Portraits of 17-Year-Old Judy Garland in 1939

In 1939, Judy Garland was just 17 years old and at a pivotal moment in her career — it was the year she starred as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, which became her most iconic role. This iconic performance, where she sang her signature song “Over the Rainbow,” earned her a special Academy Award for “outstanding performance by a screen juvenile.”

Contrary to what has been popularized in previous years, The Wizard of Oz was very popular with both audiences and critics and wasn’t a “flop.” But as with many other misconceptions about the film that have become legends over years, people today still think it bombed. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have been nominated for the Academy Award for “Best Picture” in a year that is now considered the greatest year in Hollywood. So many classics were released it’s almost embarrassing. The “flop” scenario makes for a great comeback story that’s appealing to the public and sells more copy, or in this day and age, gets more clicks.

When The Wizard of Oz was released in August 1939, Judy Garland stepped into a unique class of immortality. In hindsight it seems inevitable when looking back at her life and career that this would happen. Her star was basically on the ascent continuously. The proceeding years point to the inevitability of a milestone like The Wizard of Oz in Judy’s career. 

At the time of its release, the success of the film wasn’t a given. It was the first big budget live action musical fantasy film made in three-strip Technicolor. MGM was taking a big risk. But as has been pointed out, at the time MGM could afford a “prestige picture” every few years that even if it didn’t make a lot of money, it added prestige to the studio. That’s what The Wizard of Oz was. The fact that the film came out so well exceeded many people’s expectations. When it was completed, those in the know could see that it was special. People like uncredited co-producer Arthur Freed and certainly everyone in the music departments. Once the preview feedback came in the studio knew they had a unique film on their hands. After it went into general release, it was a hit. Judy and “Over the Rainbow” and the character of “Dorothy Gale” became forever linked. To this day, 100 years after Judy Garland’s birth, she is still known as “Dorothy.”

In most careers, the success of Oz would have been the pinnacle and enough for one year. But for Judy, 1939 brought her another huge hit, Babes in Arms. It made Judy and her co-star Mickey Rooney America’s top teens and spawned a new genre, the “Let’s put on a show!” youth musical. The genre is so ubiquitous that it’s often lampooned today. All any comedian or character has to say is “Hey kids, let’s find a barn and put on a show” and everyone gets the same image. The film was so popular that Mickey Rooney was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor of 1939. Oddly, Judy wasn’t nominated for Best Actress. No one would have beat Vivien Leigh’s performance in Gone With The Wind anyway. Judy was relegated to being awarded the “Juvenile Oscar” which was a miniature Oscar given out occasionally when a juvenile performance was so great it needed to be recognized. Years later she would jokingly call it her “Munchkin award.”

To celebrate her success, Judy was invited to put her hand and footprints in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. The event took place the night of the world premiere of Babes in Arms at the theater. It was another sign that Judy Garland had reached the top.

For most people, that would be enough. But Judy Garland wasn’t most people and MGM wasn’t your standard studio. As a contract player at MGM, she still had her duties to the studio. She wouldn’t begin work on her next film until early 1940, but she still had personal appearances, sittings for portraits and publicity photos, schooling, and her usual vocal training with Roger Edens. MGM kept her in the public consciousness by allowing her to be a weekly regular on the NBC Radio show, “The Pepsodent Show Starring Bob Hope.” She also recorded a few singles for Decca Records.