A Star is Born (1954)

A Star is Born (1954)

• The second of four adaptations of this movie, and often regarded as one of the best musicals ever made, this movie has a great story, great characters, and phenomenal music. The story and overall plot was intriguing and fascinating to watch unfold, and despite the 3 hour runtime, there is lots of detail constantly added to each scene. The movie does a great job of showing you the behind-the-scenes of both movie making, as well as the personal lives of the actors/actresses. It opens your eyes to the struggles that many actors go through, and how their mental state is affected. When an actor is on screen, you really only see their fake personalities, whereas in this movie, it shows you how much the movie business takes a toll on one’s mind. James Mason does a fantastic job as Norman Maine, and he is really able to put the alcoholic struggles that many people deal with straight into your head. You really see how dangerous and addictive alcohol can be to those who may be depressed. He greatly carries this movie, and his performance opens your eyes in both a good and bad way. Judy Garland, of course, does a phenomenal job, and her voice is absolute gold. Both her singing and acting is spot on, and she was the best character of the whole movie. In a sense, you see her go rags-to-riches, but you also see how her life is affected by her husband’s struggles. She puts so much emotion into each and every scene. You see her deal with physical beauty struggles, along with finding a fake identity and conforming to popular opinion. Her character development is really good, and the ending does a great job with showing her true character. It really makes you grateful for the blessings in your life, and not have to deal with what both Norman and Esther had to deal with in this film. The music was extremely good, and both the score and choreography reminded me of Singin’ in the Rain. There were several scenes that (somewhat) had the same mood and tone of the Broadway Melody scene from Singin’ in the Rain, which I enjoyed. There were some really great string arrangements, and the rest of the orchestra did a super awesome job. However, despite the greatness of this movie, I got extremely bored in several scenes. The movie felt way too long, and it was hard for me to pay attention. Although the dance/music scenes were really fun to watch, everything else felt like a drag. The story was interesting to watch, but I had a hard time sitting still. Overall, I would probably recommend this movie to those who love musical dramas. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!