A Star Is Born is a 1954 American musical film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay written by Moss Hart was an adaptation of the original 1937 film, which was based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell. In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The film ranked #43 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Passions list in 2002 and #7 on its list of best musicals in 2006. The song "The Man That Got Away" was ranked #11 on AFI's list of the 100 top tunes in films.
Star Judy Garland had not made a movie since she had been dropped from her MGM contract soon after filming began on Royal Wedding in 1950, and the film was promoted heavily as her comeback. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and NBC, which was televising the ceremony, sent a film crew to the hospital room where she was recuperating after giving birth to her son Joey in order to carry her acceptance speech live if she won, but she lost to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl.
Plot
Norman Maine is a former matinee idol whose career is in the early stages of decline. When he arrives intoxicated at a function at the Shrine Auditorium, his studio's publicist attempts to keep him away from reporters, and after an angry exchange, Norman rushes away and bursts onto a stage where an orchestra is performing. Singer Esther Blodgett takes him by the hand and pretends he is part of the act, turning an embarrassing and potentially destructive moment into an opportunity for the audience to greet Norman with applause.
Realizing Esther has saved him from public humiliation, Norman thanks her and draws a heart on the wall with her lipstick, then invites her to dinner. He later watches her perform after-hours in a downtown club and is impressed by her talent. He urges her to follow her dream, and convinces her to try to break into movies. She agrees to meet him the following day, but Norman is called away early in the morning to begin filming on location. He attempts to get a message to Esther but cannot remember her address, and when she doesn't hear from him, she suspects he was only flirting with her. Having quit her band, she takes jobs as a carhop and TV commercial singer to make ends meet.
Judy Garland in a screenshot from the film's trailer
Time passes and Norman hears Esther singing on a television commercial. Recognizing her voice, he tracks her down and convinces her he believes in her talent. Studio head Oliver Niles believes the girl is just a passing fancy for the actor, but he casts her in a small role in a film. The studio changes her name to Vicki Lester, and after Norman finally gets Oliver Niles to hear her sing, she is cast in an important musical film that is a huge success, making her a star. Her relationship with Norman Maine flourishes, and they wed.
As Vicki's career continues to grow, Norman finds himself unemployed. When she is presented with an Oscar, he joins her onstage and, while making a drunken speech, gestures wildly and accidentally strikes her in the face. He realizes how severe his alcoholism has become and enters a sanitarium where he gradually recovers with Vicki's support.
Following his release, Norman is at the racetrack, where he meets studio publicist Matt Libby, who taunts Norman and accuses him of living on Vicki's earnings. The resulting fight prompts the actor to go on a drinking binge and eventually he is arrested. Vicki bails him out and brings him home, where they are joined by Oliver Niles. Norman goes to bed but overhears his wife telling the studio head she will give up her career to take care of him. Norman tells Vicki he is going to go for a swim, then walks into the ocean and drowns himself.
Despondent, Vicki becomes a recluse and refuses to see anyone. Finally, her old friend Danny tells her she is wasting the career Norman died trying to save, and she agrees to honor a commitment to appear at a charity function. At the Shrine Auditorium, she notices the heart Norman drew on the wall on the night they met and for a moment begins to lose her composure. When Vicki arrives on stage, the emcee tells her the event is being broadcast worldwide and asks her to say a few words to her fans. She says, "Hello everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine."
Production
In December 1952, George Cukor was approached by Sid Luft, who proposed the director helm a musical remake of the 1937 film A Star is Born with his then-wife Judy Garland in the lead role.[1] Garland previously had portrayed Vicki Lester in a December 1942 Lux Radio Theater broadcast with Fredric March, and she and Luft, along with several associates, had formed Transcona Enterprises specifically to produce the project on screen.[2] Cukor had declined to direct the original film because it was too similar to his 1932 What Price Hollywood?, but the opportunity to direct his first Technicolor film, first musical, and work with screenwriter Moss Hart and especially Garland appealed to him, and he accepted.[3]
Getting the updated film to the screen proved to be a challenge. Cukor wanted Cary Grant, who he had directed three times before, for the male lead and went so far as to read the entire script with him. Grant, while agreeing it was the role of a lifetime, was more interested in traveling with wife Betsy Drake, and steadfastly refused the role (he also turned down Roman Holiday and Sabrina).[4] He was also concerned about Garland's reputation for unreliability; Drake stated that "Cary did not want to do it, because Judy Garland was a drug addict."[4] Cukor never forgave him for declining the role. The director then suggested either Humphrey Bogart or Frank Sinatra tackle the part, but Jack Warner rejected both. Stewart Granger was the front runner for a period of time, but he backed out when he was unable to adjust to Cukor's habit of acting out scenes as a form of direction.[5]
James Mason ultimately was signed, and filming began on October 12, 1953. As the months passed, Cukor was forced to deal not only with constant script changes but a very unstable leading lady, who was plagued by chemical and alcohol dependencies, extreme weight fluctuations, and real and imagined illnesses.[6] After considerable footage had been shot, studio executives decided the film should be the first Warner Brothers motion picture to use CinemaScope, necessitating everything be scrapped and filmed again.[2]
In March 1954, a rough cut still missing several musical numbers was assembled, and Cukor had mixed feelings about it. When the last scene was finally filmed in the early morning hours of July 28, 1954, Cukor already had departed the production and was unwinding in Europe.[7] The long "Born in A Trunk" sequence was added after Cukor had left, supervised by Garland's professional mentor, Roger Edens.
