A Star Is Born (1954)

I saw this yesterday at the Regent Street Cinema.I had no idea that it was the reconstructed version that they were showing,if i had know then i am not sure that i would have gone.To me the problem was that every time the drama seemed to gain momentum it was stopped in its tracks by yet another interminable musical number by Judy Garland.In fact it went on that i had to leave before the end to deal with more pressing matters.I have to say that Judy Garland did not look in good shape at times.It was rather difficult to understand why she would ever fall for someone so obnoxious as Norman Maine.Also it has to be said that the portrayal by Charles Bickford made him look more like Mother Theresa than the real article such as Jack Warner.Given the fact that this film cost over $5million and made a loss it is little surprise that Graland made so few films after this or that she failed to win an Oscar.She had rubbed enough people up the wrong way and was never likely to win a popularity contest.

A film star (James Mason) helps a young singer and actress (Judy Garland) find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.Judy Garland is known fora couple things. Being the star of "Wizard of Oz". Having a singing and acting career marred by drug problems. And being the mother of Liza Minnelli. This film sort of takes place in that second of three things. While not about the addictions she herself had, it definitely gives her a chance to shine.James Mason has an incredible voice. Eddie Izzard knows that, and so does anyone who sees this movie. It may be a showcase for Garland, but he steals plenty of scenes with that voice alone.

George Cukor's remake of William A. Wellman's masterpiece comes across as a reflection of Judy Garland's career. She plays the rising star whose husband (James Mason) sees his career fall apart. The purpose of both movies is to indict the entertainment industry's policy of chewing people up and spitting them out. This version of "A Star Is Born" got turned into a musical to showcase Garland's singing skills, but it maintains the original's spirit.I wouldn't go so far as to call this version a masterpiece. The singing gives it a flashy feeling that interferes with the main story, and some of the scenes would not get considered politically correct in the 21st century. Even so, the movie remains a fine achievement, compounded by the damaged life that Garland led. The later version starring Barbra Streisand* and Kris Kristofferson was OK but seemed like more of a spectacle than the previous versions. I recommend this one.*When "60 Minutes" interviewed Streisand, it showed footage of her as a guest on Garland's show in the early '60s, and the two of them sang a duet.

Taken as a whole, this film is definitely not the classic that it is reputed to be. On the plus side, James Mason gives what may be the finest performance of his career, and that makes this film watchable. He effortlessly succeeds as a movie star playing a movie star, which is considerably more difficult than one might expect. If you don't believe me, watch Jack Palance play a movie star in The Big Knife. The story of A Star Is Born is excellent, although clumsily executed. The Technicolor cinematography is good, and Jean Louis does his usual excellent job of costume design. Judy Garland gives a fine performance and shows herself to be a strong singer, which leads us to the minus side. Judy does her best with the songs but the music score is flat, to put it mildly. There is no Rogers and Hammerstein or Andrew Lloyd Webber quality material here. The Roger Edens and Conrad Sallinger score for Meet Me in St. Louis completely blows the score for A Star Is Born away. If you enjoy hearing Judy sing, watch Meet Me in St. Louis or The Harvey Girls as those films showcases what she can do with good material. The other major defect of this film is poor artistic design. Being a big Hitchcock fan myself, I appreciate good sets and this film does not have them. The weak music score and poor sets for a musical are most likely the result of this film having been made at Warner Bros. instead of MGM. Warner simply did not have the right mix of talent necessary to do musicals; another excellent example of a Warner musical flop is Night and Day, where even Cole Porter songs can't save it. Warner could not pull off making a musical any more than MGM could ever pull off making a film noir. A Star is Born is still watchable. James Mason saw to that, but Judy Garland's performance is wasted by having forced her to sing poor music.