Starring Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, and Charles Bickford
Directed by George Cukor
Music and Lyrics by various
Garland hadn't done a movie since her aborted attempt at Royal Wedding in 1950. This was advertised as her comeback after she focused on a series of concert tours. Warners threw everything they had and more into this huge production, from authentic location shooting in LA to tons of costumes and three large-scale musical numbers for Garland as the singer who becomes a star, with British action favorite James Mason as the husband whose popularity eclipses as hers rises. How does this massive and troubled production look now, after two more remakes have come and gone on the big screen? Let's start at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where movie star Norman Maine (Mason) is late for his appearance in a charity show, and find out...
The Story: Esther Blodgett (Garland) manages to bail Maine out of a jam when he drunkenly disrupts a number she's performing with the orchestra during the show and she makes it look like part of the act. He goes to see her sing at a club, and impressed by her talent, offers to get her a screen test. Unfortunately, he can't remember where she lives, and she thinks he's joking with her. They reconnect after he hears her singing in a TV commercial and finally gets her that test. She lands a small role under the name Vicki Lester, then a bigger one in a major musical when studio head Oliver Niles (Bickford) finally hears her.
She's a smash success, with the filmgoing public and with Norman. They get married, but Norman's life of drinking and carousing is starting to take its toll. His movies aren't making the money that they did, and studio publicity man Matt Libby (Carson) is tired of covering up his shenanigans. Norman is more devastated than he'll admit when the studio drops his contract. He disrupts his wife's acceptance of an Academy Award and winds up in jail after he goes on a binge when Matt says he's living on Esther's money. Esther thinks she can help him, but Norman doesn't want to be saved. He does want his wife to continue the work she loves, and making sure the public sees not only her incredible talent, but that she remembers how he felt about her.
The Song and Dance: Garland made a sensational comeback and earned her Oscar nomination as the singer who loves her career, but wishes she could get her husband to love himself more. Mason more than matches her as the washed-up star who can't handle that his career is in decline or that he's perceived to be riding on his wife's coattails. The supporting cast also rises to the occasion, with Carson the stand out as the caustic studio publicity manager who is tired of trying to get Norman to behave. Warners' unstinting production showed in those huge, detailed sets for Norman and Esther's home and the shooting at real locations in and around LA and Hollywood.
Favorite Number: We open with the dance routine that Norman blunders into, "Gotta Have Me Go With You." Garland pours so much raw emotion into the big Ira Gershwin-Harold Arlen torch song "The Man That Got Away," you understand why Norman was impressed (and why it later become one of her most-performed standards). The long "Born In a Trunk" number, filmed by Roger Edens after the rest of the movie was finished, echoes the scrapbook of her life Esther showed Norman earlier and Garland's own rise to success, making use of the songs "Swanee," "I'll Get By," "The Black Bottom," "Melancholy Baby," and the Rogers and Hart standard "You Took Advantage of Me" as Garland goes from child in a vaudeville act to stage stardom.
Two other long ensemble numbers anchor the second half. "Lose That Long Face" has newsgirl Garland dressed in a straw hat to dance with two kids and a group of pedestrians as she encourages them to dance away a rain storm. Garland is a one-woman tour guide in her own living room as she describes her big "Someone at Last" world tour number to an amused Mason, with her playing everything from can-can dancer to African game hunter.
Trivia: The movie premiered at almost 3 hours. Warners, afraid they wouldn't sell as many tickets at that length, cut nearly 40 minutes. It was restored in 1983, but they still couldn't find a few minutes of footage. That's why there's two sequences in the first half, notably when Esther is a carhop and Norman is looking for her, where you see still photographs instead of actual film.
Among the leading men considered were Humphry Bogart, Cary Grant (who turned it down), Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Richard Burton, and Lawrence Olivier.
Garland and Mason were nominated for Oscars; neither won.
What I Don't Like: Warners does have a point about the length. This movie is just too darn long, especially for a relatively intimate melodrama. This did not need to be three hours. Of the extended numbers, "Born In a Trunk" fits thematically and "Someone at Last" shows Esther and Norman happy at home, but "Lose That Long Face" isn't really necessary to the plot other than showing Esther at work.
The Big Finale: Necessary for fans of Garland, Mason, or the big musicals of the 50's and 60's if they have time on their hands.
Home Media: Easy to find in all formats; Blu-Ray is Warner Archives. HBO Max has it with a subscription.
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