Review: A Star is Born (1954)

George Cukor's 3 hour musical drama is not only one of the best musical dramas of the 1950s, but also holds two absolutely astounding performances by legendary performers James Mason and Judy Garland.

Clocking in at 3 hours, A Star is Born not only functions as an excellent vehicle for Garland's musical and acting talents, but also as a wonderfully timeless and deeply emotive story, chronicling not only her character's rise to fame, but also James Mason's character's fall from grace, and, in an ending that is incredibly poignant and tragic, self destruction.

Cuckor does an excellent job not only directing the musical numbers (of which there are at least 7, all clocking in at more then 5 minutes), but also extracting incredibly real performances out of Garland and Mason, and the rest of his cast. The film feels intimate and personal, and Cuckor likes to let his camera run, letting his actors really spread out with their performances, truly plumping the depths of the emotions held within each scene.

Garland shines here as Esther Blodgett, not only as a musical performer, but as a dramatic actress. her performance is complex and layered, ranging from a starry eyed newcomer in the first half, to a self assured star in the third quarter, to a woman who desperately tries to help her husband recover from his self destruction. And Garland does it all seamlessly. It helps that the film is broken into two 90 minute halves, divided by an intermission, which helps the story breathe, and therefore makes Garland's character's progression feel real. And it goes without saying that her musical talents are unparalleled, with her voice and performances being one of a kind, never to be quite equaled by any other performers.

James Mason's character, as washed up, self destructive alcoholic Norman Maine. His romance and chemistry with Garland is exceptional, and to watch him slowly spiral into eventual suicide is incredibly tragic, especially when it's contrasted with Garland's rise. His death scene is one of the most understated and poetic I've seen in quite some time, and it really weighs with a sense of tragedy.

The songs are all great, and even though one could argue this has a bit too many musical numbers (especially considering the second half's descent into an incredibly dark tragedy), it gets a pass, mostly because of the sheer power of Garland's abilities as a singer and dancer, making you willing to watch her just go all out and PERFORM, which is a beauty to behold.

So yeah, this is an incredible film, and really worth seeking out if you haven't seen it. It's story is touching and timeless, and is one of the best musicals to come out the 1950s, which was the golden age of the movie musical.

5 out of 5 stars.