A Star Is Born
US (1954): Drama/Musical
"This is Mrs. Norman Maine": Could these be the most heartbreaking words Judy Garland ever uttered? George Cukor directed and Moss Hart wrote this film, a musical remake of the 1937 original. The story is a show-biz classic: He (James Mason) is a major movie star who is past his prime and on the way down; she (Garland) is an aspiring singer who, with his help, becomes a bigger star than he was. Their marriage becomes a seesaw of success and failure, as he slowly drinks himself to death out of bitterness at the fickleness of fame, until his bad behavior begins to threaten the career of his long-suffering and loving wife. Mason and Garland are both terrific, with her singing "You Gotta Have Me Go with You," "Here's What I'm Here For," "It's a New World" and the Oscar®-nominated "The Man That Got Away" (done in one long tracking shot) among others. Cast also features Jack Carson, Charles Bickford and Amada Blake. Remade in a 1976 Barbra Streisand vanity production. (Warner Bros.) (Marshall Fine, Amazon.com)
6 nominations
· Actor 1954: James Mason
· Actress 1954: Judy Garland
· Art Direction/Set Decoration (Color) 1954: Malcolm Bert, Gene Allen & Irene Sharaff - Art Direction, George James Hopkins - Set Decoration
· Costume Design (Color) 1954: Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg, Irene Sharaff
· Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Musical Picture) 1954: Ray Heindorf
· Music Best Song 1954: "The Man That Got Away" Harold Arlen - Music, Ira Gershwin - Lyrics