Judy's Popularity Continues

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Cheryl Ladd (!) and Linda Carter (!!) are "contemporary hotties???"

As for Garland, I'm sure most photos are for "Oz."

Back in the 1980's, before the internet, there were several stores in Hollywood
that sold old stills of movie stars. You'd go in and simply request the
sample books and then pick out which still you wanted. They were $3 for
8 by 10 black-and-whites; $5 for color (which was fine, as the black-and-white
photos were far more stunning).

I collected several of Hepburn and Tracy, Sinatra and Kelly, and many of
Garland's 1940's "glamour stills" (my fave period of her career). These stores
are now defunct, as everything can be viewed on the internet. I still treasure
these photos. Gong through REAL stills is much more fun than perusing the
internet, convenient though it might be.

Judy was a movie star, someone who was recognized as such by the public. Just think, Judy's popularity has been non-stop since 1937. It's no surprise she would outrank some of the more contemporary celebrities.

I question her popularity when here we are - in nearly 2017 - and "The Harvey
Girls", "The Pirate", "Ziegfeld Follies", "In the Good Old Summertime" and
"Summer Stock" are not on Blu Ray. I don't get the decision makers at
all. "A Child is Waiting", certainly one of the most obscure films of
both Garland's and Burt Lancaster's career, IS on Blu Ray. What gives??

I was talking to some ladies who were alive during Judy's peak. We all hit on the idea that stars like Judy were so popular is because the audiences LOVED them, pure and simple. They don't love the stars in quite the same way today.

When MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS was in pre-production, Louis B. Mayer told Arthur Freed that the film wouldn't even be made unless Judy was in it. If that could not be done then forget about it.

Think of the latest superhero garbage. Do you think anyone really cares who plays him?

Yes! Who else could pull off the Trolley Song? It is one of Judy's masterpieces. She goes from pensive to despondent to joyous, to embarrassed to awkward. None of that is in the music and there is no dialog. She communicates it all non-verbally. Her movies are often so good because she serves as glue holding together cliched plots and corny dialog. It is her total commitment to her character and the story that makes so many of them work as well as they do.

Exactly.

Judy wasn't the only reason that MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS was a success, but the was an important one. I think that ANY good looking guy can play Superman now and no one would really care, but it wasn't like that back in Judy's era. A star was a star and that's why she has endured.