In George Cukor's remake, fading matinee idol Norman Maine helps young singer and actress Esther Blodgett find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.In George Cukor's remake, fading matinee idol Norman Maine helps young singer and actress Esther Blodgett find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.In George Cukor's remake, fading matinee idol Norman Maine helps young singer and actress Esther Blodgett find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.
- Nominated for 6 Oscars
- 7 wins & 13 nominations total
Tommy Noonan
- Danny McGuire
- (as Tom Noonan)
John Alban
- Academy Awards Attendee
- (uncredited)
Laurindo Almeida
- Guitarist
- (uncredited)
Leon Alton
- Usher
- (uncredited)
Rudolph Anders
- Mr. Ettinger
- (uncredited)
David Armstrong
- Soundman
- (uncredited)
Phil Arnold
- Agent #3
- (uncredited)
Nadine Ashdown
- Esther - Age 6
- (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor
- Racetrack Spectator
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGeorge Cukor offered Marlon Brando the role of Norman Maine on the set of Julius Caesar (1953). "Why would you come to me?" asked Brando. "I'm in the prime of my life... If you're looking around for some actor to play an alcoholic has-been, he's sitting right over there"- pointing at his costar James Mason, who got the part.
- GoofsAfter Vicki comes home and she performs in her house for Norman, the doorbell rings and he goes to the door to accept a package for Vicki. His hair is all mussed-up when he goes to the door, but after he closes it and the camera goes back to him, there isn't a hair out of place. Then he walks over to where Vicki is and his hair is all mussed-up again.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Vicki Lester: Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine.
- Alternate versionsContrary to popular belief, the film was not originally at 181 minutes, but rather 196 (3hrs. and 16mins.) at a post-premiere shown on August 8, 1954 in Huntington Park, California. After its second post-premiere - the very next day - two scenes of 15 minutes total were deleted; making the film run its original world debut length at 181 minutes. One was a number called "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" that came after Judy's take of "I'll Get By" in the 'Born in the Trunk' sequence, the other was a scene where Garland and James Mason's characters (Vicki and Norman) were picnicking on the beach; production stills and promotional advertisements are the only thing left in existence of the footage. After its world premiere on September 29, 1954, 27 minutes was cut, bringing it down to a mediocre 154 time length. Those scenes were:
- 1) Esther quitting the band
- 2) The Trinidad Coconut Oil Shampoo
- 3) Esther working at a drive-in
- 4) Norman being driven away drunk in his car
- 5) Norman inquiring Esther's old landlady
- 6) Spotting Esther on the TV commercial
- 7) Tracking down Esther at her new boarding residence
- 8) Driving down the strip - Esther getting sick
- 9) "Here's What I'm Here For" musical number - Norman proposes
- 10) "Lose That Long Face" musical number - Vicki breaks down
- ConnectionsFeatured in Film Night: Film Night Special: Forty Years in Hollywood (1970)
- SoundtracksGotta Have Me Go with You
(uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Performed by Judy Garland with Jack Harmon & Don McKay
Featured review
Judy Garland at Her Best
The 1954 musicalized version of A Star Is Born is a great film. Judy Garland and James Mason (both Oscar nominated) turn in terrific performance as Esther and Norman. Like its 1937 predecessor (which starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric Marchboth Oscar nominated), the 1954 version follows the ups and down of two people set against the vicious world of Hollywood. The newer version sticks to the basic story but adds some great numbers for Garland, including "The Man That Got Away" and "I Was Born in a Trunk." In a major comeback, Garland had not worked in films since Summer Stock (1950), and her performance here is the best of her career. That she lost the Oscar to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl is one of Hollywood's great inequities. Mason lost to Marlon Brando for On the Waterfront. Garland sings superbly and is a great comic and dramatic actress. Her Esther is more vulnerable than Gaynor's just as Mason's Norman is more pathetic than March's. I love both versions. Charles Bickford and Jack Carson play the other major parts, played by Adolphe Menjou and Lionel Stander in 1937. Two major supporting roles from the 1937 version were cut from the 1954 version: Esther's first Hollywood friend (Andy Devine) and her intrepid grandmother (the great May Robson). But Garland's musical numbers make up for their absence. Oddly, despite the great hullabaloo surrounding A Star Is Born, it was not nominated for best picture, and George Cukor was bypassed in the directing category. One of the best musicals ever made.
helpful•7212
- drednm
- Jun 21, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Zvijezda je rodjena
- Filming locations
- Church of the Good Shepherd - 505 North Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA(Norman Maine's funeral)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,019,770 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,335,968
- Gross worldwide
- $4,349,205
- Runtime2 hours 34 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1
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