A Star Is Born

"The applause of the world... and then this!"

1954 2h 56m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

🔥

98%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.1TMDB · 340🍅98%Rotten Tomatoes●89Metacritic★7.5IMDB · 20,226

DramaMusicRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

“The applause of the world... and then this!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Judy Garland
Vicki Lester
James Mason
Norman Maine
Jack Carson
Matt Libby
Charles Bickford
Oliver Niles
Tommy Noonan
Danny McGuire
Lucy Marlow
Lola Lavery
Amanda Blake
Susan Ettinger
Irving Bacon
Graves

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: George Cukor
Writers: Moss Hart, Robert Carson, William A. Wellman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 176 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

72 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

228+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by George Cukor, shot by Sam Leavitt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Leonard Gershe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Folmar Blangsted shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Judy Garland and James Mason and Jack Carson carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The applause of the world... and then this!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Cukor directs. Sam Leavitt behind the camera. Leonard Gershe scores. Folmar Blangsted cuts. A long sit — settle in. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 176 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
272 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3228+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by George Cukor, shot by Sam Leavitt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Leonard Gershe. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Folmar Blangsted shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Judy Garland and James Mason and Jack Carson carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The applause of the world... and then this!".
9IMDB entry: tt0047522 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "career", "husband wife relationship", "musical", "alcoholism".

The technical file

Cinematography: Sam Leavitt
Original score: Leonard Gershe
Editing: Folmar Blangsted
Production design: Gene Allen
Costume design: Mary Ann Nyberg
Makeup / hair: Gordon Bau
Runtime: 176 min · 2h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,019,770
Box office: $12,000,000
Return: 239% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: A Star Is Born (1954)
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 89/100
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 20,226 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Nominated for 6 Oscars. 7 wins & 14 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

George Cukor

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Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-03-28
★ 7/10
One cannot watch this nowadays without seeing parallels between the James Mason role as "Norman Maine" and Judy Garland's own later life. He is the falling star of Hollywood kept afloat by booze and the ceaseless efforts of his studio boss "Oliver Niles" (Charles Bickford) to keep him from complete self-destruction. Meantime "Esther Blodgett" (Garland) is a struggling chanteuse taking any job she can until good fortune strikes. One night, serendipity takes a hand in this and their paths cross. He hears her sing "The Man That Got Away" with her band in a bar and is smitten both professionally and emotionally. As the title suggests, a star is well and truly born. Soon "Maine" is but an appendage to the newly renamed "Vicki Lester" which sees him spiral even more out of control, despite her addictive love for him. It's long (over 2½ hours) so inevitably, it sags at times - I could have done with more singing, but it is still a fine, touching, piece of cinema.

Production companies