Editing Judy Garland (section)

===1947–1950: Last MGM motion pictures===
[[File:Trailer screenshot of Garland in The Pirate.png|thumb|261x261px|Garland in ''[[The Pirate (1948 film)|The Pirate]] trailer'' (1948){{Efn|This particular scene was filmed in 1947.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Pirate – The Judy Room |url=https://www.thejudyroom.com/filmography/the-pirate/ |access-date=December 19, 2024 |website=www.thejudyroom.com}}</ref>|name=}}]]
During the filming of ''[[The Pirate (1948 film)|The Pirate]]'', Garland suffered a [[Mental breakdown|nervous breakdown]] and she was placed in a private [[sanatorium]].{{sfn|Edwards|1975|p=108}} She was able to complete filming, but in July 1947 she made her first suicide attempt, making minor cuts to her wrist with a broken glass.{{sfn|Frank|1975|p=231}} During this period, she spent two weeks in treatment at the [[Austen Riggs Center]], a psychiatric hospital in [[Stockbridge, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/judy-garland/career-timeline/601/ |title=Judy Garland – Career Timeline &#124; American Masters |publisher=PBS |date=July 7, 2004 |access-date=April 3, 2010}}</ref> ''The Pirate'' was released in May 1948 and it was the first film which did not make a profit since Garland had starred in ''The Wizard of Oz''. The main reasons for its failure were not only its cost but also included the increasing expense of the shooting delays while Garland was ill, as well as the general public's unwillingness to accept her in a sophisticated film. Following her work on ''The Pirate'', she co-starred for the first and only time with [[Fred Astaire]] (who replaced Gene Kelly after Kelly had broken his ankle) in ''[[Easter Parade (film)|Easter Parade]]'' (1948), which was Hollywood's highest-grossing musical.<ref>{{cite news |title=When Hollywood's elite became obsessed with Freudian shrinks |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/luxury/article/when-hollywoods-elite-became-obsessed-with-freudianshrinks-75khdc6ks |access-date=November 19, 2023 |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref>
[[File:Easter Parade.jpg|left|thumb|251x251px|Garland in ''[[Easter Parade (film)|Easter Parade]]'']]
Thrilled by the huge box-office receipts of ''Easter Parade'', MGM immediately teamed Garland and Astaire in ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]''. During the initial filming, Garland was taking [[Medical prescription|prescription]] barbiturate sleeping pills along with illicitly obtained pills containing [[morphine]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Clarke|first=Andrew|date=June 14, 2019|title=50 years on: Judy Garland self-destructive genius or the girl never allowed to grow up?|url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/things-to-do/the-tortured-genius-that-was-judy-garland-1407438|access-date=November 27, 2021|website=Eastern Daily Press|language=en-UK|archive-date=November 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127103650/https://www.edp24.co.uk/things-to-do/the-tortured-genius-that-was-judy-garland-1407438|url-status=dead}}</ref> Around this time, she also developed a serious problem with alcohol. These, in combination with [[migraine]] headaches, led her to miss several shooting days in a row. After being advised by her doctor that she would only be able to work in four- to five-day increments with extended rest periods between, MGM executive [[Arthur Freed]] made the decision to suspend her on July 18, 1948. She was replaced in the film by [[Ginger Rogers]].{{sfn|Shipman|1992|p=225}}[[File:Judy Garland as Veronica Fisher.png|thumb|Garland in ''[[In the Good Old Summertime]] trailer'' (1949)|258x258px]]When her suspension was over, she was summoned back to work and she ultimately performed two songs as a guest in the [[Rodgers and Hart]] biopic ''[[Words and Music (1948 film)|Words and Music]]'' (1948), which was her last appearance with Mickey Rooney. Despite the all-star cast, ''Words and Music'' barely broke even at the box office. Having regained her strength, as well as some needed weight during her suspension, Garland felt much better and in the fall of 1948, she returned to MGM to replace a pregnant [[June Allyson]] for the musical film ''[[In the Good Old Summertime]]'' (1949) co-starring [[Van Johnson]]. Although she was sometimes late arriving at the studio during the making of this picture, she managed to complete it five days ahead of schedule. Her daughter Liza made her film debut at the age of two and a half at the end of the film. ''In the Good Old Summertime'' was enormously successful at the box office.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clarke|first1=Gerald|title=Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland|url=https://archive.org/details/gethappylifeofju00clar|url-access=registration|date=2000|publisher=Random House|page=[https://archive.org/details/gethappylifeofju00clar/page/240 240]|isbn=9780375503788}}</ref>
