Customer Reviews for
A Star Is Born
Restored? Still photos in black and white? That's a movie?
"A Star is Born" is still one of my favorite films. But do we really need restored scenes with lines like "stop the car here a minute" that aren't all that important to the main plot which is already long enough? If these are restored scenes, make them filmed scenes instead of black and white photos. Be warned that "Lost Horizon" is restored like this, too.A Star Is Born
A true classic
Yes, it's overlong and dated but not particularly campy. It is Judy and James Mason at their finest and a still-potent critique of the Hollywood star system. If you've never seen it, it's a must. I tried to find it to rent or buy around Oscar time this year, but no store in my area had it. It would be terrible if this film, which underwent a lengthy and historic restoration in the 1980's, went out of print or became impossible to find in the future.A Star Is Born
Could use a new edition, but this DVD is superb.
DVD was in its infancy in 1999, and at that time, Warner Bros. was still not the greatest studio at releasing good DVD editions of their classic films. However, with the premiere DVD release of the 1954 musical remake of A Star Is Born, Warner Bros. started on the right track.
The film is famous for its amazing dramatic and musical performances by the legendary Judy Garland, in her first movie since being fired by MGM in 1950 after making Summer Stock, as the rising star Esther Blodgett (under the stage name of Vicki Lester); its incredible Cinemascope and Technicolor cinematography; and a stellar performance by James Mason as falling star Norman Maine. What the film is just as famous for, and possibly even MORE famous for, is Warner Bros.' editing of it after theater owners complained about the length, as well as Judy Garland's Oscar loss and the film's 1983 restoration. The film premiered at 181 minutes and was hailed as a trimphant return and tour-de-force performance by Judy. After being butchered to 154 minutes in which entire scenes and musical numbers were reviewed, many felt the film made absolutely no sense and it ended its run with a whimper. Judy Garland was nominated for an Oscar for her performance, but lost to Grace Kelly in what Groucho Marx famously called "the greatest robbery since Brinks."
In 1983, film historian Ron Haver did something few, if anyone, had ever attempted - a reconstruction of a film that had been brutally edited after initial release. The film was A Star Is Born, and after several years of searching for elements, Ron Haver was able to restore the movie to just 5 minutes under its original length. The restoration team used whatever they had to in order to make the restoration work - home movies taken on set, whatever deleted footage could be found, even production stills during a stretch of several minutes in between Norman Maine's offer to get a screen test for Esther and the studio makeup scene where none of the footage could be found. Although the use of stills may seem jarring to some people, you must understand that these scenes are absolutely necessary to the development of the narrative. In the cut version, it was simply Norman offering Esther a screen test and then she gets it. Here, we get to see how she struggles and the jobs she takes in order to break into show business, the way most stars in the real world have to do it. Fortunately, the stills aren't used constantly throughout the film, which allows for a much easier viewing experience than if all of the deleted scenes had required reconstruction with still photos. This reconstruction, which George Cukor sadly passed away the day before its first screening, finally allows for a more cohesive narrative and, joyfully, two additional numbers by Judy.
This DVD is absolutely superb for an early single-disc Warner Bros. release. The DVDS boasts a new digitally refreshed transfer with a remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. The video and audio quality are absolutely superb, although new restoration processes could revitalize the video quality even further if Warner Bros. decided to do a new DVD release of this film. The video is presented in its original Cinemascope widescreen theatrical aspect ratio, animorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs.
As with many early DVDs, especially by Warner Bros., this DVD is a DVD-15, or a flipper disc with a DVD-9 (dual-layer) on one side and a DVD-5 (single-layer) on the other side. The DVD-9 side contains the movie, naturally. The DVD-5 side contains the bonus features. What's here is amazing to have - newsreel footage of the premiere and post-premiere party, the kinescope of the NBC broadcast of the Hollywood premiere, three alternate takes of The Man That Got Away, When My Sugar Walks Down The Street, which was deleted from the Born In A Trunk sequence, and theatrical trailers for all three film versions of A Star Is Born - it's interesting to note that all three trailers are anamorphically enhanced - including the 1937, which is given black bars on the side to fit within the 16:9 frame without cropping.
What's NOT here, sadly, is a documentary on the making of the film or at least something on the restoration. Someone who doesn't know much about the history of the film might not understand why there's several minutes of the movie which are mostly shown with still photos instead of film footage, or why some of the footage that IS in the film, such as the scene where Esther is a carhop at a drive-in, is so grainy, dirty, and fuzzy.
Since this DVD's release in 1999, Warner Bros. has gone from being a so-so DVD factory to a company that has finally come to appreciate the immense catalogue of classic film titles that they can release on DVD, and therefore have released the finest DVD editions of some of the greatest movies of all time. With this in mind, I think it's high time Warner Bros. revisited this film with a brand new DVD release - preferably a 3-Disc Special Edition. Disc 1 could contain a brand new digital transfer from newly restored film elements and outdo the already sparkling transfer from the 1999 DVD release. An audio commentary by John Fricke, which could touch on the making and 1983 restoration, would be a nice touch as well. Disc 2 could contain all of the bonus materials from the flipside of the 1999 DVD, plus a new documentary on the making and restoration of the film. And, as a great bonus, disc 3 could contain a freshened-up version of the original 1937 version of the film. While Warner Bros. probably wouldn't undertake a massive digital overhaul of the film just so it could be a bonus on the 1954 movie's DVD, they could at least freshen it up from a 35MM nitrate negative. Since the movie's in the public domain, Warner Bros. could do this easily AND in better quality than any other DVD release available, except maybe for the Image Entertainment release, which is supposedly remastered from the 35MM nitrate elements.
