Dec 01, 2006  |  By: MATTHEW FORKE  | COMMENTS     

Mention the name Judy Garland to movie-musical fans and their eyes widen with excitement. Utter the words, “This is Mrs. Norman Maine,” and they just might burst into tears. In fact, anyone who adores Garland’s immortal proclamation from the dazzling 1954 remake of “A Star is Born” ought to rejoice over “Judy Garland Sings!,” a six-week tribute to the beloved musical superstar and gay icon currently underway at the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre & Cultural Center in Silver Spring and running through Jan. 11.

For the sake of convenience, let’s assume the majority of gay audiences — no, make that the majority of Earth dwellers, period — have seen Garland in “The Wizard of Oz.” But what about the dozens of other films that showcase her sensational talent for song, dance, comedy and drama?

After all, the lady headlines three of the top 10 films featured in AFI’s recent survey of the 25 Greatest Musicals of All Time, topping fellow legends Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews and Fred Astaire. It seems about time that someone introduced Garland to a new generation of fans.

At the AFI Silver Theatre, classic musical revivals have proven popular with D.C. area residents, most recently during its tribute to director Stanley Donen (“Singin’ in the Rain” and “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”). Last year, film programmer Todd Hitchcock caught a series of Garland films on Turner Classic Movies and suggested developing a retrospective to honor her body of work.

“Judy Garland movies are loved across the board,” says Hitchcock. “Her films put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. They seemed like a good match for the time of year, something that appeals for Christmas.”

HER FILMS AND talent aside, why exactly does Garland attract such a loyal and enduring gay fan base? During her lifetime, closeted gay audiences connected with Garland’s intense loneliness and problematic love relationships (about which she often crooned passionately onstage). They felt protective of her, they rooted for her and they mourned her untimely death of a drug overdose in 1969 at the age of 47, an event that many believe contributed to the Stonewall riots — a watershed moment in the modern gay civil rights movement.

Furthermore, Garland’s father was gay, as were several of her five husbands. She has been called “the Elvis for homosexuals” and inspired the code term “Friend of Dorothy.” And she gave birth to another legend among gay fans: Liza Minnelli. The list goes on and on.

So, this holiday season, why not check out a bona-fide gay icon in the theater as she was meant to be seen: skipping down the Yellow Brick Road, dancing in a smoky dive or belting out show stoppers on a speeding Technicolor trolley. Hum a few notes from “The Man That Got Away” or “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Embrace the cultural heritage of the pre-Stonewall era. It’s a rare opportunity indeed, one that may not be back anytime soon. For those who are game, here’s a quick glimpse of select films from “Judy Garland Sings.”

“A Star is Born” (1954): In his book, “Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall,” writer Richard Barrios observes that, “[George] Cukor produced a film that seems gay not in its characters but in its attitudes, technique, design and in Judy Garland’s emergence as the most high-voltage of gay icons.”

Following her ill-fated departure from MGM four years earlier, Garland returned to the screen in the most lavish and expensive studio production since “Gone with the Wind.”  She stars as Esther Blodgett, an up-and-coming musical talent shepherded by lover Norman Maine (James Mason), an alcoholic matinee idol whose career is on the downward slope. Gay director George Cukor, who directed gay faves “My Fair Lady” and “The Women,” takes a few well-aimed jabs at the Hollywood “factory” during Blodgett’s initial (and rather grotesque) transformation into a camera-ready starlet, a scene that recalls Garland’s own horrific experience as a child actress. Much to her fans’ dismay, Garland lost the Best Actress Oscar to Grace Kelly (for “The Country Girl”) in one of the Academy’s most notorious upsets.

“The Wizard of Oz” (1939): It’s a curious footnote of cinema history that “The Wizard of Oz,” arguably the most cherished of American family films, is also one of the greatest gay cult movies of all time. The beloved MGM musical fantasy — and really, who doesn’t have a soft spot for Dorothy Gale and Co.? — works marvelously well as both a homosexual allegory ...