The glamour of a personal appearance at the opening of "Broadway Melody" in San Francisco wasn't so very exciting in itself for Judy Garland. She had been a stage trouper since the ripe age of three. Bright lights of the theater were just so many candles in the window for her. But something else was exciting.

Judy went to the theater with an ostrich plume evening wrap around her shoulders, and two beautiful orchids for a corsage. That, for this film star-in-the-making, was about the most wonderful thing that could happen to her. It was playing at being grown up, just for this one night. Tomorrow she would be fifteen - acting her own age. It was an iron-bound rule around the home life of Judy Garland that she must be her age - no more and no less.

And therein lies a unique story.

Judy Garland, at fifteen, has made such an astonishing hit in the few pictures featuring her that MGM shortly will be pushed into making her a full-fledged star. That's a prediction commonly shared around Hollywood, where public demand is under constant scrutiny. And MGM, facing this fact, doesn't know whether it will have a child star or an ingenue. Or both. For Judy, contrary to the general opinion shared by the world, is not an "old" fifteen, worldly wise and grown up. She is still just a typical girl of that age, who may overnight become different.

But perhaps we should start at the beginning.

Acting is a part of Judy Garland. She was born with the theater in her veins, and she made her stage debut before she was able to walk. Her parents were veterans of the stage. Her older sisters lived and breathed it. So Judy followed the course of least resistance and was a veteran trouper before she knew much about the world she lived in.

The three sisters finally formed an act of their own, with their parents taking them on tours of the country. They were called the Gumm Sisters at first - that was the family name. Georgie Jessel, ensconced in a Chicago theater, got them to make the act over as the Garland Sisters. Frances, the youngest of the three, went all the way and became Judy from that time on.

The act really clicked when it hit the Fair in Chicago, in 1933. The act was still clicking when Suzanne, oldest of the trio, married. Virginia, the other sister, went to work and Judy started in school.

Six months away from the footlights did not lessen Judy's desire for a career, however. So one Saturday morning her mother showed up at MGM with her and sought a screen test. Plenty of mothers do that - and fail. But Judy had an argument for the talent lads. She was an actress with eight years of experience. So they tested her - and Judy was signed.

At Metro they believe in proper preparation, and Judy had a year of it before she got her real start. She appeared in a short subject meanwhile with a girl called Deanna Durbin. The picture was labeled "Every Sunday". Then 20th Century Fox wanted someone for an important role in "Pigskin Parade". Judy was borrowed for the picture, and she made an instantaneous hit.

Back at Metro she did "Thoroughbreds Don't Cry", "Broadway Melody" and "Everybody Sing" in rapid succession. These three pictures have established her as a tremendous draw at any theater.

Right now Judy is finishing a personal-appearance tour of the East, and everywhere she goes she is mobbed by admirers. The studio knows the answer - a star is about to be born.

Metro representatives all over the country are praising her talents. One local representative wired the home office: "She's a great kid and you don't have to tell her a thing. What a trouper! At the local breakfast she had the big wigs right in the palm of her hand!"

And that is typical of what they say about her everywhere. Judy is a strange mixture of little girl and grownup personality, with the former element dominating.

When Judy started this tour, it was a far cry from the old trouping days. Instead of sleeping in an upper berth with one of her sisters, she rated a drawing-room in a luxurious streamlined train, and the very sight of it drew exclamations of wonder from her.

The tour, for Judy, is educational as well as lucrative. She has a school-teacher in constant attendance, and wherever they go, Judy is taken to view the important local things and hear the historical background. When she gets back in Hollywood, she will be able to tell you about everything from the stock exchange to the stock yards. Nothing is being overlooked.

That's an unusual break for a girl of her age. It will broaden her vision tremendously. But the experiences she has will not be allowed to make her grow up too quickly.

I said before that this is an important item in the Gumm family. And it is, indeed. Even Judy herself takes the matter very seriously. She prefers gingham dresses, socks and sandals to silken gowns, sheer hosiery and high-heeled shoes. She wears simple, ordinary things all the time, and loves it.

You can discuss the matter of growing up with Judy, and she will depreciate the importance of becoming a woman. It is of no consequence - yet. Listen to her wise philosophy:

"I know lots of girls who think it's funny that I won't wear silk dresses and use make-up," she says. "Maybe it is - I don't happen to think so.

"When I am eighteen, I want to be able to enjoy the things that come with that age. And I won't be able to do the things that I do now. So I'm just living my age while I can. Then, when I'm eighteen, I'll have all the extra thrill of dressing in grown-up clothes and doing the things that grown-up people do. I am in no hurry."

When you stop to analyze that statement, it assumes a new importance. It proves that Judy is not affected at all by her unusual circumstances. She doesn't think it's smart to be sophisticated, so she remains natural - just Judy. That one fact will profoundly affect her future - and pleasantly.

Judy is being taught early the importance of thriftiness. Consequently, she will grow up with a sizable estate of her own. She knows there is a long life ahead of her, and perhaps only a comparatively short career. Whether it is five years or twenty - she will be ready for whatever comes.

Judy refuses, incidentally, to look into the future. Things like that tend to make a child grow up too soon. Instead, she has only one definite plan, and with that she lets to-morrow take care of itself. Judy owns a piece of property near Hollywood. Some day she will build on it. That is her sole dream of to-morrow!

And since the future is thus accommodated so nicely, she has plenty of time for to-day. When she works, she works like a Trojan. She delivers those "blues" songs in her own inimitable style. Every time she sings, she throws in the whole works.

A visit to Judy's house on a week-end is really something. She and her musical pals hold "jam sessions" of their own - where they all attempt to play hot rhythms on trombones, trumpets, and what have you. Incidentally, one of her best friends is a young lady who also has found a sudden and miraculous screen fame - Deanna Durbin.

Every passing day Judy's mother is pleased that her daughter remains just Judy - with punch!