I Could Go On Singing (1963)

A singer comes back to the life she left for her career hoping to pick up the pieces once again.

Powerful film about regret, love, and acceptence, I Could Go On Singing follows Jenny Bowman (Judy Garland), a woman who leaves her child behind to continue her career and comes back to try to find whom and what she left behind in her wake.

Garland Performances

I Could Go On Singing
Music by E.Y. Harburg
Lyrics by Harold Arlen
Performed by Judy Garland

I Am the Monarch of the Sea
Music by William S. Gilbert
Lyrics by Sir Arthur Sullivan
Performed by Judy Garland

Hello Bluebird
Music and lyrics by Cliff Friend
Performed by Judy Garland

It Never Was You
Music by Kurt Weill
Lyrics by Maxwell Anderson
Performed by Judy Garland

By Myself
Music by Arthur Schwartz
Lyrics by Howard Dietz
Performed by Judy Garland

I Could Go On Singing
Music by E.Y. Harburg
Lyrics by Harold Arlen
Performed by Judy Garland

Reviews

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Availability

I Could Go On Singing is in print and available on DVD from Amazon.com.

Resources

I Could Go On Singing on IMDb

Fast Facts

This was Judy Garland's final film.

Judy's children, Lorna and Joe Luft, appear in the scene as tourists on the boat on the Thames. They can be seen in the capture taken from that scene below.

Lines to Remember

Jenny: You know, there's and old saying when you go on stage, you don't feel any pain at all when the lights hit you, you don't feel anything. It's a stinking lie!

Audience Member: Where ya been Jenny?
Jenny: What? I've been having a hell of a time.
Thank you very much!
Audience Member: What happend to the Ankle?
Jenny: I've been shiing or skiing or both!
Like my furs?
Audience Member: Where'd ya get 'em?
Jenny: Just shot 'em!

Jenny: Don't ever go to an exhibition of abstract art for the millions.
David: No, I won't.
Thank you nurse.
Jenny: And if you do go don't ever drink the martinis.
David: Never.
Jenny: Because they're half gasoline.
David: And you had enough.
Jenny: I've had enough to float Fire Island. Does it show?
David: Someone told me.
Jenny: That's pretty sneaky...
Oh, there's a young Lord I must warn you about.
David: Oh.
Jenny: Lord George whatever his name is, he asked me if he could take me home and I said, "thank you." And we got into the cab, the next thing I knew it was all fall out and I wound up with this. He knew where he lived all right. I was out. I was out cold. I was out and nobody asked me where I lived.
David: Then how did you get here?
Jenny: A cab driver named Joe. Yes, Joe brought me here and they fixed my foot and they gave me coffee and somebody asked for an autograph for their cousin Marilyn.
I feel awful, David...
David: Have some of this, come on.
Jenny: Oh, no more coffee. I couldn't take any more unless you fed me through the vein. I'm full to the brim with the whole ...world.
Have you come to take me home?
David: No, I've come to take you back to the theatre.
Jenny: Oh no you haven't! I'm never going back there ever, ever again.
David: But there are people waiting.
Jenny: I don't care if they're fasting. Just give them their money back and tell them to come again next fall.
David: But Jenny, it's a sell out.
Jenny: I'm always a sell out!
David: You promised. They're waiting, there's George and Ida and two hundred thousand...
Jenny: I know, just let them wait! To hell with them!
I can't be spread so thin. I'm just one person. I don't want to be rolled out like a pastry so everyone can get a great big bite out of me.
David: Uh huh...
Jenny: I belong to myself. Just me, myself, and I. I can do whatever I damn well please with myself and nobody can ask any questions.
David: Now you know that is not true, don't you?
Jenny: Well, I'm not gonna do it anymore and that's final.
I...uh, it's just not all the deaths I have to die.
David: You have a show to do tonight. You are going to do it. And I am going to see that you do.
Jenny: You think you can make me sing? Do you really think you can? Do you think George can make me sing? Or Ida? You can get me there sure, but can you get me to sing?
I sing for myself. I sing when I want, whenever I want to, just for me. I sing for my own pleasure. Do you understand that?
David: Yes I do understand that, just hang on...
Jenny: Well, I've hung on to every bit of rubbish there is in life and I've thrown all the good bits away. Can you tell me why I do that?
David: No, I can't, but I can tell you that you this. You are going to be late. I don't care, darling, I don't give a damn who you let down, but you are not going to let you down.

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