I Could Go On Singing
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Movie Reviews of I Could Go On Singing
Movie Review: Judy's last film
Summary: 4 Stars
The reviewers here run the gamut -- some praise ICGOS as some of Judy's finest work; others are dismissive of her efforts and the film as a whole. It's true that the parallels between Jenny Bowman and Judy Garland are legion. Both were performers who understood their audience and their fans, who were loved by many, but still couldn't always come through for them.
I've read that the shoot was difficult...that Judy left town the moment shooting was done allowing no retakes and that they literally used every frame they had of her in the final film.
Yes, the film is melodramatic at times and yes, Yip Harburg let her down with the lyrics in the title song, but this film does provide some beautiful imagery of Judy in concert and gives us the closest approximation to what that was like. (Yes, her TV show is excellent, too, but that's in B&W video as opposed to full color here.)
The other songs were great. Her on-screen rendition of BY MYSELF, IT NEVER WAS YOU and HELLO BLUEBIRD are all superb and truly capture a great performer in concert. Even I COULD GO ON SINGING (the song) has a great message of hope and perseverance, if one can look beyond all the barnyard metaphors.
Judy was only 40 years old when they shot this film and it's really too bad that it marked the end of her film career. But, there's a heaviness and a weariness in her whole persona by then that makes her seem much older -- even if you can't place why. It's the sum total of how she was by the early 1960s -- and this was in a period that she was relatively healthy after convalescing in London for most of 1960 and then returning to the concert stage in 1961 in the fantastic tour which included her date with destiny at Carnegie Hall. She had also completed 3 other films just prior to this -- her Oscar-nominated turn in JUDGMENT AT NUREMBURG, a b&w drama for John Cassavettes, A CHILD IS WAITING and her first and only animated feature, GAY PURREE. She even did another television special for CBS which led to her series the following year. It was a level of professional activity she'd not seen since her MGM days.
Had she been healthier and not such a risk for the studios, she could have spent the 1950s and 1960s continuing to do great work on the movie screens, where she belonged. Alas, we'll never have ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, THE BARKELEYS OF BROADWAY or a host of other roles for which she should have and would have been considered (Mama Rose in the film version of GYPSY, for instance, or for the film version of Mame -- she was about 12 years younger than Lucille Ball!) Heck, think about it, had her life played out differently and had she been a healthy 45-year-old, she could have played Dolly Levi! Those are the coulda, woulda, shoulda lists -- almost unimaginable except to think about only in the most abstract ways had Judy been in good health and taken better care of herself from the 1940s onward.
I guess I'd rate this as something you must see if you call yourself a Judy Garland fan. She rises to the occasion and offers up the goods -- both in the on-stage musical numbers and in the very personal and up-close dramatic scenes. But, the film itself can't quite get out of its own way long enough to endure as much of anything beyond "Judy's last film." But for many of us, well, that's enough.
Movie Review: Classic Judy, surprisingly thought-provoking movie
Summary: 4 Stars
"I Could Go On Singing" stars Judy Garland as famous songstress Jenny Bowman, who, while performing a series of concerts at London's famous Palladium, returns to see old lover David Donne (Dirk Bogarde), and requests access to their son Matt (Gregory Phillips). Initially skeptical, David agrees to introduce Matt to his estranged mother, but simply as a friend, and when he's called away to Rome on business, Jenny takes the opportunity to build a relationship with the son she agreed never to see. Upon David's return, Jenny must make some tough decisions: will she sacrifice her stellar career to become a mother to a relative stranger?
Many stars of Garland's magnitude have less-than-stellar Final Films: poor Joan Crawford made a swill-like mess called "Trog", Lana Turner went out on a low note in "Bittersweet Love", Greta Garbo disappeared after the weak "Two Faced Woman", and Norma Shearer hit the road after the candy-light, deadly dull "We were dancing". It's odd, and yet somehow fitting, that Judy Garland, a notably less-reliable actress than any of the above listed, should finish her film career with such an excellent performance in a nicely understated, touching and thought-provoking piece like this one. She brings a level of maturity to the role that's palpable - in particular, her opening scenes with Bogarde (on fine form himself as the overprotective David) and her scene in the hospital are excellent examples of the plausible, magnetic character Garland created here. Okay, so there are obvious parallels with Jenny Bowman's life and Garland's own - but leaving them to one side, it's still an excellent performance.
Bogarde as David and Gregory Phillips as Matt provide ample, multidimensional support for the central role of Jenny, and thanks to their obvious talent as actors, don't fade into the background as mere extras in a Judy Garland Picture. They share one big scene together after David's return from Rome and it's a beauty - a really insightful bit of writing and an excellent illustration of the nature of their relationship.
Direction, scoring and script are all top-drawer - but, contrary to most of Garland's other movies, the musical numbers are toned-down and pared back: a wise move, considering Garland in concert mode is one of those iconographic things you can't associate with anything else. And yes, Jenny Bowman's performances are pure Garland - but they don't run the show in "I Could Go On Singing", and director Ronald Neame is to be thanked for that.
