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 mutually negotiated the release 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.
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. He also overhears Oliver telling Vicki that Norman has ruined his own career with his drinking. After weeping over what he has done to himself and to Vicki, in the next scene Norman leaves his bed, tells Vicki he is going to go for a swim, and 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." The crowd erupts into a standing ovation.
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.[3] Garland previously had portrayed Vicki Lester in a December 1942 Lux Radio Theater broadcast with Walter Pidgeon, and she and Luft, along with several associates, had formed Transcona Enterprises specifically to produce the project on screen.[4] 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.[5]
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).[6] 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."[6] 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.[7]
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 dependencies, extreme weight fluctuations, and real and imagined illnesses.[8] 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.[4]
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.[9] 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.[10]
A Star Is Born had cost over $5,000,000, making it one of the most expensive films ever made in Hollywood. In its initial release, it did very well and attracted huge crowds. According to Variety, it grossed $6,100,000 - an impressive amount of money, but clearly not enough to recoup its cost. As a result, the film was considered a box-office disappointment and was considered by some an important factor in Garland losing the Academy Award.
Directed by George Cukor
Produced by Sidney Luft
Written by Screenplay:
Moss Hart
Original Screenplay:
Robert Carson
Dorothy Parker
Alan Campbell
Original Story:
William A. Wellman
Robert Carson
Starring Judy Garland
James Mason
Music by Songs:
Harold Arlen
Ira Gershwin
Music direction:
Ray Heindorf
Orchestrations:
Skip Martin
Cinematography Sam Leavitt
Editing by Folmar Blangsted
Studio Transcona Enterprises
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) September 29, 1954
Running time Premiere:
182 minutes
General Release:
154 minutes
Restored Version:
176 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Cast
Judy Garland ..... Esther Blodgett / Vicki Lester
James Mason ..... Norman Maine
Jack Carson ..... Matt Libby
Charles Bickford ..... Oliver Niles
Tommy Noonan ..... Danny McGuire
Amanda Blake ..... Susan Ettinger
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."[11]
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."[4] When the Oscar for Best Actress went to Grace Kelly instead of Garland, Groucho Marx called it "the biggest robbery since Brink's."
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)
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