UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Sober-Friend This is a great film. Yes it is long. Yes some of the songs should have been cut but they weren't but we get a masterpiece anyway.In this film Esther Blodgett is a talented aspiring singer with a band, and Norman Maine is a former matinee idol with a career in the early stages of decline. When he arrives intoxicated at a function at the Shrine Auditorium, the studio publicist attempts to keep him away from reporters. After an angry exchange, Norman rushes away and bursts onto a stage where an orchestra is performing. Esther takes him by the hand and pretends he is part of the act, thereby turning a potentially embarrassing and disruptive moment into an opportunity for the audience to greet Norman with applause.Norman then takes Esther under his wing and gets her a screen test at the studio in which he works. She ends up homecoming a major star and his drinking escalates! After the film was released Warner Brothers recalled the prints. 30 minutes were edited out. In 1983 Ron Haver was able to restore most of the film. Where he could not find footage for the missing scenes he used productions stills. People claim this halts the picture. It doesn't! Besides it only last a total of 7 minutes. It is not 7 minutes all at once! Now in 2010 it was reported that film restorer Michael Arick had a print of this film. He will not let Warner Brothers use the print. Some people claim that he doesn't have a print however "He has never publicly denied it". It is also Rumored that Tommy from Beverly Hills has hours of the films outtakes on VHS however it is silent footage. Maybe it might include the missing 7 minutes.

malcolmgsw I saw this yesterday at the Regent Street Cinema.I had no idea that it was the reconstructed version that they were showing,if i had know then i am not sure that i would have gone.To me the problem was that every time the drama seemed to gain momentum it was stopped in its tracks by yet another interminable musical number by Judy Garland.In fact it went on that i had to leave before the end to deal with more pressing matters.I have to say that Judy Garland did not look in good shape at times.It was rather difficult to understand why she would ever fall for someone so obnoxious as Norman Maine.Also it has to be said that the portrayal by Charles Bickford made him look more like Mother Theresa than the real article such as Jack Warner.Given the fact that this film cost over $5million and made a loss it is little surprise that Graland made so few films after this or that she failed to win an Oscar.She had rubbed enough people up the wrong way and was never likely to win a popularity contest.

Tad Pole . . . by a craven Hollywood community totally cowed by the Witch Hunters in the voting for the "best picture" Oscar of 1954, as American turncoat super-snitch director Elia Kazan's anti-Labor screed, ON THE WATERFRONT, took a cowardly plurality of votes away from A STAR IS BORN. The latter George Cukor picture is a landmark in Irony, as the real-life primary victim of Tinsel Town's "studio system" at its worst--Judy Garland--is forced into essentially caricaturing her past and future Passion of Frances Ethel Gumm, right down to being convinced by the make-up department that she has a Frankenstein face. Remarkably, Cukor presents James Mason's elderly alcoholic character, "Norman Maine," as STAR's tragic focus. As Gertrude Stein always said, "a drunk is a drunk is a drunk," and at "Norman's" age, the only pathos involved in his passing at sea is that he did not croak SOONER. Ms. Garland herself, expiring at age 47, Philip Seymour Hoffman (46), Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (46), John Candy (43), Elvis (42), Paul Walker (40), Chris Penn (40), Anna Nicole Smith (39), Corey Haim (38), Sal Mineo (37), Bobby Darin (37), Robert Williams (37), Marilyn Monroe (36), Jayne Mansfield (34), John Belushi (33), Carole Lombard (33), Chris Farley (33), Brittany Murphy (32), Bruce Lee (32), Rudolph Valentino (31), Heath Ledger (28), Brandon Lee (28), Edie Sedgwick (28), Jean Harlow (26), Brad Renfro (25), James Dean (24), River Phoenix (23), Aaliyah (22), Freddie Prinze (22), Heather O'Rourke (12), and countless other actors died young enough to become tragic figures in Real Life; not so "Norman Maine," even in fiction. And, of course, Judy herself filmed STAR exactly halfway between playing OZ's 12-year-old "Dorothy Gale" and passing away herself, which constitutes the biggest "tragedy" of all!

mark.waltz This is the movie that legends are made of. It is still talked about, studied, dissected and gossiped about. It features one of the all-time great performances, a role so perfectly played that there is no doubt in my mind that no matter how troubled leading lady Judy Garland may have been, her ego never dominated, only the desire to turn out something excellent.Up until this film, Judy Garland's film career had simply been about "Dorothy", with a bit of "St. Louis" thrown in and a song about Mr. Gable. She had been overshadowed by Mickey Rooney for a while, but when you talk about legends, it is Garland who stands above the rest, her singing, dancing, clowning, dramatics so much the tops. Only a few actors in film could make you cry while you laughed (Chaplin being one of the few others), and you always sensed heartbreak in her acting even when the parts were simply the same as what she had done before.As Esther Blodgett, Garland is an unknown singer. "Got to Have Me Go With You!" is her break-out number, at least for the presence of a drunken superstar named Norman Maine (James Mason) who intrudes on it like a naughty chorus boy. Garland saves the day by getting him into the choreography, and his gratitude when sober turns into the desire to make her a star after hearing her sing "The Man That Got Away". Like Fanny Brice and "My Man", no matter who sings this song, you will always think of her. Even with "Over the Rainbow", that was a beginning, her innocence still prevalent, and here as a mature performer, she can dominate a song without eating it up. Harold Arlen, who wrote the music for both these songs, can truly be called one of the greatest masters of songwriting in the business, still honored today in an Off Broadway show, "The Wizard of Song"."Say Vicky Lester!", she is told upon hearing her new name, and even if there was once a bit actress with this name in real life (around the time of the 1937 Janet Gaynor/Fredric March version), it will be Garland's Vicky who will go down into immortality. Vicki and Norman marry, he attempts sobriety, and she becomes a superstar. While "Born in a Trunk" is considered the hallmark of this film, I truly find her "Somewhere There's a Someone" to be the richest moment where she perfectly chews up every moment this 7 minute dance number takes on. "Loose That Long Face" and "Here's What I'm Here For" also point out her ability to win your heart and rip it out at the same time.Excellent dramatic performances by Mason (certainly not overshadowed in this by his strong leading lady), Jack Carson (press agent) and Charles Bickford (studio head) add dimension to the story, not making this all about the star. Tommy Noonan is touching as her roommate, having just supported another great diva, Marilyn Monroe, as her put-upon fiancée in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Lucy Marlowe makes the most out of her bit role as a rising starlet, but it is obvious that once Vicky Lester enters the scene, there's no doubt who will end up with the man and the Oscar.Having directed such greats as Hepburn, Garbo, Crawford, Bergman and Taylor, George Cukor adds another coupe to his credits with "A Star is Born", and all of the combined talents prove that this was indeed a team effort, not just a showcase for Garland after her triumph at the Palace following her exodus from MGM. With husband Sid Luft at the helm, there is no doubt that there was high hopes of it revitalizing her film career, but the film points out that Garland's best work was on the stage. Like the name of her finale film which proved that Garland could go on singing, it wouldn't take the cows to come home, only audiences to fill up the seats where she won their hearts, even if only able to give part of herself.