“As film entertainment, it has everything…an almost perfect example of what Hollywood can do when a big budget is intelligently spent on a script everyone believes in”—Films in Review

A musical remake of the 1937 Janet Gaynor/Fredric March drama, Star was produced as Garland’s return to the screen after a four year absence. Everything was done to create a genuinely beautiful film—from the Moss Hart scenario to the new songs by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin, the CinemaScope craftsmanship of director Cukor, and the nonpareil casting of James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles Bickford, and Tom Noonan. Judy won an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress—and, as one appreciative critic noted, could have been cited as well as Best Singer, Best Dancer, Best Comedienne, and Best Mime.

Star was preposterously cut by 30 minutes two weeks after its 1954 premiere. A 1983 restoration reinserted three numbers, with stock footage and stills covering most of the missing dialogue scenes.