It didn't work for The Maltese Falcon, but with A Star Is Born we managed to get three classic films from the same story. I'm guessing that people like a love story that's entertainment based.
This version that starred Judy Garland and James Mason is quite a bit more expensive than the 1937 United Artists film that starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Warner Brothers bought the rights from David O. Selznick who produced it for United Artists as a vehicle for the comeback of Judy Garland.
As we all know Judy suffered a nervous breakdown and was four years off the screen after Summer Stock. I'm sure it was with some trepidation that Jack Warner signed Judy for this musical version of A Star Is Born.
Dropped from the 1937 film is the wide eyed innocent fresh off the farm Esther Blodgett that Janet Gaynor played. Judy has a minor career, she's singing in a band with friend Tommy Noonan. But at a benefit where she's performing, her quick thinking prevents drunken screen star Norman Maine from making a spectacle of himself.
James Mason as Norman Maine actually remembers what happened and the young lady intrigues him. He finds her at a club singing the Academy Award nominated song The Man That Got Away and he sees star quality in her. A little pushing with studio head Charles Bickford and A Star Is Born, renamed Vicki Lester.
In her singing and her acting no one was more vulnerable than Judy Garland. She had no other life other than performing from the time she was a small child. That Born In A Trunk number is quite autobiographical. She had all the hard knocks of Born In A Trunk before she was signed by MGM and she had to deal with a lot of heartache as Vicki Lester does. The role got Janet Gaynor a Best Actress nomination and Judy got one also.
In fact A Star Is Born might be unique among films in that both leads both the first and second version got Oscar nominations. James Mason repeated Fredric March's nomination from the first version. And Norman Maine is a difficult role. He's essentially a weak man who has indulged himself too much and can't seem to stop the downward spiral. But he's bright and intelligent and the tragedy is that the love of his life came too late for him.
Like the other version this A Star Is Born earned a flock of Oscar nominations, but not one award. Judy was the favored choice, but she lost in an upset to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl. Ironically that's another film where a woman has to contend with an alcoholic husband. James Mason unfortunately was nominated in a year where after three straight nominations, the pressure was overwhelming to give Marlon Brando his Oscar for On The Waterfront. It would have been one egregious slight.
Another part of consequence is Jack Carson's as the studio press agent and general factotum for Mason, a job he hates. Mason does treat him like a doormat at times and Carson's got every right to feel resentful. But sad to say he gives Mason far more than the comeuppance required. Carson was equally good in drama and comedy, he made his blowhard persona work in both.
The last film of this story with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson was also acclaimed and Barbra got a few hit songs out of it. Something tells me this will not be the last version of A Star Is Born.
Can you see Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes doing it?
This version that starred Judy Garland and James Mason is quite a bit more expensive than the 1937 United Artists film that starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Warner Brothers bought the rights from David O. Selznick who produced it for United Artists as a vehicle for the comeback of Judy Garland.
As we all know Judy suffered a nervous breakdown and was four years off the screen after Summer Stock. I'm sure it was with some trepidation that Jack Warner signed Judy for this musical version of A Star Is Born.
Dropped from the 1937 film is the wide eyed innocent fresh off the farm Esther Blodgett that Janet Gaynor played. Judy has a minor career, she's singing in a band with friend Tommy Noonan. But at a benefit where she's performing, her quick thinking prevents drunken screen star Norman Maine from making a spectacle of himself.
James Mason as Norman Maine actually remembers what happened and the young lady intrigues him. He finds her at a club singing the Academy Award nominated song The Man That Got Away and he sees star quality in her. A little pushing with studio head Charles Bickford and A Star Is Born, renamed Vicki Lester.
In her singing and her acting no one was more vulnerable than Judy Garland. She had no other life other than performing from the time she was a small child. That Born In A Trunk number is quite autobiographical. She had all the hard knocks of Born In A Trunk before she was signed by MGM and she had to deal with a lot of heartache as Vicki Lester does. The role got Janet Gaynor a Best Actress nomination and Judy got one also.
In fact A Star Is Born might be unique among films in that both leads both the first and second version got Oscar nominations. James Mason repeated Fredric March's nomination from the first version. And Norman Maine is a difficult role. He's essentially a weak man who has indulged himself too much and can't seem to stop the downward spiral. But he's bright and intelligent and the tragedy is that the love of his life came too late for him.
Like the other version this A Star Is Born earned a flock of Oscar nominations, but not one award. Judy was the favored choice, but she lost in an upset to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl. Ironically that's another film where a woman has to contend with an alcoholic husband. James Mason unfortunately was nominated in a year where after three straight nominations, the pressure was overwhelming to give Marlon Brando his Oscar for On The Waterfront. It would have been one egregious slight.
Another part of consequence is Jack Carson's as the studio press agent and general factotum for Mason, a job he hates. Mason does treat him like a doormat at times and Carson's got every right to feel resentful. But sad to say he gives Mason far more than the comeuppance required. Carson was equally good in drama and comedy, he made his blowhard persona work in both.
The last film of this story with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson was also acclaimed and Barbra got a few hit songs out of it. Something tells me this will not be the last version of A Star Is Born.
Can you see Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes doing it?