New book shares the story behind Judy Garland's final MGM musical
Film historians David Fantle and Tom Johnson bonded as teenagers in St. Paul over a shared appreciate for old Hollywood films. Their latest book, "C'mon Get Happy: The Making of Summer Stock," follows the story of Judy Garland's final musical with MGM.
Courtesy of David Fantle
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The 1950 film “Summer Stock” was Judy Garland’s last with MGM. She sang and danced to the song “Get Happy” while carrying the burdens of an addiction and a career in decline.
In a new book about the musical, fellow Minnesotans David Fantle and Tom Johnson tell the story behind Garland’s performance next to co-star Gene Kelly. And they introduce readers to folks behind the scenes, like producer Joe Pasternak, who tried to make films that gave people an escape from grief and trauma. The movie came out just a few years after the Holocaust and World War II.
David Fantle and Tom Johnson will discuss the new book at the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival on Sunday.
Courtesy of David Fantle
David Fantle and Tom Johnson are returning to St. Paul to talk about their book, “Get Happy: The Making of Summer Stock” at the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival. They joined MPR News guest host Nina Moini.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[JUDY GARLAND, "GET HAPPY"] JUDY GARLAND: (SINGING) Forget your troubles. Come on, get happy. You better chase all your cares away. Shout Hallelujah. Come on, get happy. Get ready for the Judgment Day. The sun is shining. Come on, get happy. The Lord is waiting to take your hand.
NINA MOINI: You may have heard this song, but have you seen the musical that came from? The 1950 film Summer Stock was Judy Garland's last with MGM. She sang and danced to the song "Get Happy" while carrying the burdens of an addiction and a career in decline. In a new book about the musical, fellow Minnesotans David Fantle and Tom Johnson tell the story behind Garland's performance next to co-star Gene Kelly.
And they introduced readers to folks behind the scenes like producer Joe Pastrnak, who tried to make films that gave people an escape from grief and trauma. The movie came out just a few years after the Holocaust and World War II. David Fantle and Tom Johnson are returning to St. Paul to talk about their book Get Happy, The Making of Summer Stock, at the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival, and they're both on the line. Thank you both so much for being here.
TOM JOHNSON: Thank you.
DAVID FANTLE: Thanks. It's really nice to be with you.
TOM JOHNSON: It is.
NINA MOINI: It's so great to have you. Tom, I'll start with you quickly. For those who have not seen it, what's the premise of the film? What's the plot?
TOM JOHNSON: Well, the premise really is all about summer stock, which was a kind of a theater that occurred in summers, usually. And the premise of this film is Gene Kelly invades, with his troupe of New York actors, Judy Garland's Connecticut farm, and they want to stage their show there. And Judy is not really happy about it. She's a farmer in Connecticut. She doesn't want show business people around, and that creates the drama.
NINA MOINI: I mentioned producer Joe Pastrnak. David, what was his story, and how did it influence the film? We don't often hear about people behind the scenes.
DAVID FANTLE: Well, Joe Pastrnak was one of the three main musical producers at MGM. There was Arthur Freed, Pastrnak, and Jack Cummings. So Joe Pastrnak was an immigrant from Hungary, came into the states in 1921, and he really cut his teeth producing over at Universal. In the late '30s, he popularized all those Deanna Durbin confection musicals, and then he signed with MGM in 1941 and became a producer at the studio.
But he was known for his happy ending musicals. And in the book, we talked to his son, Jeff Pastrnak, and others who knew him. And what he was really doing in his happy ending musicals was hiding sort of an inner turmoil that happened and was part of his personal life. He had his father, his sister, her sister's husband, six children, and relatives all in the Budapest area.
And during the rise of Hitler, he tried, he pleaded to get them into the states, but they never came here. And as a result, they all perished in the Holocaust. And so I think in our research and according to his son, this sort of informed his happy ending musicals. While he had a lot of personal misery and tragedy in his life, he was determined that his musicals would make people feel good.
