A Star is Born (1954)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

A Star is Born (1954) – G. Cukor

Rather gruelling at 3 hours long and due to the subject matter: an alcoholic movie star (James Mason) on his way down meets and grooms a young singer (Judy Garland) to become a new star of Hollywood musicals. Of course, this is a remake of the famous 1937 version starring Frederic March and Janet Gaynor – the earlier script won an Oscar and there are strong echoes of it here, even if the story has been transposed into a musical.  Mason is professional and feels authentic (brutally touching in his helpless self-loathing) even as Garland seems vulnerable and always on the verge of seeing herself in the Mason role. She glues us to the screen with her dramatic and emotional singing style, even though some of the songs are a bit boring.   Cut from 180 minutes to 154 after its initial release, most of the missing footage was found and replaced in a restoration, although some scenes are replaced by stills. Some “real” and compelling moments here where you can see through the varnish into the souls of the characters (if not the actors) but these moments are strewn throughout the film’s length, many coming at the end.