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A Star Is Born (1954)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 8/26

8/26: A Star Is Born?

Nah. It's an excruciatingly long, overblown musical, forcing me to take plenty of mental breaks. That's why I don't like George Cukor's films. The biggest mistake is the insertion of photograph stills, destroying the momentum. There are a lot more parts that should've been taken out such as the embarrassing show Judy Garland put on for James Mason in the living room. They don't contribute much to overall substance which remains low throughout.

Six Oscar nominations? Talk about overkill. At least, the film didn't win any. The most controversial is Grace Kelly winning Best Actress for The Country Girl over Judy Garland in what's one of the closest ever that's separated by only six votes. To be honest with you, Eva Marie Saint of On the Waterfront should've been put in that category and thus won the statuette. Grace Kelly's screen time was fifteen minutes total, making her a supporting actress at best. At any rate, Judy Garland was far better but may have been punished for holding up the production for so long due to "chemical dependencies, significant weight fluctuations, illnesses, and hypochondria."

In regard to Judy Garland's and James Mason's performances, they're back and forth between strong and insufficient in the absence of chemistry. No matter what, it's all horizontal growth, a big flaw of such antiquated acting, which is the reason why Marlon Brando was credited with heralding a new method to effect realism. If you watch Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean spent a lot of time building up his character that he went from a nobody to a legend, hence vertical growth. In A Star Is Born, I just don't see or feel it.

All in all, A Star Is Born needs to be pared down by at least an hour.

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