I Could Go On Singing
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Movie Reviews of I Could Go On Singing
Movie Review: GARLAND TOUR-DE-FORCE CLASSIC~BRAVO JUDY!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
By the time Judy Garland filmed her final motion picture "I Could Go On Singing", Judy knew how to act and pull out all the stops better than anyone and was in superb voice giving the most powerful film vocal performances ever in this sadly overlooked entertaining motion picture that has for years been one of my favorites!!! Garland looked sophiscated and every inch the Superstar (do a blow-up of the stunning cover and you will see what I mean!!!) and had a really great supporting cast who were all perfectly cast including an engaging performance by Jack Klugman as her fiesty manager. Musical numbers filmed before a live audience added much excitement to Judy's magnificent performances and the electricity of Garland's preparation moments before her entrance before the audience are soulfully charged and incredible to experience!! Garland was THE most magnetic and soulful performer around and this engrossing performance should have been at the least nominated for an Academy Award just as Miss Garland should have won the Best Actress Oscar for her classic performance in "A Star Is Born" but that is a totally different story that is one of THE legendary "Oscar Blew-It Stories" of all time with Groucho Marx exclaiming that it was the biggest robbery since Brinks...I was in High School when this wonderful musical drama came out and played the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. and audiences wildly applauded after each of these extraordinary musical numbers and this only happens in a few musical films that feature Judy, Barbra, and Liza Minnelli!! The stormy passionate power of Garland's incredible performance of the riviting "(I'll Go My Way)By Myself" is a stunning vocal masterpiece as is the magnificent "Hello Bluebird" making these great songs all time top musical performances ever in motion picture history...the quite and haunting "It Never Was You" with just Judy and piano in a masterful live take with Garland at her sublime best and again riveting and making an athem out of the great title song "I Could Go On Singing" and you just wish she would have gone on and on and on and would have with more support from the entertainment industry and the media!!! Dramatic scenes are intense and try not to be incredibly moved when you watch the brilliant interplay between Judy and Dirk during the amazing legendary hospital scene!! Throughout Judy is at a dramatic peak along with smooth comic touches playing out each scene with her "Son" and his "Dad" with remarkable depth and sensitivity. Thankfully this movie has been preserved first with its VHS release and now on DVD for anyone wanting to enjoy the greatest entertainer of the century giving one of the most soulfully charged performances of her incredible lifetime!! Bravo Judy and I am happy that this great performer and classic LEGEND happened in my lifetime and we miss you alot Judy...Movie Review: Judy Garland's last, and perhaps best, film
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, you read that title right. I think "I Could Go On Singing" is greatly underrated. I actually consider it better than the excellent "A Star Is Born," which frankly -- George Cukor, forgive me -- needed some of the cuts it got.
In the semi-autobiographical role of Jenny Bowman, Garland gives an amazingly vulnerable and vital performance. She's in great vocal and physical form for the musical numbers, and although she doesn't look her best (you'd swear she was 10 years older than her actual age), she's fully engaged dramatically as well. Her hospital scene with Dirk Bogarde, where she talks about the life of a performer, has so much subtle shifting between emotions that it takes one's breath away. That alone should have earned her an Academy Award for this performance.
But the film offers even more than that. It's extremely well directed by Ronald Neame. The musical numbers boast very creative camerawork that considerably heightens the excitement -- "It Never Was You" is a case in point. They are the closest we have to seeing Judy Garland "in concert" in a movie (it can be argued that her TV series did the same on the smaller screen).
And the supporting performances are very fine. Bogarde, always an excellent actor, holds his own against the force of nature that is Garland by playing yin to her yang. The other actors are equally good. The script, too, is solid, and it refuses to take the easy "happy ending" route at the end, to its credit.
Unfortunately, MGM has released this movie with minimal care. The image transfer should have been much better (the reds, in particular, are highly unstable). As another reviewer mentioned, the DVD should have been anamorphic (enhanced for widescreen television). This film also deserved a commentary track and other extras, and there are none here. But, that said, this bare-bones DVD is inexpensive, so don't hesitate to buy it. Perhaps if MGM sees a high demand for this title, it will release a Special Edition in the future -- not likely, I know, but we can always hope.
Movie Review: Judy at her best
Summary: 5 Stars
There are a lot of negative things you can say about this movie: it's a soap opera; you know where it's going ten minutes in; with one exception, the songs are all original, and all lame, especially when compared to Judy's concert songs they're supposed to sound like. BUT none of that matters.