NINA MOINI: And we know the weight all happening across the world right now, Jewish and Palestinian communities suffering with an escalating war. What did Pastrnak say about making room for joy no matter what else is going on?
DAVID FANTLE: Well, that was the thing about Joe. He didn't talk too much about it. And we interviewed Connie Francis, who was in some of those early beach movies in the '60s that was produced by Joe Pastrnak. And she said the only time she saw Joe cry and she became friends with Joe was when he either talked about his experiences with his family during the Holocaust or when JFK was assassinated.
So that was really interesting. And you're right, Nina. I mean, the one thing about these great Hollywood musicals is for 109 minutes, you can sort of forget your troubles. Because what were musicals meant to be back in the '30s, '40s, and '50s? Just pure escapism.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Well, I want to shift to both of your stories because it's really fascinating. You got your start as college journalists with the Minnesota Daily, then you went to LA to interview Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in person. How did that happen, Tom?
TOM JOHNSON: Well, I mean, that's a great story. We were entranced by musicals, really after seeing That's Entertainment in 1974. And we started a two year letter writing campaign to Astaire and Kelly's secretaries. It was snail mail back then, way before everything else started. And after two years, they greenlighted us for an interview, short visit. And that was during our senior year in high school, Highland Park High School.
And that summer, we got on a plane and got out there and had these transformational interviews. And the thing with Astaire, really-- we took some pictures with him, and we would put these pictures in with every interview request we ever made.
He was our Willy Wonka golden ticket to Cagney, Lucille Ball, Gregory Peck. They basically said that if Astaire saw you, I'll see you. He legitimized us. But both he and Gene were just so wonderful to two newly minted high school kids, and it was great.
NINA MOINI: That's the ultimate namedrop, right? The Fred Astaire.
TOM JOHNSON: That's a mic drop.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, definitely. And I love your dogged pursuit of a two year long interview. You'd make some great journalists to come fresh out of the Minnesota Daily. I love that. So what did Gene Kelly say about this film, David?
DAVID FANTLE: Well, Gene Kelly really talked about Judy Garland when we were with him. And we could say that this book was 45 years in the making, but when we interviewed Gene Kelly and we interviewed other people associated with the film like the director Charles Walters or Harry Warren, the songwriter, we didn't know 40 some years later we would actually be writing a book about the film.
But we were fortunate enough to at least pepper these meetings and these interviews with some Summer Stock questions, which are in the book. But in the case of Gene Kelly, I mean, he had this lifelong loyalty to Judy because his first film, his film debut, 1942, was For Me and My Gal, and the star was Judy Garland.
And Gene Kelly was fresh off Broadway and Pal Joey, and he was used to projecting to the third balcony. And so Judy, by 1942, was already a screen veteran and sort of helped show Gene how to tone it down a bit, how to act in front of the camera. And so they made three films together, Summer Stock being the third and final film.
And by the time 1949 rolled around, this was Judy's last film. Judy was having, as you alluded to, Nina, addictions, drug addictions, sleeping problems. Her marriage to Vincent Minnelli was on the rocks. She had a young toddler, Liza Minnelli, at home to care for. So she had a lot of demons working against her.
And Joe Pastrnak, the producer, said the only way to get Judy over the finish line is surround her with people she loves and trusts. And there you have Chuck Walters. You have Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Phil Silvers. All not just colleagues, but friends that all helped her get through this turbulent time.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. What a fascinating woman she was, Judy Garland, who died, of course, in 1969. And you wanted to set the record straight, Tom, in the book, correct? That she wasn't the main reason for some of the delays in production?
TOM JOHNSON: No, absolutely. She was a reason for some of the delays, but that was sort of a myth that we tried to break with the research and writing of this. There were three songs, and another one, "Get Happier," famous, iconic swan song, that needed to be composed, recorded, rehearsed, and shot at the end of the movie.
Because about midway through the movie, Chuck Walters and Pastrnak realized that we don't have enough songs for a movie here. We need more songs. And by that time, Mack Gordon, Harry Warren, the songwriter's partner, had left.
