Newsletter: Classic Hollywood: Margaret O’Brien, Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn and Sabu

This is Susan King, veteran movie reporter at the Los Angeles Times and guardian of the Golden Age of Hollywood galaxy. Every Friday in my Classic Hollywood newsletter, I get to talk about everything near and dear to my heart, including notable births and deaths, movie and TV milestones, memories of legends I’ve interviewed, fun events around town and the latest books and DVDS for the discerning cinephile and couch potato.

Saturday marks the 71st anniversary of the New York opening of one of my favorite holiday movies, Vincente Minnelli’s glorious Technicolor musical “Meet Me in St. Louis,” starring Judy Garland (who would later marry Minnelli), Margaret O’Brien and Tom Drake. Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane supplied several of the memorable songs, including the Oscar-nominated “The Trolley Song,” as well as “The Boy Next Door” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Three years ago, I chatted with O’Brien, now 78, about the making of the classic and her performance as Garland’s young sister Tootie, which won her a juvenile Oscar.

“I was always supposed to do it but almost didn’t do it because my mother walked into [MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer’s] office and asked for more money,” O’Brien said. “Of course, he started to cry. He could do better tears, when you asked for money, than I could do in the film.”

Her mother told Mayer, “ ‘We don’t know how long we are going to be here [at MGM], so I want some security for my child. I’m a dancer, and we are going to New York.’ So we left.”

Eventually, Mayer relented, and O’Brien and her mother returned, and the rest is history.

O’Brien loved working with Garland. “It was a very happy time for her because she was going with director Vincente Minnelli. What most people don’t know is that she had a wonderful sense of humor. She loved playing with us kids. She would jump rope with us. She was a happy person deep down.”

A royal romance

Fathom Events and TCM are teaming up again this Sunday and Tuesday to present the magical, romantic 1953 romantic comedy “Roman Holiday” in select theaters across the country. Run, do not walk, to see this gem. Directed by William Wyler and penned by blacklisted Dalton Trumbo — he won an Oscar using a front — “Roman Holiday” stars a luminous Audrey Hepburn, who won the lead actress Oscar for her delightful performance as a sheltered European princess visiting Rome. She decides to enjoy the Eternal City on her own and ends up falling in love with a handsome American reporter (Gregory Peck).

Slap happy

The Alex Film Society just wants you to say Moe this Saturday at the Alex Theatre in Glendale when the AFS in association with C3 Entertainment presents its annual Three Stooges festival. The majority of the comedy shorts feature Moe, Larry and Curly, though there is also one with Shemp, 1947’s “Sing a Song of Six Pants.” Other Stooge comedies include 1936’s “A Pain in the Pullman” and 1938’s “Healthy, Wealthy and Dumb.” Stooge family members, friends and costars are scheduled to be in attendance.

Don’t touch that dial

As a kid, I loved watching Christmas TV specials, especially the ones starring Perry Como. So I’m planning to set my DVR for the vintage Christmas specials airing every Wednesday on the nostalgic movie channel getTV through Dec. 23.

Among the shows airing are a 1966 Christmas edition of “The Andy Williams Show,” with special guests Claudine Longet (his wife at the time) and the Osmond Brothers; 1973’s “The Christmas Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour,” with special guest William Conrad; the 1971 “Bing Crosby and the Sounds of Christmas” featuring Robert Goulet and the Crosby family; a 1966 yuletide episode of “The Danny Kaye Show” with special guests Peggy Lee and Wayne Newton; and, of course, 1974’s “The Perry Como Christmas Show,” with guests the Carpenters plus Rich Little and Peggy Fleming.

Sneak peek

This Sunday’s Classic Hollywood looks at the fabulous new “Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies” DVD/Blu-ray set that features beautifully digitally restored prints of the comedies Charlie Chaplin made for the Chicago-based company 100 years ago including “The Tramp,” “Police” and “A Night Out.”

From the Hollywood Star Walk

Notable births this week include Bruce Lee (Nov. 27); Jimi Hendrix (Nov. 27); Berry Gordy (Nov. 28); Ed Harris (Nov. 28); Randy Newman (Nov. 28); Genevieve Tobin (Nov. 29); Diane Ladd (Nov. 29); Dick Clark (Nov. 30); Richard Crenna (Nov. 30): Robert Guillaume (Nov. 30); Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (Nov. 30); Mary Martin (Dec. 1); Bette Midler (Dec. 1); Richard Pryor (Dec. 1); Lou Rawls (Dec. 1); Maria Callas (Dec. 1); and Ezra Stone (Dec. 1).

Star of India

Sabu Dastagir, who appeared in films as Sabu, died suddenly on Dec. 2, 1963, of a heart attack at age 39. The Indian-born actor came to fame in the Alexander Korda productions of 1937’s “Elephant Boy,” 1938’s “Drums” and 1940’s “The Thief of Bagdad.” He became an American citizen in the 1940s and won the Distinguished Flying Cross serving with a bombing group in the Pacific during World War II. His last film, Disney’s “A Tiger Walks,” was released posthumously in 1964. Here is the L.A. Times obituary as it appeared in the paper on Dec. 3, 1963.

For more vintage Hollywood, go to the Classic Hollywood Los Angeles Times Facebook page and follow me on Twitter at @mymackie.