The first test screening the following month ran 196 minutes and, despite ecstatic feedback from the audience, Cukor and editor Folmar Blangsted trimmed it to 182 minutes for its New York premiere in October. The reviews were excellent, but Warner executives, concerned the running time would limit the number of daily showings, made drastic cuts without Cukor, who had departed for India to scout locations for Bhowani Junction. At its final running time of 154 minutes, the film had lost two major musical numbers and crucial dramatic scenes, and Cukor called it "very painful" to watch.[8]
Cast
Critical reception
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times called the film "one of the grandest heartbreak dramas that has drenched the screen in years." He added, "The whole thing runs for three hours, and during this extraordinary time a remarkable range of entertainment is developed upon the screen . . . No one surpasses Mr. Cukor at handling this sort of thing, and he gets performances from Miss Garland and Mr. Mason that make the heart flutter and bleed . . . Theirs is a credible enactment of a tragic little try at love in an environment that packages the product. It is the strong tie that binds the whole show. But there is more that is complementary to it. There is the muchness of music that runs from a fine, haunting torch-song . . . to a mammoth, extensive production number recounting the career of a singer . . . And there is, through it all, a gentle tracing of clever satire of Hollywood, not as sharp as it was in the original, but sharp enough to be stimulating fun."[9]
Time said Garland "gives what is just about the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history," while Newsweek said the film is "best classified as a thrilling personal triumph for Judy Garland. As an actress Miss Garland is more than adequate. As a mime and comedienne she is even better. But as a singer she can handle anything from torch songs and blues to ballads. In more ways than one, the picture is hers."[2]
That the film had been cut from its initial 182 minutes in its initial release to the 154 minutes (without the original's intermission) for general release throughout the States may have cast a pall over the film's popularity come Academy Award time. An impression had been created that the longer version, no longer available in theatres, was the better one. Which version was in contention?
Awards and nominations
- Academy Award for Best Actress (Judy Garland, nominee)
- Academy Award for Best Actor (James Mason, nominee)
- Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Malcolm C. Bert, Gene Allen, Irene Sharaff, and George James Hopkins, nominees)
- Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg, and Irene Sharaff, nominees)
- Academy Award for Best Original Song ("The Man that Got Away," nominee)
- Academy Award for Original Music Score (Ray Heindorf)
- BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress in a Leading Role (Judy Garland, nominee)
- Directors Guild of America Award (George Cukor, nominee)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Judy Garland, winner)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (James Mason, winner)
- Writers Guild of America Award for Best American Musical (Moss Hart, nominee)
1983 film restoration
For years, Garland fans and film historians expressed great interest in viewing the missing footage from this film. Beginning about 1981, film preservationist Ronald Haver did extensive research of the Warner Bros. film vaults and located some of the missing scenes, including two complete musical numbers, "Here's What I'm Here For" and "Lose That Long Face". In 1983, a 176-minute "restored" version was shown in theaters and then released on home video. The project was a collaboration between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the studio. Some of the missing footage had to be reconstructed using motion control photography and pan and scan of production stills, which ran accompanied by the restored dialogue. Most of the original multi-track stereophonic sound was also restored. In 2010 the film is being released on Blu-ray DVD. Rumors abound that more (if not all) the missing footage has been found.
Soundtrack releases
The soundtrack has never been out of print. It was originally released by Columbia Records in 1954 in 12-inch 78 rpm and 10 and 12-inch 33⅓ rpm editions.
In 1988, Columbia released the soundtrack on compact disc, taking the overture and the main musical numbers directly from the film's stereo soundtrack due to the fact no stereo soundtrack masters existed.
In 2004, in commemoration of the film's 50th anniversary, Columbia, Legacy Recordings, and Sony Music Soundtrax released a nearly complete, digitally-remastered, expanded edition of the soundtrack. Due to the lack of a complete multitrack version of all songs and score from the film, the CD includes a mix of monaural and stereo elements in order to make as complete a soundtrack as possible. "Here's What I'm Here For" and "Lose That Long Face" are from the original mono masters. "Gotta Have Me Go with You" is mostly in stereo, save for a brief portion where the mono soundtrack album master was used in order to remove plot-related screams from the track. All of the instrumental tracks are in mono as well.
