Letter from Home - A Trip to Hollywood - February 2016

Dear Friends:

A few days ago, the air in Grand Rapids was filled with the sounds of melting snow dripping off roof tops, forming streams and lakes in our years and roads.  Now, except for a few big piles of the white stuff, it seems early spring has arrived.

It remains to be seen whether spring is here to stay, meanwhile in this newsletter we'd like to take you out of the snow for a trip our director John Kelsch and Michelle Russell took to Southern California. This February, the pair set off for Los Angeles and Hollywood where they forged new connections for the Judy Garland Museum and explored some Judy Garland history and treasures.

A VISIT TO WARNER BROTHERS

John Kelsch seated across the street from Warner Bros where
some of the greatest films of all time were made.

One visit was to Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, where, in 1954, Judy filmed one of her greatest cinematic works, “A Star Is Born.” Warner Bros. now holds the rights to “The Wizard of Oz” and all of Judy’s films. During this visit, John Kelsch was able to meet with representatives of the studio. We hope this meeting may result in more news in the future.

Like Universal Studios, Warner Bros. now has tours of its great studio which visitors to Los Angeles may want to check out! 

TWO GUMM HOMES and A HOTEL

In the books “Young Judy” and “Rainbow,” there is information about house which the Gumm family lived in 1933, after they left Lancaster. The home on Ivanhoe in the Silver Lake District was chosen by Frank Gumm himself. He didn’t feel the little house Ethel had rented was appropriate, so he scouted around until he found this house, which resembles a small medieval castle.

Michelle Russell, who authored the book, “From Tennessee to Oz” on Judy Garland’s family history and early life, was particularly interested in seeing this home. Judy’s sister, Jimmy called it “a wild house...” At the time the family lived there, you crossed a bridge to enter the first floor where there was a living room and a grand outdoor terrace. The second floor contained a kitchen, dining room and two bedrooms. The third floor had more bedrooms and a playroom. In additon, there was a floor below the living room that had a sauna and an exercise room. Finding this house was a great adventure.

Using “Siri” on an i-phone, Kelsch and Russell were guided from the Hollywood area, through a residential neighborhood to a narrow, winding hilltop area of old homes that looked like a cross between San Francisco and Italy. In many cases there was only room for one car to pass with “S” shaped winding curves as steep as one can imagine! Down the side of this hill, they ascended up another hill which finally led them to the Ivanhoe address. There was no mistaking the location with its castle turrets. A section has been added on to the house since the time Mr. and Mrs. Gumm lived there with their three daughters. The positioning of house is spectacular, with a view in three directions that includes all of Hollywood and part of the Los Angeles. Although the Gumms only lived in this home for a short time, it must have been an experience they never forgot.

The second home Kelsch and Russell visited was the home where Judy, her mother and sister, Jimmy, lived after her father, Frank Gumm, died. This home is on McCadden Place in the Wilshire District, an older, upper scale area with many lovely homes.

Judy lived in this house from the beginning of her MGM contract in 1935 – during the making of all her early films, up to and including the making of “The Wizard of Oz.” During the making of “Everybody Sing,” Judy and her mother began planning the design of her Stone Canyon home, They did not move into the Stone Canyon home until 1939, after Judy had completed work on “The Wizard of Oz.”

Ma Lawlor''s Professional School
once stood on the corner of
Hollywood Boulevard & 

On their final day in Los Angeles, Michelle Russell headed back to the Hollywood area via the new subway system which avoids all of Los Angeles’ crazy traffic. There were two stops she had in mind. The first was the site of Ma Lawlor’s School for Professional Children where Judy attended School with Mickey Rooney in the early 1930s. This building is gone and probably has been for a while. Meanwhile, there is so much construction of new, tall buildings in Hollywood, the old buildings are disappearing rapidly. 

Another important site in Judy Garland’s personal history is the St. Moritz Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. This old hotel is the place the Gumm family stayed on their first visit to Los Angeles in 1926. Amazingly, this site still exists and it is still called the St. Moritz, but known as Apartments rather than a hotel. The address is: 5849 Sunset Boulevard. It’s quite amazing to imagine Frank and Ethel Gumm with their three girls, Mary Jane, 11, Jimmy, 9, and Frances, 4, residing  in this hotel so many years ago. Standing there for a few seconds you are able to travel back in time.

HOLLYWOOD TREASURES

Another place of note is the Hollywood Museum just off Sunset and Highland. This museum is situated in the old Max Factor Building. Max Factor created makeup which all the movie stars used in the old days. Factor's building was considered the height of elegance at the time. Today you can go in and see the make-up rooms where stars and others came to have make-up designed specifically for them. There are rooms for blondes, redheads and brunettes.

The Hollywood Museum contains hundreds of rare photos. It also has many costumes on loan from both classic and recent films. At this time, there are costumes on display from the films nominated for the recent Academy Awards.

Of special interest to Russell and Kelsch were some costumes said have been worn by Baby Gumm. The costumes were not marked and after further investigation we were informed by expert Woolsey Ackerman that these were worn by the little actress playing Baby Gumm in the made for TV film about Judy Garland, “Me and My Shadows.”

There were a few of Judy’s actual costumes on display, including the “Peanuts” dress from “A Star Is Born.” (The Judy Garland has on loan the hat from this costume on display here in Grand Rapids) and the wig Judy wore in “Babes on Broadway” for the “Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones.”


Coming out of the Hollywood Museum, across the street, there is a huge mural on the Hollywood High which portrays many of the stars who attended that school. The mural, which is quite stunning, shows Judy shown as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”  

THE NEW ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES

On visiting the site where the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will stand, it was evident that construction is underway. The Museum will be located on the elegant Wilshire Boulevard in an area known as the ‘museum miracle mile.’ The designers plan to preserve the Wilshire May Company building façade – a beautiful store which opened in 1939 – an important year in film history.

The iconic entrance of the former May Company store with its many storied gold tower will create a classic entrance for the new museum. Interestingly enough, in the brochure about the new museum, there is a 1940 picture of young Judy Garland standing on the corner Wilshire and Fairfax, in front of this building! How appropriate.

John Kelsch had a very productive meeting with representatives of the museum. In the future, we hope to have some exciting news to report.

BACK TO GRAND RAPIDS and THE WIZARD OF OZ FESTIVAL 2016

John Kelsch is now back in Grand Rapids and plans are being put together for the 2016 Wizard of Oz Festival. Since this year marks 80 years since Judy Garland made her film debut, along with our celebration of The Wizard of Oz and events for children, we are working on some programs to celebrate Judy’s career and legacy. We promise to be back in touch with another newsletter within the next couple weeks.

JUST A NOTE:  Judy Garland is Turner Classic Movies APRIL STAR OF THE MONTH. Let's celebrate!   http://www.tcm.com/schedule/

Happy spring to everyone!

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