A Star Is Born: Judy Garland and the Film that Got Away [Hardcover]

New York Timesbestselling author and daughter of Judy Garland tells the story ofA Star Is Born-- at once the crowning achievement and greatest disappointment in her mother's legendary career. This is a vivid account of a film classic's production, loss, and reclamation.
A Star Is Born -- the classic Hollywood tale about a young talent rising to superstardom, and the downfall of her mentor/lover along the way -- has never gone out of style. It has seen five film adaptations, but none compares to the 1954 version starring Judy Garland in her greatest role. But while it was the crowning performance of the legendary entertainer's career, the production turned into one of the most talked about in movie history.
The story, which depicts the dark side of fame, addiction, loss, and suicide, paralleled Garland's own tumultuous life in many ways. While hitting alarmingly close to home for the fragile star, it ultimately led to a superlative performance -- one that was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost in one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history. Running far too long for the studio's tastes, Warner Bros. notoriously slashed extensive amounts of footage from the finished print, leavingA Star is Bornin tatters and breaking the heart of both the film's star and director George Cukor.
Today, with a director's cut reconstructed from previously lost scenes and audio, the 1954A Star is Bornhas taken its deserved place among the most critically acclaimed movies of all time, and continues to inspire each new generation that discovers it. Now, Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland and the film's producer, Sid Luft, tells the story of the production, and of her mother's fight to save her career, as only she could. Teaming with film historian Jeffrey Vance,A Star Is Bornis a vivid and refreshingly candid account of the crafting, loss, and restoration of a movie classic, complemented by a trove of images from the familƒE