Warner Home Video has announced
A Star is Born, directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Garland, for release on a two-disc Blu-ray Deluxe Special Edition on June 22, including a 40-page booklet with rare photos, press materials and an essay by film historian John Fricke. As previously reported (see blu-ray.com,
May 23, 2008), this was the first film to be completely mastered at 6K — from scanning to restoring to mastering.
Special features include:
- Introduction
- Ten additional and alternate takes
- Film effects reel
- Vintage featurettes:
- A Report by Jack L. Warner
- Huge Premiere Hails A Star Is Born Newsreel Montage
- A Star Is Born Premiere in Cinemascope
- Pantages Premiere TV Special
- 1956 WB cartoon: A Star is Bored
- Trailers:
- A Star Is Born (1937)
- A Star Is Born (1954)
- A Star Is Born (1976)
- Audio Vault (audio only):
- Two outtakes
- Dec. 28, 1942 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast with Judy Garland and Walter Pidgeon)
- Judy Garland Radio Interview
- Born in a Trunk
- Someone At Last – Rehearsal
- Someone At Last
- My Melancholy Baby
- Black Bottom
- Swanee
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."
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.