A Star is Born 1954

    Norman Maine’s career as a movie star is winding down because of his over the top drinking.  He meets singer Esther Blodgett and he drunkenly stumbles into her act one night.  Esther decides not travel to the next location for the band and she hasn’t seen Norman.  He promised to get her a singing role in a film?  Norman is also looking for Esther because she made an impression on him even in his drunken state.  Esther’s name is changed Vicki Lester and her star is rising.  Norman has no acting roles at all now.

     This film follows some of the same pattern of the other releases from 1937, 2005 and 2019.  I do think the best release is the 2019 version.  Judy had a fantastically identifiable voice.  She is best known for her roles at MGM Studios but also for her extensive catalogue.  Her voice was  warm and rich with an incredibly velvety quality.  Judy also had a personality on the grand scale.  She was tender and endearing but she could also be wild and turbulent.  A domineering stage mother and a series of paternalistic caretakers overprotected her.  Judy died at the age of 47 in 1969.  She battled obesity, alcohol and drugs.  She went from triumph to disaster and back.  3 ½* (I liked this movie. 

      

181 min, Drama directed by George Cukor with Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford, Tommy Noonan, Lucy Marlow, Amanda Blake, Irving Bacon, Hazel Shermet, James Brown.  

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 97% critic 82% audience, Common Sense Media Renee Schonfeld age 13+ 4* out of 5*, 1* positive 2* violence, 1* sex, 4* drinking, drugs & smoking, Metacritic 89 out of 100 with 9 critics 8.1 out of 10 with 16 user scores, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 420 reviews, Letterboxd average rating 3.9* out of 5*.

Special Note:  George Cukor offered Marlon Brando the role of Norman Maine.  Brando turned the offer down and said he was in the prime of his life.  If Cukor wanted an alcoholic has-been, he should ask James Mason?  Cukor was an expert on pushing actresses to an emotional brink.  Judy’s breakdown scene in her dressing room was because he drove her so hard that she threw up?  He was also an expert at easing tension on the set through humor.  The film was re-edited several times.  The premier was 181 minutes but Warner Bros. cut the film by 30 minutes despite the objections of George Cukor and Sidney Luft.  In 1983 all but 5 minutes of the cut footage was found and re-instated.  Some footage has to be reconstructed using production stills.  Groucho Marx called Judy Garland’s not winning an Oscar in 1954, “the biggest robbery since Brink’s.”  Columnist Hedda Hopper reported that Judy’s loss was the closest Oscar vote up until that time that didn’t end in a tie.  Just six votes separated the two actresses and it was a heartbreak that Judy never really recovered from and a matter of controversy ever since.