A STAR IS BORN - The 1954 cinema masterpiece reconstructed and digitally remastered (6K) -- Blu-ray Book Special Edition Reviewed by John J. Puccio

—> See Link to our Blu-ray Review (below)

"A Brilliantly staged, scored and photographed film worth all the effort!" —(Life Magazine)

"The entire picture is an unforgettable experience! I was sorry it ended!" —Ed Sullivan

"One of the grandest heartbreak dramas that has drenched the screen in years."
—Bosley Crowther (The New York Times)

"Judy Garland gives just about the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history." —TIME

A STAR IS BORN — 2-Disc Blu-ray Book
and 3-Disc DVD Deluxe Special Editions »
(Now available - released June 22)

GLORIOUSLY RESTORED — Highly anticipated debut on Blu-ray Disc featuring an impressive selection of Bonus Content and Rare Extras...

Burbank, CA — Honoring the gripping masterpiece that marked Judy Garland's triumphant return to the screen, A Star is Born (1954) reveals its stunning restoration by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging (MPI) - now available on Blu-ray Disc (June 22) from Warner Home Video (SRP $34.99) in a dazzling 2-disc book format with 40 pages of gorgeous photography, film history and more.

Winner of two Golden Globes (Best Actress, Judy Garland and Best Actor, James Mason) and nominated for six Academy Awards®, this powerfully moving and glamorous story reawakens when it arrives on Blu-ray Disc for the very first time. Offering the best possible way to see the film at home, the Blu-ray release will also feature impressive bonus content including alternate takes, deleted scenes, excerpts from Garland's audio recording sessions, a collectible book of rare photos, press materials and an illuminating essay by film historian John Fricke.

The film is also available as a Deluxe Special Edition 3-Disc DVD (SRP $20.97), and now available on Video on Demand from cable and satellite providers and for electronic download from online retailers including Amazon Video on Demand.

Famously reconstructed in the early eighties under the leadership of late film historian Ronald Haver, MPI has meticulously preserved and restored Haver's 176-minute version of A Star is Born to its original luster, bringing back the brilliant, saturated colors and crisp picture. Using cutting edge digital restoration tools, MPI removed heavy chemical staining that affected several portions of the film and utilized an ultra-resolution recombine process to correct the heavily damaged sections. Without this painstaking preservation, the fragile negative stock in which the film was created would surely be near extinction.

"Our colleagues at MPI have not only done a phenomenal job in restoring the impeccable visual style of this great motion picture, but through their work, they have also ensured the survival of this cinematic treasure," said George Feltenstein, senior vice president, theatrical catalog marketing, Warner Home Video. "The unparalleled superiority of Blu-ray combined with one of the best musical dramas ever made, come together to create an unforgettable home entertainment experience that is now preserved for the ages."

A timeless story, sophisticated in the way it conveys its controversial themes, particularly considering the period of time in which it was made, A Star is Born brought together a cadre of extraordinary talent to portray this evocative contemplation of show business. The film became such a major part of American cinematic heritage that the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

MARKETING SUPPORT:
Leading up to Warner Home Video's much anticipated release, the beautifully restored musical will make its world premiere at the Opening Night Red Carpet Gala of the TCM Classic Film Festival at the historic Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on April 22, 2010.

Additionally, TCM will be offering the following in support of the June release of A Star is Born:
* Programming – Will be included in The Essentials Programming Event in June
* Classic Movie News Feature
* Online – Shopping Newsletter Mention
* Social Networking – Facebook and Twitter Messaging
* Search Engine Marketing
* Ad in the Now Playing Guide (tentative)

ABOUT THE FILM:
George Cukor directed this classic musical drama about the doomed marriage of an entertainer whose career is on the rise (Judy Garland) and her husband whose career is in decline (James Mason). A Star is Born marked Judy Garland's return to movies after a four-year absence, director George Cukor's first musical and first color film, and a showcase for great Harold Arden and Ira Gershwin songs in state-of-the-art stereo.

One of the most beloved show business stories of all time, the film represents a career peak for many involved. Garland is singer Esther Blodgett, an undeniable talent on the rise. She catches the eye of Norman Maine (James Mason), an alcoholic actor in career decline. Their intense love transforms them both. Only one will survive Hollywood's slings and arrows. The film sports an impressive supporting cast including Jack Carson, Charles Bickford and a host of Hollywood luminaries.

Songs include "The Man That Got Away," "Lose That Long Face" and Garland's tour de force performance of "Born in a Trunk."

ABOUT THE 1983 RECONSTRUCTION:
A Star is Born triumphed anew in 1983 after archivist/historian Ronald Haver spent months ransacking studio vaults to spearhead a reclamation of George Cukor's original edit, ultimately funded by Warner Bros. He located the entire 181-minute soundtrack, along with footage for three lost musical numbers and portions of the deleted dialogue scenes. Where no film existed, Haver used stills-over-track for transition and only slightly trimmed the audio when photographic coverage for some sequences was deemed inadequate.

