Garlandiana

I Could Go On Singing should be privately shown to truehearted members of Judy Garland fan clubs: it is so rich in barely dissimulated Garlandiana that much of its appeal will be wasted if one is not with it.

Singing was made last summer in London, during one of Judy's recurrent Bad Times. Quarrels with Husband Sid Luft, a bitter custody wrangle over the little Lufts, and a whole catalogue of physical ills plagued her throughout the filming. For the fans, this foreknowledge will only give an extra dollop of poignancy to the plot--a bit of fiction about a famous American singer who comes to London to perform at the Palladium and, concurrently, to rekindle an old flame and win back an abandoned child. To other viewers, it may explain why Judy Garland at 39 looked like a puffed-up Edith Piaf even though today, at 40, she looks like a million. Merciless photography highlights the bags under the eyes and the wringing hands that are the stigmata of Judy in distress. And Costume Designer Edith Head has not helped by giving her a red chiffon outfit that makes Garland look like somebody had tried to stuff eight great tomatoes into a little bitty gown.

Judy's dialogue will make the in-group twitch with recognition: "I've hung onto every bit of rubbish there is to hang onto in life--and I've thrown the good bits away"; "I don't want another martini, I've had enough to float Fire Island"; "Sleep, rest, relaxation--where can I buy those?" Her acting, against a backdrop of Old Flame Dirk Bogarde's flexing jaw muscles and travelogue shots of Olde England, may be the best of her career. The most revealing scenes are onstage at the Palladium. On opening night she stands in the wings, fingers snapping, as her rapport with the orchestra becomes almost physical; then with a final cry of "Go!" she struts into the spotlight and begins to sing. If the Judy who once stole Andy Hardy's heart is gone somewhere over a rainbow of hard knocks and sleeping pills, Garland the actress seems here to stay.

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