A Star Is Born
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Movie Reviews of A Star Is Born
Movie Review: One of the all-time greats of Hollywood!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hello everybody, this is Mrs. Norman Maine!What an incredible classic film!
I've waited forty-five years to see this film again as I saw it when it was first released in theatres, and it's been worth the wait! (I just got the DVD this week, and have now seen it for the first of many times, I'm sure. I'm anxious to see the extras on the DVD, but they can wait -- just having the film in such a restored condition is enough to start.) (Oh yes, go for the widescreen edition, if you get the VHS tape instead!)
What can I say? --this is the classic Judy Garland, in my humble opinion better than either before or since. The classic actor James Mason, likewise. The music, the production, the script, everything about this film is absolutely top drawer, and must be considered to be among the greatest all-time Hollywood films ever.
What I do not know, so cannot represent, is how well it travels over time. As I said, I saw it when it first came out, and loved it then, at the tender age of fifteen. I bought the soundtrack, on 45 rpm records, which I still have, and almost wore them out!
For those of you like me who remember it, it's a time travel trip you can't afford to pass up! For those of you who are younger, it's your opportunity for a truly remarkable glimpse into the past which many consider the golden age of musicals, and so much more as well!
I totally agree with the reviewers who have already contrbuted their thoughts over the past six months, and so have little more content to add. Suffice it to say that the emotional connection via song was every bit as well established just now as it was forty-five years ago, if not more so! Especially so for "Born in a Trunk"!
And, I hasten to add -- If you consider yourself an "amateur" of film, you should own this one, just as you obviously own (as classic jazz lovers) Benny Goodman's "Swing, Swing, Swing", Dave Brubecks's "Take Five", Miles Davis' "So What", John Lewis' "Django", etc -- the creme de la creme! Hopefully, you get the idea.
Absolute classic!
Movie Review: Judy, truly the best
Summary: 5 Stars
I consider myself a musical buff to the core, and I have enjoyed this movie very much ever since I first saw it. I first saw it on the classic movie channel one summer and basically was just then discovering not only musicals themselves, but Judy Garland, beyond what everyone knows here as, "Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz." I hadn't realized the magnitude of her success and that the number of movies she made were many.
This movie allowed Judy Garland to 'strut her stuff' not only as a singer, but as a legitimate actress. This was an emotionally demanding role, and she truly does prove herself, as she had in previous movies, as an accomplished dramatic actress.
This film has that great, one-of-a-kind movie musical feel of the 1950's. There is that unique kind of feel these musicals have that no other films have. This music serves as the perfect back drop for some of Judy's most astonishing vocal performances, including "The Man That Got Away", "Gotta Have Me To Go With You", and "Lose That Long Face"(which is an especially feel-good song! Love it!).
One of the highlights of the film, that I was just floored by, is what is the "Born in a Trunk(Medley)". This part is an exerpt of a movie Judy's character,Esther, has just made and is watching at the premiere. It's a 15 minute compilation and story sequence that is fun to watch, and shows anyone who doesn't already know, why Judy Garland is so highly regarded and remembered as one of the greatest performers who ever lived. She brings the house down about four times just in this short sequence of about six 'mini' songs! She's fabulous.
I recommend this film to anyone who loves Judy Garland already or especially anyone who wants to see more of her highly regarded film performances, because this is her at the top of her game.
I love this one quote from a guy who....I suspect probably knows what he's talking about. He says it perfectly:
"The finest all-round performer we ever had in America was Judy Garland. There was no limit to her talent." Gene Kelly.
Movie Review: As Indispensable as Oz.
Summary: 5 Stars
Any fan of Garland or of the original downsized version of the film will join me in celebrating this restored, panoramic version as well as the enhanced quality and convenience of the DVD. Those viewers coming to the film for the first time may be less impressed by the restored footage--some of it reconstructed from still photographs--that brings the film to its 3-hour length. Having gotten hooked on the film in its shortened theatrical release, I would have no problem with younger, less patient viewers starting with that version, available in older VHS copies.Frequently overlooked in evaluations of this "Star" is the virtuosity, complexity, and richness of James Mason's performance. In fact, numerous viewings have convinced me it's every bit as striking as Garland's. Judy supplies the singing and dancing spark, but Mason's subtle facial expressions expose the inner recesses of a soul that's as capable of unconditional love as suicidal despair. Indeed, there's a "feminine" register to his self-destructive, compulsive characterization (Cukor's influence?) that allows us to see through his persona to the "real," off-screen Judy Garland.
