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James Mason and Judy Garland deal with ups and downs in Hollywood in A Star is Born |
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Judy Garland (Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester), James
Mason (Norman Maine/Ernest Gubbins), Jack Carson (Matt Libby), Charles Bickford
(Oliver Niles), Tommy Noonan (Danny McGuire)

The story is of course familiar. Esther Blodgett (Judy
Garland) is an aspiring singer who – with quick thinking and performance nerves
of steel – saves drunken Hollywood star Norman Maine (James Mason) from
humiliation by involving him in a musical number at a charity event. When he
sobers up, Maine goes to visit Esther to thank her – and is blown away when he
hears her singing. Convinced she will be a major star, Maine arranges for a
screen test with studio head Oliver Niles (Charles Bickford) and later pitches
heavily for her to be considered as a last-minute replacement on the studio’s
big new musical when the star drops out. Esther – or Vicki Lester as the studio
renames her – becomes a major star when the film is a smash hit. But as her
career goes up and up, Maine’s alcoholism and unreliability start to catch up
with him and his own career hits the skids.
Cukor’s A Star is Born
is a big, charming, impressive film that mixes emotional desperation with
moments of joyous celebration. The film was not the box-office bomb it’s often
believed to be (although it did do disappointing business) but, worried about
its length, the studio cut the film several times during its release. The film
we have today is a slightly neutered version, with several scenes reassembled
by film historian Ronald Haver using audio, the odd clip and still photographs
(it adds an impressionistic section of the film which you can’t imagine Cukor
would have cared for) – but Haver did locate several missing musical numbers
which add to the film’s impact.
Garland sings all the numbers, and some of her best work
ever is in this film. Her late night bar rendition of The Man That Got Away (the performance that wins Norman’s heart) is
superb. I love the affectionate spontaneity of Someone at Last, Esther’s recreation to amuse Norman of the
sequence she has spent the day filming in the studio. This scene is playful,
sweet, funny and has a freshness not all the numbers have.
Some of the other numbers go on too long – and it’s hard to
escape the feeling that they are in there solely because of Garland and not because
they serve the plot. Because this isn’t really a musical as such, more of a
romantic tragedy with the odd tune, with each number a performance. It works
superbly because Cukor’s sympathetic direction draws some of her best work from
Garland – and a truly superb performance from Mason.
Cukor works particularly effectively with Garland who, in
real life at this point, was far more similar to the destructive Maine (she
delayed the film frequently with her absences and fluctuations in health).
Garland is of course too old for the part – but it doesn’t really matter as she
brings it such freshness, naturalness and emotional openness that you can
persuade yourself that she’s a young ingĂ©nue at least ten years younger than
she looks.
Garland was also surely helped by being paired opposite
Mason. Not the first choice – that was Cary Grant – or indeed the second, Mason
was hired as his professionalism and expertise could deal with Garland’s
erraticism. Under Cukor’s direction he gives his finest work on screen here.
His turns Maine into someone decent, charming, kind – but overwhelmingly
self-destructive. His slightly slurred speech and ability to turn on a sixpence
to anger makes for some of the best drunken acting you’ll ever see. But it works
especially as we are desperate for Maine to kick the bottle. Because when he’s
sober he’s the perfect husband and gentlemen. But Mason uses that to mine the
deep tragedy of the character, his intense shame and self-loathing. The later
sequences of drunken misbehaviour are heartbreaking (Maine’s drunken
interjections at Esther’s Oscar-winning speech are almost unbearably painful to
watch), and it’s all powered by Mason’s humanity in the role. It’s a truly
great performance.
The film itself is perhaps a little slow and uneven around
these performances. The musical numbers – whisper it – frequently slow the
action down or grind the plot to a complete halt (none of them add anything to
the story at all, and exist to showcase Garland). The film is so tightly
focused on its two leads that it never develops any sub-plots to contrast with
the main action. There is some light satire on Hollywood studios and their
rapacious desire for more money – but not too heavy as the villain here is the
odious press man (a weasly Jack Carson) while the studio head is a kindly,
affectionate, fatherly figure who would never
make a call based on business. The matter of fact way both stars have their
names changed (the moment when Esther discovers Norman’s real name is a
hilarious throwaway moment) is a neat gag. But the film takes a long time,
frequently stopping for another Garland set-piece.
Perhaps the studio instincts were right that the film needed
to be tighter – and some of the dialogue sequences reinserted by Haver hardly
add much too the plot. Cukor’s direction is calm but assured though and the
superb performances of the two leads make the film what it is. It looks
fabulous with its technicolour depth, and it carries a genuine emotional force
that pays off dramatically by the film’s conclusion. A Star is Born is uneven at times and overindulgent but it has more
than enough going for it to reward the viewer.
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