Judy Garland had no better showcase of her formidable singing and acting talent than as the title star of this moving, memorable classic directed by George Cukor. As a band singer discovered and guided to heights of show-business success by an alcoholic ex-matinee idol (James Mason), she performs one superb song after another (most by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin) in a production that exhilarates with its craft and style even as its story moves toward a heartbreaking finale. Shortened after its 1954 premiere and reconstructed to near its original length in 1983, A Star Is Born endures as one of Hollywoods supreme triumphs.