I was lucky enough to see Judy in concert a year before she died, and this movie gets it right--the interplay with the audience, the moves, the power of Judy at her height (as opposed to her tv shows where she looked awful and often seemed terrified)--and is as close as we will ever come to having Judy in concert at her greatest on film--and in color! Technically, Ronald Neame also gets it right--his camera is fairly passive, allowing Judy to do the work in long takes that respect both Judy and her audience.
Two other things need to be said: 1) Before Cabaret, this picture spliced together a plot with concert numbers that commented on or reflected that plot. Example: When things fall apart, and she'll never get to see her son again (not exactly a spoiler--it's a '60s soap opera!), she sings the one non-original song, I'll Go My Way By Myself, and it's absolutely stunning. And 2) Judy was a brilliant actress, and her dramatic performance is transcendent. In casual scenes she is so natural you'd swear she's making the dialogue up as she goes along (and she might well have been, but the other actors in the scene work well with her) in a way that can be put down as "not acting," but there was a real art to this artlessness. And in her dramatic scenes (at least one of which she wrote for and about herself--you'll know it when you see it) she is fearless, going emotional places that no "trained" actress would ever dare. Only when you see the out-takes (as in the dressing room scene with Charles Bickford in A Star is Born)can you believe that it's really "just" acting.
Movie Review: I Could Go on Singing...If Only She Did.
Summary: 5 Stars
A brilliant and still vastly underrated film is I Could Go On Singing, best remembered as the last film Judy Garland made in her extraordinary career. Some of her finest acting and singing are contained in this work, the story of which is, true as they say, pure soap opera, but riveting nonetheless, even for non-Garland fanatics. Contrary to what some have written, Garland looks beautiful in this film, quite healthy before she lost a bit too much weight for her television series a few months in the future. Yes, she is not always costumed correctly and, at times her face and figure do suggest a haggard, bloated appearance. These moments are, in my opinion, few and far between and for the majority of the film, Garland appears totally in control with radiance about her face that, unfortunately, she did not have later on. Better yes, her acting and singing are quite without equal, on the same level as some of her previous films. One number, "It Never Was You" is actually sung "live" and not prerecorded as is the usual procedure with musical numbers. In numbers such as the title song and "Hello Bluebird", Garland looks like she is having a total blast. My favorite has always been "By Myself". Her rendition and performance of this song has to be heard and seen to be believed. As Aretha said in her autobio, Garland WAS a SOUL singer. Her acting with and without the handsome Bogard is also of a high standard, especially the justly famous scene where Bogard tries to persuade Garland to perform for her audience that is waiting for her. A scene of raw emotion that is a bit difficult to watch...one feels like a voyeur witnessing what should be a totally private moment between two people.
Watching this film makes me appreciate the considerable talents of Garland all over again. She was a true "DIVA", the like of which do not exist anymore.
Luigi ~ nyc
Movie Review: "Judy Proves She Is One Heck Of An Actress"
Summary: 5 Stars
Most critics and fans of Judy Garland's have stated "I Could Go On Singing" is probably her greatest film. In that picture she plays a singer named Jenny who abandoned her new-born son to embark on a musical career. After garnering success on the stage Jenny now wants to know her child, who is a teenager, much to the chagrin of his father who believes the child is better off with him.
The script is pure soap opera, but believable, due to Judy's touching and virtuoso performance. I have to admit I had never seen "I Could Go On Singing" until recently, believing Judy's major talent was her voice, not her acting. After watching this film I discovered Garland possessed acting chops that some Oscar winners don't have. For me the scene that stood out from all others is the one in which she and her former flame argue about what is best for the boy. Jenny is determined to be a part of the boy's life no matter the consequences, but once she realizes she is not getting through to the father she loses her cool. When she utters the words "but I am his mother..." the audience realizes her attenpts at reconciliation with the boy is for the benefit of the child as children need to know their mothers no matter what the situation.
The movie is filled with extraordinary Garland singing performances, some of which are her best ever captured on film. Among the outstanding musical numbers are "Hello Bluebird", "It Never Was You", and the title song.
Unfortunately, there are no extra bonuses, but the film comes in widescreen format.
This DVD is long out-of-print, so if you see a copy snatch it up; without a doubt Garland's best feature-length film.