Meanwhile, since Warner Bros. has yet to announce any plans for a new DVD of A Star Is Born, this DVD version will do very nicely. The film, for the most part, looks absolutely excellent, with vibrant color and very little dirt, grain, scratches, etc. The audio is superb, and the bonus materials presented here are completely outstanding. I wholeheartedly recommend this DVD to fans of the film, Judy Garland and James Mason fans, and fans of classic films. Despite necessary shortcomings in the reconstruction, it's a must-see film. In addition, if you enjoyed the songs from this film, you simply MUST own the 2004 expanded reissue of the film's soundtrack album. The CD is a revelation for those who've owned previous soundtrack editions. The new CD contains much of, if not all of the film's score, including deleted portions, as well as complete songs, including the never-before-heard extended intro to The Man That Got Away, as well as some new gems - When My Sugar Walks Down The Street and the complete audio for The Trinidad Coconut Oil Shampoo Commercial. The CD, like the film, is pieced together from multiple existing elements, such as the film's stereo soundtrack, the mono recordings of the film's score, the mono soundtrack album masters, and even a worn acetate playback disc for the shampoo commercial. If you love the film, Judy, or just classic soundtracks in general, the CD is also a must-own.A Star Is Born
Good Or Bad, Garland's Talent Can't Be Ignored
This is the darnedest movie to rate. I usually don't judge musicals the same way that I judge other movies. I just rate their production value, since that's often the only reason to see a musical. (Who rates an Arnold Schwarzeneger movie for its screenplay?) But when I first saw "A Star Is Born" I had mixed opinions. Great acting, great directing, great screenplay (for what could be done with such a story), and even the cinematography seemed two decades ahead of its time. And of course, there were great production numbers. All this, it seems, was tragically sunk by a hackneyed, thrice-filmed story. Can I really enjoy a feel-bad musical? And what of its ending? After three hours of being Judy Garland's hate letter to Hollywood, why the schmalzy conclusion?
Nevermind. After my first analysis, I've been drawn back to the movie time and time again, and I think I know why. Judy Garland's colossal talent is unparallelled. Not only was she a great actor, not only was she an above average dancer and funny raconteur, not only was she the greatest singer I have ever heard -- she was a legend, clearly in her own time.
The fifteen-minute born-in-a-trunk segment reveals the core of her amazing legacy: in only four years she went from being a drug-addicted has-been who was fired from MGM to being "Miss Show Business", who can sing a fifteen-minute homage to herself in her own movie. ("Born In a Trunk" could be retitled "The Myth of Judy Garland Put to Song.")
Her acting here is very different from her MGM acting, now that she is no longer playing the glossed-over characters of Metro's escapism days. The scene late in the movie where she as Ester recovers her emotions just in time to get in a filmed shot for a musical comes almost as a physical shock. Norman Maine and Esther Blogett seem like they are both projections of different angles of the real Judy Garland. Or is that just more of the legend? On one hand there is the very charming and talented starlett whose limit is the sky, and on the other hand there is the polarizing, self-destructive, addict. Every now and then the movie shows little hints of Norman Maine's brilliance shining through the surface, a credit to Mason's acting abilities.
And then there is the production value. Unlike her earlier musicals, she does all the singing here, in multiple styles and multiple settings, from "The Man That Got Away" in closing-for-the-night cafe to "A New World," sung entirely a capella while the audience watches the ocean waves. (Another shock. Was this a first for a musical?) The movie has my favorite performance of "Swanee," and a joyful (in an otherwise unhappy movie) costume number "Lose That Long Face." I wonder how much of the tap-dancing was choreographed and how much was improvised. Garland wasn't noted for being the greatest dancer, but Gene Kelly said, "What you could give her she could learn like that." My favorite number is the one where Garland mimicks cliches from Fifties musical production numbers using only her living room props. (And the movie still cost six million dollars?)
Should I recommend this movie? I think yes. Even if you might not like it, it is important enough of a movie that you should see it at least once. You may get the same original impression that I got, but I was driven to think about it long after it was over, and like I said, I've seen it many times since.A Star Is Born
A tribute to the talent of Judy Garland
A Star Is Born explores the dark underbelly of a ruthless Hollywood. Judy Garland plays Esther Blodget whose star is on the rise while her famous husband played by James Mason is on the way down.
Garland is superb in the musical numbers but struggles with some of the dramatics. To be fair director Cukor places huge demands on her with many long scenes. It's ironic that Garland plays the wife of a fading alcoholic star...
In its restored version this film is very long at 3 hours, and the photographs used to fill in the gaps where the film is missing is rather off-putting.
For its time this is quite a hard-hitting film, unglamorous in its depiction of an unforgiving business. There is very little musical score -outside of the musical numbers - of course, which makes this film seem more modern. Cukor lets the actors tell the story.
The film's musical numbers are superb and the film is a great tribute to the talent of Garland. George Cukor's direction is also striking. Visually the film is superb. Definitely worth seeing.A Star Is Born
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