So they brought in Jack Brooks and Saul Chaplin to write new songs with Harry Warren, one of which is "You, Wonderful You," which Gene Kelly dances to his famous newspaper and squeaky board number. And so that all pushed the production months, months, months along the line. And so it really wasn't all Judy's debilities that were the reason for the delays.
NINA MOINI: That really is so important. It sounds like such a fascinating film. I would love to see it. David Fantle, Tom Johnson are speaking after a free screening of Summer Stock at the Capp Center in St. Paul. That event is part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival, and we'll have a link to the full schedule of events on our website, mprnews.org. Gentlemen, thank you both so much for joining us today.
DAVID FANTLE: It was a pleasure. Thanks, Nina.
TOM JOHNSON: Thank you. It was a pleasure.
NINA MOINI: You may have heard this song, but have you seen the musical that came from? The 1950 film Summer Stock was Judy Garland's last with MGM. She sang and danced to the song "Get Happy" while carrying the burdens of an addiction and a career in decline. In a new book about the musical, fellow Minnesotans David Fantle and Tom Johnson tell the story behind Garland's performance next to co-star Gene Kelly.
And they introduced readers to folks behind the scenes like producer Joe Pastrnak, who tried to make films that gave people an escape from grief and trauma. The movie came out just a few years after the Holocaust and World War II. David Fantle and Tom Johnson are returning to St. Paul to talk about their book Get Happy, The Making of Summer Stock, at the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival, and they're both on the line. Thank you both so much for being here.
TOM JOHNSON: Thank you.
DAVID FANTLE: Thanks. It's really nice to be with you.
TOM JOHNSON: It is.
NINA MOINI: It's so great to have you. Tom, I'll start with you quickly. For those who have not seen it, what's the premise of the film? What's the plot?
TOM JOHNSON: Well, the premise really is all about summer stock, which was a kind of a theater that occurred in summers, usually. And the premise of this film is Gene Kelly invades, with his troupe of New York actors, Judy Garland's Connecticut farm, and they want to stage their show there. And Judy is not really happy about it. She's a farmer in Connecticut. She doesn't want show business people around, and that creates the drama.
NINA MOINI: I mentioned producer Joe Pastrnak. David, what was his story, and how did it influence the film? We don't often hear about people behind the scenes.
DAVID FANTLE: Well, Joe Pastrnak was one of the three main musical producers at MGM. There was Arthur Freed, Pastrnak, and Jack Cummings. So Joe Pastrnak was an immigrant from Hungary, came into the states in 1921, and he really cut his teeth producing over at Universal. In the late '30s, he popularized all those Deanna Durbin confection musicals, and then he signed with MGM in 1941 and became a producer at the studio.
But he was known for his happy ending musicals. And in the book, we talked to his son, Jeff Pastrnak, and others who knew him. And what he was really doing in his happy ending musicals was hiding sort of an inner turmoil that happened and was part of his personal life. He had his father, his sister, her sister's husband, six children, and relatives all in the Budapest area.
And during the rise of Hitler, he tried, he pleaded to get them into the states, but they never came here. And as a result, they all perished in the Holocaust. And so I think in our research and according to his son, this sort of informed his happy ending musicals. While he had a lot of personal misery and tragedy in his life, he was determined that his musicals would make people feel good.
NINA MOINI: And we know the weight all happening across the world right now, Jewish and Palestinian communities suffering with an escalating war. What did Pastrnak say about making room for joy no matter what else is going on?
DAVID FANTLE: Well, that was the thing about Joe. He didn't talk too much about it. And we interviewed Connie Francis, who was in some of those early beach movies in the '60s that was produced by Joe Pastrnak. And she said the only time she saw Joe cry and she became friends with Joe was when he either talked about his experiences with his family during the Holocaust or when JFK was assassinated.
So that was really interesting. And you're right, Nina. I mean, the one thing about these great Hollywood musicals is for 109 minutes, you can sort of forget your troubles. Because what were musicals meant to be back in the '30s, '40s, and '50s? Just pure escapism.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Well, I want to shift to both of your stories because it's really fascinating. You got your start as college journalists with the Minnesota Daily, then you went to LA to interview Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in person. How did that happen, Tom?
