Cinema
A Star Is Born
George Cukor · 1954
Synopsis
Hollywood. Norman Maine, an alcoholic film star on the decline, bursts in drunk onto the stage of a charity gala; Esther Blodgett, a band singer, saves the number by acting as if he were part of it. That same evening, he hears her sing in an empty musicians' club and urges her to try films. The studio head, Oliver Niles, signs her; the studio renames her Vicki Lester and wants to remake her face, which Norman refuses. She becomes a star, they marry quietly, and the studio ends Norman's contract.
Context
It marked Judy Garland's return to the screen after four years' absence, Cukor's first colour film and first musical, and Warner's first CinemaScope. A preview ran three hours sixteen minutes; Cukor cut the film to about three hours, then, while he was shooting in India, the studio removed nearly half an hour. In 1983, a reconstruction restored about twenty minutes, covering the recovered soundtrack with production stills; Cukor, who had died in January, did not see it.
Who it is for
A film running from two hours thirty-four minutes to nearly three hours depending on the version, the reconstructed version filling in the missing scenes with still images.
Prizes and reception
Six Oscar nominations without a win; its reconstruction was the first project of this kind to attract wide attention.
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