Haver's A Star is Born debuted at the sold-out New York Radio City Music Hall on July 7, 1983, with James Mason, Sid Luft, and Garland's daughters Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli in attendance. Cukor, who had died six months before, was extolled from the stage by Fay Kanin, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which had encouraged Haver on his search and co-sponsored the screening. It is Haver's assemblage of the picture that is presented in Warner Home Video's June 2010 release on Blu-ray and DVD.

(Read more on the 6K remastering further below)

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS:
* Academy Award® for Best Actress (Judy Garland, nominee)

* Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Judy Garland, winner)

* Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (James Mason, winner)

* Award for Best Written American Musical by Writer's Guild of America

* Academy Award® for Best Actor (James Mason, nominee)

* Academy Award® for Best Art Direction (Malcolm C. Bert, Gene Allen, Irene Sharaff, and George James Hopkins, nominees)

* Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg, and Irene Sharaff, nominees)

* Academy Award® for Best Original Song ("The Man that Got Away," nominee)

* Academy Award® for Original Music Score (Ray Heindorf)

* BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress in a Leading Role (Judy Garland, nominee)

* Directors Guild of America Award (George Cukor, nominee)

* Writers Guild of America Award for Best American Musical (Moss Hart, nominee)

* #43 on AFI's "100 Years… 100 Passions" list and #7 on AFI "Best Musicals" list

* "The Man that Got Away" listed as # 11 on AFI's "Top 100 Tunes in Films" list

* Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." (2000)

A STAR IS BORN — Explore further:
—> Blu-ray Review by John J. Puccio »
EXCERPT: According to WB's press release, "'A Star Is Born' opened in 1954 with a run time of 192 minutes. This is the version that was approved by the director and creative team. However, soon after, the film was trimmed by 28 minutes, presumably so exhibitors could squeeze in an extra show daily. At that point, director George Cukor disowned this 'final' 154-minute version, claiming the film had been completely compromised.

In 1982, with the support of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Warner Bros., film historian and author Ronald Haver, who also ran the LACMA film program at the time, started his restoration efforts by spending several months rummaging through the studio vaults to reclaim George Cukor's original edit. Haver located the entire soundtrack for the 182-minute version, along with footage for three missing musical numbers and portions of the deleted dialogue scenes. Where no film existed, Haver used stills over the soundtrack for transition and only slightly trimmed the dialogue when photographic coverage was deemed inadequate. At 176 minutes, Haver's restoration premiered at Radio City Music Hall July 7, 1983 to wildly enthusiastic audiences and continued the run to sold-out houses around the country.

Cut to the present as Warner Home Video prepared to restore and remaster the film for its debut on Blu-ray disc." It is here that the studio scanned the negative at 6K, allowing Warner "to retrieve the full color," corrected the color from the negatives, and worked with multiple sources in refurbishing the sound. The outcome, downscaled to 1080 x 1920 high definition, is probably about as close to what the film looked like in 1954 as one could get.

Warner Bros. filmed "A Star Is Born" in 2.55:1 CinemaScope, which they have preserved in the restoration and transferred to Blu-ray disc using a dual-layer BD50 and a VC-1 codec. The clarity is, as we might expect, excellent, as are the deep, rich colors and intense black levels. Reds in particular stand out brilliantly. The Warner engineers also preserved the film's light, natural film grain for appropriate texture. In some ways, the picture quality is as good as anything produced today, although there is a very slight veiling of the image in some scenes, hardly a concern.

What we have in "A Star Is Born" is a well-worn, often clichéd, and overlong story, with a few good musical numbers, a fine performance from James Mason, and a terrific performance from Judy Garland. Does Garland make up for the movie's shortcomings? For Garland fans, the answer is a resounding Yes! For me, it's more of a toss-up. At the risk of incurring the eternal wrath of Garland lovers everywhere, "A Star Is Born" is a good film, but maybe not a great one.

(Click thru the Link above for the full review)

