Movie Musings: Disney and More

Judy + Maggie = There’s No Place Like Home

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios was the last major movie studio to add talking to their movies, doing so with the movie-musical The Broadway Melody (1929), which became the very first movie-musical to win the Best Picture Academy Award. The ‘30s was the decade that MGM began hiring child stars to perform in their movies, i.e.: Mickey Rooney, Deanna Durbin, and Jane Powell. Many of the stars they hired at that time are considered legends in the history of film. Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien were two of those popular child stars who got there start at MGM. While both these performers led different career paths, there actually are some intriguing similarities between the two of them.

Judy Garland became under contract to MGM at age 13 in 1935. While she did possess a beautiful singing voice, her singing voice was the only thing conspicuous about her. She was neither tall nor noticeably attractive, both of which were qualities that MGM looked for in talented people back then. That being said, MGM wasn’t entirely sure what to do with her once they signed her. She started to gain attention when she began starring in a series of B movies known as “The Hardy Family Movies series,” where she starred opposite close friend, Mickey Rooney, who portrayed the main character of Andy Hardy in the films Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938), Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940) and Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941). In between the first two Hardy movies, Garland was cast in the role that she would be identified with the rest of her life: Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939). 

MGM had originally considered Shirley Temple for the role, but she was under contract to Fox at the time and Fox wouldn’t let Temple out, so Garland was cast. Although the film was a flop in its initial release, it became a huge success when released worldwide, and Garland won the Best Juvenile Oscar as a result. Two things from that movie became permanently identified with Judy Garland: the song “Over the Rainbow,” which she would sing in a great deal of future concerts, and also the famous line she delivered “There’s no place like home.” While Garland would make several more movies throughout her career, none are quite as remembered by the public today as “The Wizard of Oz,” and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).

Margaret O’Brien, on the other hand, came to MGM at just four years of age. She made her first film appearance Babes on Broadway (1941), which ironically happened to be another film that starred Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Her role in that film was small, but the following year she earned a starring role in the film Journey for Margaret (1942). Two years later, O’Brien reunited with Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” portraying the role of “Tootie” Smith, the younger sister to Garland’s “Esther Smith.” The character of “Tootie” Smith was based on Sally Benson, who wrote about her life in St. Louis, Missouri in her book Meet Me in St. Louis, which is what inspired the movie. Benson answered to the nickname of “Tootie” as a child. (While no one speaks the line “There’s no place like home” in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” the theme of that line is depicted in the film, though from a realistic rather than fantastic perspective in “The Wizard of Oz.”) And just like Judy Garland five years prior, Margaret O’Brien won the Best Juvenile Oscar for her performance as “Tootie.”

O’Brien and Garland got along well during the filming of the movie, though Garland was concerned for the young actress playing her little sister. She feared that O’Brien could wind up having a life destroyed by insecurity and fame, as Garland herself was already struggling with it at just 21 years of age. Garland had been prescribed a regular does of amphetamines from the time she came to MGM along with Mickey Rooney and others, addiction to which led to her unfortunate death at the age of 47 in 1969. O’Brien, however, continues to maintain a healthy personal life along with a career that continues even today. Five years after “Meet Me in St. Louis,” O’Brien made Little Women (1949) with June Allyson, Janet Leigh, and Elizabeth Taylor. The film also reunited her with her “Meet Me in St. Louis,” co-stars, Mary Astor, Leon Ames, and Harry Davenport. In the former, Astor and Ames played her parents, while Davenport played the grandfather and in the latter Astor and Ames again played the parents and Davenport played the doctor. Most recently, O’Brien acted in Disney’s direct-to-video sequel Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (2017) and also appeared in a remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2017).

Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien both created legacies as some of our most famous child stars. In the end, Judy Garland achieved more fame and popularity thanks to her incredible singing voice, but Margaret O’Brien managed to have a longer career. Neither will ever be forgotten for making movies that reminded us all:  “There’s no place like home.”