Mary Claire Kendall, writer and commentator, has extensive political experience, including a stint as one of Lee Atwater’s “30 nerds.” She served as a Reagan political appointee at the U.S. Department of Education, 1987-88, and as an HW Bush political appointee at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1989-93.
She writes for various publications including Washington Times, Washington Examiner, San Francisco Examiner, National Review Online, New York Post, NY Daily News, National Catholic Register, VFW Magazine, among many others. Celebrities are one of her favorite topics—her piece, Being Beautiful Betty (about Betty Hutton), was published in Newport Life Magazine. See maryclairecinema.com for more of her pieces.
Mary Claire Kendall
‘The Wizard of Oz’: Seventy Years Later — Still Inspiring, Still Relevant
by Mary Claire Kendall“That’s the best song ever written,” Judy Garland said of “Over the Rainbow” in an interview with Barbara Walters on March 6, 1967, almost three decades after she captured countless hearts as “Dorothy” in “The Wizard of Oz,” featuring that magical song.
So, too, “The Wizard of Oz”—released 70 years ago today—is, perhaps, the best film ever made.
Or, at least, the most quintessentially American—in terms of our struggles, hopes, aspirations, dreams, and, ultimately, unshakable confidence, that “somewhere over the rainbow… dreams… really do come true.”
MGM had purchased this highly popular and imaginative children’s book written by L. Frank Baum, and published in 1900, for $75,000, specifically for Judy. During development, the silver shoes became ruby, thus undercutting Baum’s apparent allegory to “bimetallism”—currency backed by silver, replacing “the gold standard” and favoring rural farmers; in contrast to the worthless “greenbacks” some say Emerald City represents. (more…)
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The Strings of Judy Garland’s Heart
by Mary Claire KendallThirty years after Judy Garland-”Dorothy”-first publicly performed “Over the Rainbow” on June 29, 1939, previewing the soon-to-be-released Wizard of Oz, this quintessential girl-next-door reached for more sleeping pills and hoped-for sleep, only to be, mercifully, granted eternal rest.
She always wanted to be “glamorous,” forgetting her far-surpassing appeal as the very essence of America.
Her story, the final earthly chapter ending forty years ago today, embodies American triumph and tragedy.
Born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, her life nearly ended in 1921 after her parents’ marriage was rocked by revelations of her father’s homosexual infidelity.
But, family physician Dr. Marcus Rabwin told Frank Gumm, “you go back to your wife and tell her I said she must have this baby.” The “powerful” Garland “force field,” as fellow MGM star Ann Miller put it, was evidently already at work. (more…)
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Seeing the Duke in a Whole New Light
by Mary Claire KendallFor navel-gazing Republicans, in the throes of a full-blown identity crisis, the 30th anniversary of John “Duke” Wayne’s passing this June 11th, couldn’t come sooner, reminding us of what it was like when giants were in our midst.
The Duke, still ranked Americans’ all-time favorite film star, whose popularity only increases with time, was an “extremely close friend” of Ronald Reagan, said their close mutual friend, longtime Paramount Executive, A.C. Lyles.
Both “Duke” and “Ronnie” shared a clear moral vision concerning America’s greatness-only using force to liberate not conquer, as President Reagan characterized it five years, almost to the day, after Duke’s death, in his poignant tribute to the “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” on June 6, 1984, commemorating D-Day, in which, Lyles said, “he just spoke from the heart.”
“Here, in Normandy,” said Reagan, “… the Allies stood and fought against tyranny, in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.” (more…)
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