A STAR IS BORN (1954, Cukor)
Here’s an “exciting” reenactment of a shot from a classic movie. I was strolling around Warner Bros. yesterday with my friend Cloe, a major film buff and studio veteran with endless stories (if you want to learn film history, walk around a movie lot with her.) Anyhow, it was actually me who spotted this location, as I have a habit when watching an old movie that if I recognize the location, I’ll snap a screen shot of it for future use. Well, I recognized this unique building from my wanderings around W.B. (a proud moment, as it’s a bit of a needle in a haystack), so had had the above pic from the film on my phone for quite some time.
A Star is Born location
On the lot yesterday, I was able to pull it up on my phone and photo-reenact this cool moment of Judy as Esther Blodgett (“You must have been born with that name”) coming out of make-up, glamorized beyond recognition, so that James Mason doesn’t even recognize his friend when he bumps into her.
It’s really haunting standing in a spot that almost 60 years ago was teeming with cast and crew. As much and as often that I’m on set, around famous people, crews and equipment, this kind of brush with the ghost of cinema past always gets me. Movies are special that way, I guess.
I also snagged an awesome moment from 1962’s The Music Man which was shot on the WB town square set. More on that later.
(BTW, that’s me in the lower photo, Judy in the top.)
A STAR IS BORN (1954, Cukor)
Okay, this apparently is musicals week (what can I say, Outfest just opened). One of the most remade stories ever is A Star is Born. Just as seismologists warn us we are overdue for a Los Angeles earthquake, likewise, by