A Star Is Born (1954)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Moss Hart (screenplay)
Dorothy Parker (1937 screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 October 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

The applause of the world -- and then this!

Plot:

A movie star helps a young singer/actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Plot Keywords:

Fame | Alcoholism | Singing | Pasadena California | Malibu California

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Judy Garland	...	Vicki Lester / Esther Blodgett
James Mason	...	Norman Maine
Jack Carson	...	Matt Libby
Charles Bickford	...	Oliver Niles
Tommy Noonan	...	Danny McGuire (as Tom Noonan)
Lucy Marlow	...	Lola Lavery
Amanda Blake	...	Susan Ettinger - Oscar Presenter
Irving Bacon	...	Graves - Norman's valet
Hazel Shermet	...	Libby's secretary
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Brown	...	Glenn Williams - Orchestra Leader (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

181 min (premiere version) | USA:154 min | USA:176 min (restored version) | Germany:169 min (DVD) | West Germany:177 min (cut version: 120')

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound System) (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:A (original rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | West Germany:12 (uncut version) | USA:Approved (PCA #16751, General Audience) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1983) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl (re-release) | UK:U | West Germany:6 (cut version)

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

In the scene after the movie premiere, Matt Libby is at a party where he passes a man and says, "Hey, Ray! Great score, the best!" The man is Ray Heindorf, musical director for this film.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The terrace outside Esther's Oleander Arms apartment overlooks the twinkling city lights far below, but her address is in the flatlands of Central Hollywood, nowhere near the hills.

Quotes:

Matt Libby: [after being introduced to Esther] Esther Blodgett? Well, we'll do something about that. Anyway, nice to have you with us.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Gilmore Girls: So... Good Talk (#5.16)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)

Two-thirds of a good movie

Three-hour musical proved something of a swan-song for Judy Garland, who had few starring roles after this, none of them as high-profile as "A Star Is Born". Yet, this isn't quite the blockbuster fans and critics hoped for. Garland's shaky real-life lends her a naked vulnerability as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester, but it's too taxing on the audience; she's sweet and gracious, but all too much so. Her character has no resilience, she's too easily led, too easily humiliated, and eventually our sympathies go towards her boozing, fading husband (James Mason, as curt and clipped as ever). Serves as a nice showcase for Judy's vocal talents, as there are many song numbers, but the melodrama in the music is more absorbing than the marriage stuff. Still, for the first two of the three hours, it has drive and gorgeous color. In the third hour, right about the time Mason loses his movie contract and people start calling him "Mr. Lester", the movie sinks to the bottle's bottom, in a boozy sea of pathos and masochism.