Garland was then cast in the film adaptation of ''[[Annie Get Your Gun (film)|Annie Get Your Gun]]'' in the title role of [[Annie Oakley]]. She was nervous at the prospect of taking on a role strongly identified with [[Ethel Merman]], anxious about appearing in an unglamorous part after breaking from juvenile parts for several years and disturbed by her treatment at the hands of director [[Busby Berkeley]]. Berkeley was severe with Garland's lack of effort, attitude and enthusiasm. She complained to Mayer, trying to have Berkeley fired from the feature. She began arriving late to the set and sometimes failed to appear. At this time, she was also undergoing [[electroconvulsive therapy]] for depression.<ref>{{cite web
| title = Judy Garland's Legacy
| date=March 29, 1999
| publisher=[[CBS]]
| url =http://www.cbsnews.com/news/judy-garlands-legacy/
| access-date=July 5, 2015}}
</ref><ref>{{cite news
| title = Judy Garland among long list of creative figures given ECT
| newspaper = [[The Scotsman]]
| url = http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/judy-garland-among-long-list-of-creative-figures-given-ect-1-2183163
| access-date = July 5, 2015
| archive-date = September 24, 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924135957/http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/judy-garland-among-long-list-of-creative-figures-given-ect-1-2183163
| url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fricke|first1=John|title=Judy: A Legendary Film Career|date=2011|publisher=Running Press|page=286}}</ref> She was fired from the picture on May 10, 1949, and was replaced by [[Betty Hutton]], who stepped in to perform all the musical routines as staged by Robert Alton.{{sfn|Clarke|2001|p=255}}
Garland underwent an extensive hospital stay at [[Brigham and Women's Hospital|Peter Bent Brigham Hospital]] in [[Boston]], Massachusetts, in which she was weaned off her medication and after a while, was able to eat and sleep normally.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}[[File:Garland on set.webp|left|thumb|280x280px|Garland on the set of [[Summer Stock]] (1950)]]Garland returned to Los Angeles heavier and in the fall of 1949, she was cast opposite Gene Kelly in ''[[Summer Stock]]'' (1950). The film took six months to complete. To lose weight, Garland went back on the pills and the familiar pattern resurfaced. She began showing up late or not at all. When principal photography on ''Summer Stock'' was completed in the spring of 1950, it was decided that Garland needed an additional musical number. She agreed to do it provided the song was "[[Get Happy (song)|Get Happy]]". In addition, she insisted that director [[Charles Walters]] choreograph and stage the number. By that time, Garland had lost 15&nbsp;pounds and looked more slender. "Get Happy" was the last segment of ''Summer Stock'' to be filmed. It was her final picture for MGM. When it was released in the fall of 1950, ''Summer Stock'' drew big crowds and racked up very respectable box-office receipts, but because of the costly shooting delays caused by Garland, the film posted a loss of $80,000 to the studio.<ref>{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}.</ref>

Garland was cast in the film ''[[Royal Wedding]]'' with Fred Astaire after June Allyson became pregnant in 1950. She failed to report to the set on multiple occasions and the studio suspended her contract on June 17, 1950. She was replaced by [[Jane Powell]].{{sfn|Frank|1975|p=271}} Reputable biographies following her death stated that after this latest dismissal, she slightly grazed her neck with a broken glass, requiring only a [[Band-Aid]], but at the time, the public was informed that a despondent Garland had slashed her throat.<ref name=Shana>{{cite news|last=Alexander|first=Shana|title=Judy's New Rainbow|magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]]|date=June 2, 1961}}</ref> "All I could see ahead was more confusion", Garland later said of this suicide attempt. "I wanted to black out the future as well as the past. I wanted to hurt myself and everyone who had hurt me."<ref>{{cite news|last=Hyams|first=Joe|author-link=Joe Hyams|title=Crack-Up
|work=[[Photoplay]]|date=January 1957}}</ref> In September 1950, after 15 years with the studio, Garland and MGM parted company.<ref>{{cite news|title=Judy Garland, M.G.M. Studio Call It Quits|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3121185/judy_garland_mgm_studio_call_it/|access-date=August 30, 2015|work=[[The San Bernardino Sun]]|publisher=The Sun Company of San Bernardino California|volume=57|issue=26|date=September 30, 1950|location=[[San Bernardino, California]]|page=1|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref>{{sfn|Frank|1975|pp=284–285}}[[File:Judy Garland 1950 publicity photo.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Publicity photo of Garland in 1950]]