Not that Garland is ever less than real herself. It's practically scary to think that this is the same actress who played Dorothy only 15 years earlier, and yet it's impossible to overlook that connection. And it's downright infuriating to see Barbara Streisand attempting a reprise of the role some twenty years later. Her version, which plays like a self-promotional trailer for her ambitions to attain mega-super-rock-star status, might strike us as having "camp" value were it not so apparent she intends us to take the film as seriously as she does. But "A Star Is Born" is as much about the power of cinema as of celebrity and fame. Only a powerful film such as George Cukor's can do the subject justice.
Movie Review: JUDY WAS DISGRACEFULLY ROBBED OF HER OSCAR!!
Summary: 5 Stars
If anyone truly deserved the Oscar for the Best Actress of 1954 it was our beloved Judy!! This movie was a labor of love for her. She set out to prove that she was not washed up as everyone said she was and that she could still deliver, despite all the turmoil and dysfunction of her life, brought about by selfish, evil, money-hungry people (including her own mother).
One views her magnificent performance with awe and realizes that SHE WAS the GREATEST ENTERTAINER of the 20th Century, beloved by all and not just an icon for gay people (which by the way I am not...I'm just a fan and love her like everyone else, gay or straight).
But that's besides the point. When one looks at her competition for the Oscar that year.....Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones, Grace Kelly in The Country Girl, Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, and Jane Wyman in Magnificent Obsession...who can honestly say that anyone of these other actresses stood above Judy's multi-faceted performance! Judy was the rare talent who could do anything and was a genius! Grace Kelly winning the Oscar over her was just appalling!! There was no contest. Garland deserved and should have won! I my mind she did.
As for the movie itself, besides Garland, James Mason gives an equally moving Oscar Deserving performance himself as tortured Norman Maine. Teaming him with Judy was pure magic.
The songs, the cinematography.....all the production values are magnificent.
The DVD (The RESTORED VERSION) is the tops!! The colors are vibrant and I defy anyone not to get chills up their spine when Judy sings "The Man that Got Away" or shed a tear when she accepts her Oscar (in the movie) and says..."I am Mrs. Norman Maine".
What a movie!! And what a legacy and tribute to the greatest entertainer of the 20th century...Miss Judy Garland!
Movie Review: Just imagine......
Summary: 5 Stars
What else can be said? It is a classic, no argument here. However, there are two points I would like to make regarding the overall production.Let me preface these by saying that I'm a Garland addict from the womb. My favorite Garland M-G-M film is still "The Clock." For once, Judy was NOT an exasperated farm girl/shop girl/girl next door! She actually could act her age in a part! Wow, what an idea!!
For "A Star Is Born," try to imagine the film WITHOUT the almost unending Edens/Gershe chunk of extravaganza that they plopped right in the middle of the film. If you bypass that inane production number, you have as perfect a dramatic love story as you will ever find. Try it with the DVD and see the impact it has on keeping you within the growing love story. Personally, had I been at Warner's when they chopped this masterpiece, that number would have been the ONE thing to go and its departure would not have fractured the story line the way their editing did. Another point. "The Man That Got Away." The best song in the entire film and they used it as basically a throwaway number too early in the film. I have always wondered why they didn't give that song a more important place in the film. Not at the end, that would have been melodrama to the extreme. Maybe somewhere in the film at a point when you begin to see that the relationship has made a wrong turn, or perhaps just before that moment. It would have had a stronger impact.
Anyway, it is still worth the price of purchase and will go on and on as yet another fine example of this woman's incredible talent which she was so willing to share with her audience. It amazes me still that after all these years she sells! What an incredible legacy! Buy it, folks! When it's Garland, you're always guaranteed a good show!