Dec 01, 2006  |  By: MATTHEW FORKE  | COMMENTS     

and as a children’s fable teaching the importance of family and home. 

Needless to say, several generations of gay viewers have identified with Dorothy’s desire to abandon dreary, repressive Kansas for the all-inclusive, Technicolor world of Oz, or at least a place where bitter, vengeful spinsters like Elmira Gulch dress appropriately in a pointy hat and broomstick. When approached to perform the Oscar-winning song, “Over the Rainbow,” at the 1989 Academy Awards, Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli respectfully (and wisely) declined, saying, “nobody could sing it better than my mother.”

“Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944): This warm, toe-tapping musical milestone also celebrates the bonds of family, despite its strong undercurrent of separation and loss. Set in 1903, the close-knit, upper middle-class Smith clan (mother Mary Astor and siblings Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien and Lucille Bremer) eagerly awaits the St. Louis World’s Fair until father (Leon Ames) announces an unwelcome job promotion to New York City. 

Garland initially detested the idea of playing yet another love-struck teenager, even mocking her lines during rehearsals. However, director Vincente Minnelli (her soon-to-be husband and father of Liza) quickly convinced the star otherwise, resulting in one of MGM’s most enjoyable and successful films. 

Six-year-old O’Brien, who won a special Oscar for outstanding child actress, was reportedly quite a handful on-set, having secretly rearranged a number of props during key scenes. To get the proper performance, Minnelli allegedly coaxed a hurricane of tears from the naughty youth by describing her dog’s death in vivid, unsparing detail.

“Easter Parade” (1948): Garland’s lone collaboration with Fred Astaire creates “an incredibly entertaining film that has nothing to do with Easter,” according to AFI film programmer Todd Hitchcock.  In this musical reworking of “Pygmalion,” professional hoofer Astaire — still smarting after being ditched by longtime dance partner Ann Miller — boldly declares he can transform any woman he chooses into a first-class performer. As luck would have it, he sets his sights on chorus girl Garland, a talent somehow yet undiscovered. The movie displays gorgeous camerawork, an Oscar-winning score and Miller herself, who is simply dynamite in tap shoes.

“The Pirate” (1948): One of her lesser-known works, “The Pirate” teams Garland with Gene Kelly, the second of three films in which they appear together. Garland is engaged to marry the wealthy mayor of a small Caribbean town, despite his major case of the dulls. Enter the swashbuckling and ever-gorgeous Kelly, a singer who stirs Garland’s passion by impersonating the legendary pirate Macoco. At the time of its release, th