When I heard that yet another remake of A Star Is Born was going to be released in theaters, I resolved to watch all of the movies in one sitting at home and not pay to see it in theaters. Engaging in A Star Is Born marathon is not necessarily an easy feat. It is hard to accumulate all the movies—I had to get the first three from the library. Each movie is long, and I decided to watch them in chronological order, which means that A Star Is Born (1954) is the second of four movies that I watched. Because I’ve been a George Cukor fan since high school, I suspect that I saw it before, but don’t have any actual memory of it. I actually went into the viewing fairly tired and had to give myself an intermission, i.e. a nap, to survive the one hundred seventy six minute run time, which is the longest of all four movies! There are actually two versions of this movie, and the theatrical version is way shorter, but the studios butchered the film and melted it down to retrieve the silver. The version that I watched does its best to restore those lost scenes by using production stills with audio recordings of the dialogue that would have been heard in those scenes.
If not for the studio’s sabotage, A Star Is Born (1954) would have been the best of the bunch. It is basically perfect. It is a classic Hollywood musical starring Judy Garland! It is a faithful adaptation of the original movie, but is more emotionally resonant and any alterations such as the jail house wedding and the proposal improve the story. It starts at the meat of the story, when the drunken has been meets Judy Garland, who is not famous yet, but definitely working on it, and the momentum of the film is getting Judy to take her rightful place on center stage, which duh. James Mason has a difficult job because he has to convey talent and status without having an opportunity to display his gifts like in the subsequent two remakes. Mason conveys his character’s assets and flaws beautifully and takes us on a journey from a man who clearly had talent and abused the fringe benefits of his profession to a man waking up to the realization that he passed the finish line and did not realize it. Mason has an iconic voice, but isn’t physically impressive so his inner collapse is projected perfectly on to his crestfallen face and gradually slouching physique.
Out of all the incarnations of the has been, Mason gave me a glimpse of what he was like before he was famous after the makeover sequence when he whisks Garland away to do her (un)makeover himself. You can imagine him as a younger actor who had to pick his own wardrobe and apply his own makeup. He elicits memories of a man who loved the energy behind the stage and initially loved his job. His passion for Garland is believable because he is at his least cynical recapturing the original magic of being a performer when he discovers her talent and uniqueness.
It is unsurprising that Garland is convincing as a talented singer, but her acting is the most emotionally nuanced of all the incarnations as the titular character. Her initial evasiveness and attempt to distract him from honing in on her is so credible. Her quiet ambition and understated disgust at taking positions beneath her is a sensational teaser of what is to come and explains why she is attracted to him. He sees her best self. Her growing disgust and horror at the catch in their relationship, that she has to be his caretaker, is so honest and raw, but is the essential element missing in all the other films. It reminded me when Khaleesi in Game of Thrones couldn’t wait to dump her lover and get on with the show.
They are the best couple of all four movies. They have real on screen chemistry. She can’t wait to come home. He can’t keep his hands off her. Without the outside world intruding, they could be happy. He is convincingly at his happiest just serving her until he remembers others’ failed expectations. They share a sardonic shop talk about the logistics of the creative world. She is at her happiest when she sings, and he is at his happiest when he hears her sing. There is a sense that at home, he is really Norman Maine, and she is Esther Blodgett, but she sees Norman Maine, and he always sees Vicki Lester in Esther Blodgett; however when she sees Ernest Sidney Gubbins, neither of them can bear it. In a sense, he already died because he erased himself long before the movie ever started because he never liked who he was originally. This is the essential problem of their relationship and his identity crisis, which is why in spite of the devastation of his final act, it is still redeeming for him and her.
If I had to find something to critique in A Star Is Born (1954), I would pick the actors playing the studio head and the publicist. They are more wooden and less memorable than in the original, but the catalyst confrontation in this version is set up more plausibly in this version as the final nail in the coffin whereas in the first movie, it feels abrupt. Also the humiliation scene for her is less aggressive and more pathetic, but the emotional power of that scene is undercut when the impact of that accidental slap isn’t lingered on longer.
The musical numbers in A Star Is Born (1954) are outstanding, and while Mason’s critique that the ‘Born in a Trunk” fifteen minute sequence, which is like a short standalone film in a film, completely takes you out of the movie is completely correct, I don’t care and would happily sign a waiver because if for some reason you lived under a rock, that sequence would convince an acolyte that Judy Garland’s character was a star. It is a phenomenal fifteen minutes, and I watched it twice.
There is also an added subliminal pathos for film and Garland lovers while watching this film. Even though she was playing the ascending star, she was actually the star on her way down that the studios didn’t want to take a chance on because of her alcohol and drug habit. If you ever feel insufficiently rewarded, you can console yourself that Garland lost money on this movie, didn’t get the Oscar and A Star Is Born (1954) was considered a box office failure. Life is not fair, and this movie may have contributed to her road to self-destruction, which the studios played a big role in.
A Star Is Born (1954) has an added layer of pathos despite a generally triumphant and uplifting storyline. If the studios hadn’t literally destroyed the film, it would be the best version. Almost three hours is a lot to ask of anyone, but if you love the story and musicals, it is a must see movie.