The 2004 soundtrack also includes three vocal outtakes - an alternate vocal for the reprise of "It's a New World" that Esther sings while Norman goes for his final swim; "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street," which was intended to be part of the "Born In a Trunk" sequence, but was deleted for time constraints; and "The Trinidad Coconut Oil Shampoo Commercial," which was taken from a worn acetate playback disc, the only surviving recording of the complete track. In addition, much of the instrumental portion of the 2004 soundtrack contains partial or whole outtakes. This CD also sees the first CD release of the complete version of "Gotta Have Me Go with You" with the full introduction, as well as "The Man That Got Away" with an expanded introduction not used in the original film.
The original Columbia 1954 mono vinyl version of the soundtrack has been released on CD in Britain by Prism Leisure. This version includes bonus tracks of Judy Garland's Decca recordings of songs from other films.
1954 soundtrack release
- Gotta Have Me Go with You (Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin)
- The Man That Got Away (Arlen and Gershwin)
- Born In A Trunk (Roger Edens (music) and Leonard Gershe (lyrics))[10]
- Here's What I'm Here For (Arlen and Gershwin)
- It's a New World (Arlen and Gershwin)
- Someone at Last (Arlen and Gershwin)
- Lose That Long Face (Arlen and Gershwin)
1988 soundtrack release
- Overture
- Gotta Have Me Go with You
- The Man That Got Away
- Born in a Trunk Medley
- Here's What I'm Here For
- It's a New World
- Someone at Last
- Lose That Long Face
2004 soundtrack release
- Overture
- Night of the Stars (Instrumental)
- Gotta Have Me Go with You
- Norman At Home (Instrumental)
- Passion Oriental (Instrumental)
- The Man That Got Away
- Cheatin' On Me (Instrumental)
- I'm Qutting The Band (Instrumental)
- The Man That Got Away (Instrumental)
- Esther in the Boarding House (Instrumental)
- Oliver Niles Studio (Instrumental)
- Esther's Awful Makeup (Instrumental)
- First Day in the Studio (Instrumental)
- Born in a Trunk Medley
- Easy Come, Easy Go (Instrumental)
- Here's What I'm Here For
- The Honeymoon (Instrumental)
- It's a New World
- Someone at Last
- Lose That Long Face
- Norman Overhears the Conversation (Instrumental)
- It's a New World (Alternate Take)
- The Last Swim (Instrumental)
- Finale/End Credits (Instrumental)
Bonus Tracks
- When My Sugar Walks Down the Street
- The Trinidad Coconut Oil Shampoo
2005 soundtrack release
- Gotta Have Me Go with You
- The Man That Got Away
- Born In a Trunk Medley
- Here's What I'm Here For
- It's a New World
- Someone at Last
- Lose That Long Face
Bonus Tracks (Judy Garland studio recordings for Decca Records)
- Over the Rainbow (Recorded July 28, 1939)
- I'm Nobody's Baby (Recorded April 10, 1940)
- For Me and My Gal (with Gene Kelly) (Recorded July 26, 1942)
- When You Wore a Tulip (And I Wore a Big Red Rose) (with Gene Kelly) (Recorded July 26, 1942)
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Recorded April 20, 1944)
- The Boy Next Door (Recorded April 20, 1944)
- The Trolley Song (Recorded April 20, 1944)
- Meet Me in St. Louis (Recorded April 21, 1944)
- On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe (with The Merry Macs) (Recorded July 7, 1945)
DVD release
Warner Home Video released the 176-minute 1983 "restored" version on DVD in letterbox widescreen format on September 19, 2000. It features an English audio soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 and subtitles in English and French. Bonus features include the network telecast of the September 29, 1954 Hollywood premiere at the Pantages Theatre; highlights from the post-premiere party at the Cocoanut Grove; three alternate filmings of "The Man That Got Away" with additional original recording session music; a short musical sequence that appeared in a test screening but was deleted before the film's official premiere, "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" (which was to be part of the extended "Born in a Trunk" sequence); and the theatrical trailers for this, the 1937 original, and the 1976 remake.
In 2010 Warner Home Video will be release the movie on Blu-ray DVD. It is not known at this time if the remaining missing footage has been found.
See also
References
- ^ McGilligan, Patrick, George Cukor: A Double Life. New York: St. Martin's Press 1991. ISBN 0-312-05419-X, p. 217
- ^ a b c Judy Garland Database
- ^ McGilligan, pp. 217-18
- ^ a b Jaynes, Barbara Grant; Trachtenberg, Robert. Cary Grant: A Class Apart. Burbank, California: Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Turner Entertainment. 2004.
- ^ McGilligan, p. 219-20
- ^ McGilligan, pp. 224-26
- ^ McGilligan, p. 226
- ^ McGilligan, pp. 236-37
- ^ New York Times review
- ^ Gershe received sole credit due to a contractual issue. Personal letter from Gershe to Jim Johnson
Further reading
External links