TOM JOHNSON: Well, I mean, that's a great story. We were entranced by musicals, really after seeing That's Entertainment in 1974. And we started a two year letter writing campaign to Astaire and Kelly's secretaries. It was snail mail back then, way before everything else started. And after two years, they greenlighted us for an interview, short visit. And that was during our senior year in high school, Highland Park High School.
And that summer, we got on a plane and got out there and had these transformational interviews. And the thing with Astaire, really-- we took some pictures with him, and we would put these pictures in with every interview request we ever made.
He was our Willy Wonka golden ticket to Cagney, Lucille Ball, Gregory Peck. They basically said that if Astaire saw you, I'll see you. He legitimized us. But both he and Gene were just so wonderful to two newly minted high school kids, and it was great.
NINA MOINI: That's the ultimate namedrop, right? The Fred Astaire.
TOM JOHNSON: That's a mic drop.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, definitely. And I love your dogged pursuit of a two year long interview. You'd make some great journalists to come fresh out of the Minnesota Daily. I love that. So what did Gene Kelly say about this film, David?
DAVID FANTLE: Well, Gene Kelly really talked about Judy Garland when we were with him. And we could say that this book was 45 years in the making, but when we interviewed Gene Kelly and we interviewed other people associated with the film like the director Charles Walters or Harry Warren, the songwriter, we didn't know 40 some years later we would actually be writing a book about the film.
But we were fortunate enough to at least pepper these meetings and these interviews with some Summer Stock questions, which are in the book. But in the case of Gene Kelly, I mean, he had this lifelong loyalty to Judy because his first film, his film debut, 1942, was For Me and My Gal, and the star was Judy Garland.
And Gene Kelly was fresh off Broadway and Pal Joey, and he was used to projecting to the third balcony. And so Judy, by 1942, was already a screen veteran and sort of helped show Gene how to tone it down a bit, how to act in front of the camera. And so they made three films together, Summer Stock being the third and final film.
And by the time 1949 rolled around, this was Judy's last film. Judy was having, as you alluded to, Nina, addictions, drug addictions, sleeping problems. Her marriage to Vincent Minnelli was on the rocks. She had a young toddler, Liza Minnelli, at home to care for. So she had a lot of demons working against her.
And Joe Pastrnak, the producer, said the only way to get Judy over the finish line is surround her with people she loves and trusts. And there you have Chuck Walters. You have Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Phil Silvers. All not just colleagues, but friends that all helped her get through this turbulent time.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. What a fascinating woman she was, Judy Garland, who died, of course, in 1969. And you wanted to set the record straight, Tom, in the book, correct? That she wasn't the main reason for some of the delays in production?
TOM JOHNSON: No, absolutely. She was a reason for some of the delays, but that was sort of a myth that we tried to break with the research and writing of this. There were three songs, and another one, "Get Happier," famous, iconic swan song, that needed to be composed, recorded, rehearsed, and shot at the end of the movie.
Because about midway through the movie, Chuck Walters and Pastrnak realized that we don't have enough songs for a movie here. We need more songs. And by that time, Mack Gordon, Harry Warren, the songwriter's partner, had left.
So they brought in Jack Brooks and Saul Chaplin to write new songs with Harry Warren, one of which is "You, Wonderful You," which Gene Kelly dances to his famous newspaper and squeaky board number. And so that all pushed the production months, months, months along the line. And so it really wasn't all Judy's debilities that were the reason for the delays.
NINA MOINI: That really is so important. It sounds like such a fascinating film. I would love to see it. David Fantle, Tom Johnson are speaking after a free screening of Summer Stock at the Capp Center in St. Paul. That event is part of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival, and we'll have a link to the full schedule of events on our website, mprnews.org. Gentlemen, thank you both so much for joining us today.
DAVID FANTLE: It was a pleasure. Thanks, Nina.
TOM JOHNSON: Thank you. It was a pleasure.
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