Quotes

[on Judy Garland] I never had any problems with Judy. But Judy loved to growl, loved to pretend, and when she heard I was assigned to "Easter Parade" she said, "Look sweetie, I'm no June Allyson, you know. Don't get cute with me. None of that batting-the-eyelids bit, or the fluffing the hair routine, buddy! I'm Judy Garland and you just watch it!"

[on Esther Williams] She's a dear dame. The only person I know who didn't want a theatrical career -- she got into the business by mistake.

[on Busby Berkeley] Buzz treated his actors like pieces of scenery or a piece of furniture. He'd shove them around, move 'em around. Time meant nothing, lines meant nothing. It was just where his camera was, and where you had to be when he wanted to swoop around and slide in for a close-up. "God dammit!", he'd say, "I told you to turn on that line so I could come in". And he'd push Judy [Garland] and place her and make her feel very awkward.

[on 'Cabin in the Sky] John Bubbles did a dance number and, of course, the taps weren't recorded when he shot it. You always put the taps in afterward. So when Bubbles was in the looping stage, he couldn't remember what the step was. They called me in to see if I could break it down and analyze his step to do his foot sounds. I never had such a challenge in my life.

I suppose one of the things that made those Metro musicals so alive and inventive was that we didn't study other peoples' work or what was happening in the theatre - although most of us came from the stage. We'd get wild ideas and say, "Let's do it - and we did!"