Blu-ray Book BONUS FEATURES:
1983 RECONSTRUCTION (Presented on two discs)
• Collectible book of rare photos and press materials (40 pages)
• Introduction: Run time 3:01
• The Man That Got Away - Pink Dress: Run time 5:11 - Additional Take
• The Man that Got Away - Brown Dress #1: Run time 4:49 - Additional Take
• The Man that Got Away - Brown Dress #2: Run time 4:24 - Additional Take
• The Man that Got Away - Brown Dress #3: Run time 4:00 - Additional Take
• The Man That Got Away - Brown Dress #4: Run time 4:00 - Additional Take
• Here's What I'm here For - Alternate Take: Run time 2:36 - Additional Take
• Lose That Long Face - Alternate Take: Run time 4:55 - Additional Take
• Trinidad Coconut Oil Shampoo - Alternate Take: Run time 1:24 - Additional Take
• When My Sugar Walks Down the Street - Outtake: Run time 0:58 - Additional Take
• Suicide Scene - Alternate Take: Run time 2:15 - Additional Take (BD Exclusive)
• Film Effects Reel: Run time 0:54
• A Report by Jack L. Warner: Run time 6:24 - Vintage Featurette
• Huge Premiere Hails A Star is Born Newsreel Montage: Run time 7:49 - Vintage Featurette
• A Star is Born Premiere in Cinemascope: Run time 2:05
• Pantages Premiere TV Special: Run time 29:30 - Vintage Featurette
• "A Star is Bored" (1956 WB Cartoon): Run time 7:00 - New Featurette
• TRAILERS:
- A Star is Born (1937): Run time 2:46
- A Star is Born (1954): Run time 3:52
- A Star is Born (1976): Run time 3:46
• Audio Vault - Oliver on the Phone with the Director Discussing Norman - Outtakes: Run time 2:00 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - Norman and Esther on the Roof of the Hotel Lancaster - Outtakes: Run time 2:00 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - 12/28/1942 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast with Judy Garland and Walter Pidgeon) Run time 60:00 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - Judy Garland Radio Interview: Run time 4:00 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - Born in a Trunk: Run time 9:05 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - Someone At Last - Rehearsal: Run time 10:34 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - Someone At Last: Run time 7:16 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - My Melancholy Baby: Run time 7:06 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - Black Bottom: Run time 1:48 - Audio Only
• Audio Vault - Swanee: Run time 4:57 - Audio Only

The 3-Disc DVD Special Edition includes all of the above except the bonus Alternate Take of the Suicide scene

"Arguably director George Cukor's greatest movie." —Mike Clark (USA Today)

"Judy Garland's personal struggles imbue her performance as the successful partner of a failing alcoholic actor with an unnervingly raw edge."
—Lucy Neville (Sight and Sound)

181 min (premiere version) | 176 min (restored ed.)

Film Synopsis:
The applause of the world
— and then this!
A movie star helps a young singer/actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

A Star is Born marked Judy Garland's return to movies after a four-year absence, director George Cukor's first musical and first color film, and a showcase for great Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin songs in state-of-the-art stereo. Garland is singer Esther Blodgett, an undeniable talent on the rise. She catches the eye of Norman Maine (James Mason), an alcoholic actor in career decline. Their intense love transforms them both. Only one will survive Hollywood's slings and arrows.

Shortened after its premiere, the movie underwent one rebirth in 1983 when film historian Ronald Haver found almost all the cut sequences and supervised a reconstruction to near its original length. It's new rebirth is this digital transfer from a refurbished element, with revitalized digital audio and incorporating picture and musical material recently uncovered. Star always had a shine to it. Now watch it sparkle as never before.

George Cukor directed this classic musical drama about the doomed marriage of an entertainer whose career is on the rise (Judy Garland) and her husband whose career is in decline (James Mason). A Star is Born marked Judy Garland's return to movies after a four-year absence, director George Cukor's first musical and first color film, and a showcase for great Harold Arden and Ira Gershwin songs in state-of-the-art stereo. One of the most beloved show business stories of all time, the film represents a career peak for many involved. The film sports an impressive supporting cast including Jack Carson, Charles Bickford and a host of Hollywood luminaries.
________________________________________

'Star' to be born in new light

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging is restoring George Cukor's 1954 "A Star Is Born" in 6K super-HD resolution.

The film, starring Judy Garland and James Mason, is believed to be the first restoration project where the scanning, restoration work and mastering will be completed at that resolution.

Digital film restoration is most commonly accomplished at 2K, though an increasing number have been using 4K. A 4K file contains four times as much picture information — measured in pixels — as a 2K file, and 6K contains 2 1/4 times as much as a 4K file.

Ned Price, VP mastering, Warner Bros. Technical Operations, said that the facility's reason to go to higher resolution was because "The original camera negative contains more information than 2K, though 2K is today's typical display resolution. But we anticipate higher display resolution in the future. So we are attempting to preserve the asset, rather than just create an element for exhibition."

The key goal of the project is preservation, which will alsobe released on Blu-ray Disc and standard DVD.

"There has been photochemical work done on this particular title, but with new digital tools we are able to retrieve the original color balance of the faded negative in a way that we could not reproduce photochemically," Price said. "We made film preservation elements since the film had differential fading, meaning... the edges of the film had more oxygen and deteriorated quicker. By scanning it, we're able to get a completely flat field of color."

Numerous restoration industry leaders share the belief that the community needs to step up to a resolution higher than 2K for restoration and preservation. Still, opinions vary, as more storage and bandwidth is needed to handle these larger files, which along with cost, is a challenge.

"6K is typically a costly proposition, so that's why we are testing the waters on 'A Star is Born,'" Price said. "As the size of data is more easily managed and the tools become more accessible, we will increase our resolution." Said Price: "Our expectation is that the restoration would live for easily 100 years."

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging, the studio's digital post and restoration facility, has recently restored such titles as "Bonnie and Clyde," "Dirty Harry," "Cool Hand Luke" and "How the West Was Won."

By Carolyn Giardina (May 23, 2008)