A Star Is Born )1954)

A few weeds ago I wrote about a book about the 1954 version of A Star Is Born so now I've gone and seen it. It is the uncut version, although some of the footage was lost and was replaced with still photographs. It is certainly an amazing achievement for Judy Garland, who was won of the greatest entertainers of the century, and her co-star, James Mason, amazing to say it, almost steals the show.

But it is difficult to evaluate this film today because it comes from a different era. At three hours it is too long, but I found the last third of the film was the part that dragged. The story, of a young and coming star's romance with a star who is falling, it is inevitable, and watching Mason as Norman Maine hit rock bottom was drawn out too long. I knew the ending--it's as plain as the nose on our faces--and I felt a little, alright, already.

And, I'm sure this is blasphemous, the musical numbers in the second act don't play well today. Garland's first number, when Mason becomes enchanted with her, is "The Man That Got Away," one of the great musical scenes in film history (it's right up there with "Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz and "Gt Happy" from Summer Stock, both by Garland). But as the plot gets into gear, the music starts to get in the way. In particular, "Lose That Long Face," which Garland sings on a film set while her world is crumbling, made up as a newspaper boy, is of its time and seems corny today.

But the film packs a wallop. Of course Garland is great, but Mason is up to the challenge, and he has to be. Norman Maine is really a shit. We first see him drunk, and then at a nightclub, scoping out young women as if he were at a buffet. We have to understand why Garland sticks with him, and Mason's innate charm, plus vulnerability, sells it. The look on his face as he overhears Garland saying she's going to quit show business to take care of him is genius--it's when he decides he's going to kill himself.

I have now seen three of The Star Is Borns--I still haven't seen the 1976 Barbra Streisand version, and I think each one is of their time. I prefer the most recent, Bradley Cooper film perhaps because it was more modern--maybe it will seem dated in fifty years. But as a showcase for the great talent of Judy Garland, this is it.