Truly Dreadful Film

That was an excellent one.

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

There is no doubt Judy Garland was an extraordinary singing talent, with one of the best voices ever heard on the silver screen. However, I feel her actual talent as a dramatic actress was overlooked because of her ability as a singer. Here, she is able showcase both the singer and the dramatic actress.Some people think that Judy didn't have to stretch very far to act in this role (unlike Grace Kelly who won the Oscar that year which many thought was rightfully Judy's), but I have to disagree. She got the chance to stretch her dramatic acting skills plenty, and gave a performance that perhaps was not expected of her after spending the majority of her MGM career in musical comedies, minus her dramatic, non-singing performance as a young war bride in "The Clock." This is Judy's movie all the way, and she makes the most of every moment. Still, the charismatic James Mason's contribution to the film should not be overlooked. In my opinion, he was an extremely underrated actor. This is a great film that gives her fans the complete Judy Garland package. Definitely worth seeing.

Thanks to dear TCM I finally was able to see this much ballyhooed movie in its entirety - or as much of it that remains after the famous lost cuts - see details elsewhere on this page. I loved Judy Garland in Wizard, the Andrew Hardy series and Meet Me in St Louis. As far as I can tell, she managed to ruin her voice before this "come-back" movie was made. All of those forced notes grate on my ears - sorry. How sad that so many people turned themselves inside-out to give her this opportunity. Even sadder that so few people seem to recognize the poor quality of her voice in this movie. The film is beautifully photographed and James Mason is fine but, please - do not try to tell me Judy Garland even came close to earning a nomination for this movie.

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.

This film has a lot of history and baggage, to be sure. Judy Garland had been dropped from "The Barkleys of Broadway" (which resulted in the happy reunion of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in their only Technicolor movie) and "Annie Get Your Gun" and she and her fans were hopeful that "A Star Is Born" would be her big comeback vehicle. I recently viewed the movie on Blu-ray, not having seen it before, and I have to say that I was not overwhelmed by any of it. In fact, I found a good bit of it annoying. It was too long and should have been cut, though that should have been done by George Cukor, not the studio. I know that the Judy-Garland-can-do-no-wrong crowd won't like this, but she was, in my opinion, a bit too old and a bit too plump for the part and in all of her musical numbers, she is just trying so hard to knock it out of the park, the result is performances that are too over-the-top and frantic. Everything about this film seems bloated, dated, and just boring. The insertion of stills to fill in for missing footage is distracting, too. It would have been better to have done as they did with the recent "South Pacific" release and offered two versions--the complete, "restored" roadshow version, with the stills and extra footage, and the shortened version. In sum: this is a curiosity item and not without interest, but not the masterpiece that many would claim. If you are looking for a showcase of Judy's mature singing talent, this may be your cup of tea. Otherwise, forget it.