All in all, this is an excellent movie: moving and clever, and one that's well-worth owning. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Garland's Last Gasp
Summary: 4 Stars
Right off, I'm saying I've loved Judy Garland even when she was off key and obviously on something. I think of this film as the last in a trilogy of Garland films about a girl who inadvertently gets a part on stage and is a hit ("Summer Stock"), then goes off to Hollywood and plays the clubs, marries a has-been drunk who commits suicide and then becomes the greatest of all Hollywood stars ("A Star Is Born"). Lastly, the older fading musical and film icon desperately trying to hold her place in the realm of where it's always been--superstardom--"I Could Go On Singing" and now finally realizing that she'll always be alone on stage and off-stage. I heard there was a lot of trouble making this last Garland film in England and co-star Dirk Bogarde had a tough time putting up with her, That aside, the story of Jenny Bowman is almost parallel to Garland's real life with a character who has no room for anything or anyone except the fantasy of getting her child back from Bogarde.
( I once saw her perform at Westbury Music Hall on Long Island, N.Y, and her voice was gone but the applause was like thunder. So, Garland sat down on the stage and started singing "Over The Rainbow" and not very well. She then asked the audience to help her. Her daugher Liza was in the audience and helped her mother out with a song, Then Judy got into an argument with the band leader and he with her and it was a mess.) Nothing like this ocurred in the fim, no rages, no drugs, no drunk scenes but Garland's Jenny Bowman did show up late at a concert and refused to go on. The scene between Bogarde and Garland alone in a dressing room was thought to have been improvised it was so good, but the fact is, they had practiced that scene over and over for weeks. One of the most impressive scenes is Garland preparing herself emotionaly right at the curtain just as she's about to step onto the stage. (In actuality, she often would get so worked up that right before she stepped on stage she'd say, "fu*k'em, fu*k'em!" Anyway, the songs in the film are not up to Garland's par and the lyrics sound a little too tired e.g., "...till the cows come home..." with the exception of "By Myself" which is brilliant. If you want to see Garland's last film and get some idea of the real Garland, get this film.
Movie Review: Garland Shines In Simple Story
Summary: 4 Stars
Where does Jenny Bowman end and Judy Garland begin? That is the question one asks when viewing her last completed film, "I Could Go On Singing." It is a modest little film with a weak story about a singing mega-star who tries to reconnect with her child some fourteen years after giving him up to his English father. Dirk Bogarde gives a solid and thankless performance as Jenny's lost love and father of her son. He seems to be present only to give Miss Garland something to rail against. Gregory Phillips plays the young son with charm and genuine gentleness. Jack Klugmann is the irascible manager to Jenny during her tour. The ever wise and understanding Aline MacMahon presents the ever wise and understanding Ida, assistant and soggy shoulder to Jenny.
What holds this film together is the incomparable talent and presence of Judy Garland. She gives it her all and shows us something of what the mythmakers might call "a glimpse of the really Judy Garland" in several scenes. In particular the scene in the hospital room with Dirk Bogarde seems to slide from fiction to a revelation by Miss Garland of what it cost her each time she walks out on a stage to sing. There is no doubt that we get to see Miss Garland at the peak of her performing style both as an actress and a singer. For this reason she raises the film to the level of beyond what could be expected of a lesser talent. The concert segments of the film are particular highlight and have a wonderful documentary feel to them. We are given a view of her transformation just before going on stage at which point Miss Garland sings at the top of her form and is both stunningly powerful and touchingly vulnerable. The highlights are "So Long Bluebird" and "By My Self".
The DVD is picture is fine despite a few odd lights that pop up from time to time. The monophonic sound is clear and clean giving a wonderful fullness to the songs. And the DVD can be viewed in either widescreen or full screen.
This film is well worth adding to your library and is a fitting end to Judy Garland's fine film career.
Movie Review: A plus Movie in D plus DVD release
Summary: 4 Stars
This is arguably Garland's greatest adult movie. It stands alongside "Oz" and "St Louis" and is better than "A Star is Born" because Judy wasnt miscast in this one (playing a singer who is supposed to be about 20 always ruined her Oscar chances with "Star" compulsive as it may be for other reasons) here is the mature Garland and one cant help wondering what a wonderful Mamma Rose she would have been, the film was made about the same time, what were they thinking? When Garland struts the stage with her last number, she could be doing "Rose's Turn" and she has the original stage "Herbie" in Jack Klugman here, just to add insult to in jury.
This is the real Garland, she plays it with the sort of acerbic gusto that was never seen in any of her other adult films. Just glorious. BUT its a hellish DVD transfer, one side has a pan and scan version that is old and garish in its color, the other side a widescreen version that is not adapted for widescreen. United Artists mucked up most of their DVD releases, when will they ever start releasing their movies in anarmorphic??? This is an insult to a movie now highly regarded in the Garland cannon. Re release and do the job properly guys.