She was able to complete the filming of "Johnny One Note" in one day! She was called for 7:30am, due on the set at 9:00am. She arrived at 9:35am, and was done and dismissed at 5:20pm.

* Much of the data on this page is provided Hugh Fordin's fantastic book ""The World Of Entertainment" (now available under the reprint title "M-G-M's Greatest Musicals: The Arthur Freed Unit"); and the excellent book by Scott Schechter "Judy Garland - The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend".

DVD menu:

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SONGS:

Manhattan
(Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake and Marshall Thompson)

There's A Small Hotel
(Betty Garrett)

Mountain Greenery
(Perry Como, Allyn McLerie and Chorus)

Way Out West
(Betty Garrett)

Where's That Rainbow?
(Ann Sothern and Chorus)

On Your Toes
(Cyd Charisse [dubbed by Eileen Wilson] and Dee Turnell)

This Can't Be Love
(dance by Cyd Charisse and Dee Turnell)

The Girl Friend
(dance by Cyd Charisse and Dee Turnell)

Blue Room
(Perry Como, dance by Cyd Charisse)

Thou Swell
(June Allyson and The Blackburn Twins [dubbed by Pete Roberts & Eugene Cox)

With A Song in My Heart
(Tom Drake)

With A Song in My Heart
(Orchestra montage)

Where Or When
(Lena Horne)

The Lady Is A Tramp
(Lena Horne)

I Wish I Were In Love Again
(Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney)

Johnny One Note
(Judy Garland)

Blue Moon
(Mel Torme, with an assist by Mickey Rooney)

Spring Is Here
(spoken by Mickey Rooney)

Slaughter On Tenth Avenue
(Ballet featuring Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen)

Finale: With a Song in My Heart
(introduction by Gene Kelly, sung by Perry Como and Chorus with montage of clips from several of the numbers in the film, followed by the end title)

OUTTAKES:
(recorded, some were filmed some were not)

Way Out West
(Betty Garrett)

It Never Entered My Mind
(Betty Garrett)

You're Nearer
(Perry Como)

Lover
(Perry Como)

My Heart Stood Still
(Perry Como)

I Feel At Home With You
(Perry Como)

Falling In Love With Love/You Took Advantage Of Me
(Gene Kelly & Vera-Ellen
[Vera Ellen probably dubbed by Anita Ellis])

My Funny Valentine
(Betty Garrett)

With A Song In My Heart
(Bill Lee)

I Feel At Home With You
(Unknown male quartet)

Spring Is Here
(unknown female singer)

OUTTAKES:
(these may or may not have been recorded - no recordings are known to exist):

Give It Back To The Indians

Mimi

The Poor Apache

It's Got To Be Love


Some of the pre-recording sessions can be heard on the now out of print laser disc "The Composers Collection" from MGM/UA Home Video.

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"It's Judy Garland!"	Judy and Janet Leigh	"I Wish I Were In Love Again"
"I Wish I Were In Love Again"	"I Wish I Were In Love Again"	"I Wish I Were In Love Again"
"I Wish I Were In Love Again"	"Johnny One Note"	"Johnny One Note"
"Johnny One Note"	"Johnny One Note"	"Johnny One Note"