Judy Garland and James Mason star in this captivating 50s movie that brings to the big screen a rather eclectic and to this day a unique challenging portrayal of the movie business, alcoholism along with true love and sacrifice. Some standout scenes that have been rarely incorporated into movie in the fashion this movie accomplished include: Behind the movie industry scene and starting out as a contract actress business. The movie premiere scene that flashbacks to getting into the movie business from a young child. The living room playful scene. And the poignant need a job at the Academy Awards presentation scene.
This movie includes one of the strongest and most penetrating self-reflective scenes with Judy Garland about love not being enough. This second movie version contains emotional gut punches that hit the heart and riddle one with memorable and meaningful relevance even today. The love and sacrifice towards the end of the movie pours out with waves and waves of most rippling understandable universal pain and compassion. In short, this movie in a rather difficult amalgam though not perfectly paced in its effort to showcase, in part, Judy Garland's singing brilliance while presenting a story about discovery, love and commitment, and the torturous role that alcohol dependency while not trivializing it can take while avoiding to focus blame and portray any black and white notion of character defects. A most powerful human interest movie about dreams and the ultimate meaning of living and dying and the purpose of individual human existence at its finest with all its flaws thrown in.
This movie includes one of the strongest and most penetrating self-reflective scenes with Judy Garland about love not being enough. This second movie version contains emotional gut punches that hit the heart and riddle one with memorable and meaningful relevance even today. The love and sacrifice towards the end of the movie pours out with waves and waves of most rippling understandable universal pain and compassion. In short, this movie in a rather difficult amalgam though not perfectly paced in its effort to showcase, in part, Judy Garland's singing brilliance while presenting a story about discovery, love and commitment, and the torturous role that alcohol dependency while not trivializing it can take while avoiding to focus blame and portray any black and white notion of character defects. A most powerful human interest movie about dreams and the ultimate meaning of living and dying and the purpose of individual human existence at its finest with all its flaws thrown in.