American Cinematographer - February 1984 - 50

With "Lose That Long
Face"
our

done,

we had completed
restoring the movie.
During the last months of
we had gotten
increasingly

work of

efFort

and excited reactions from

warm

Fay Kanin, then president of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences, and Gene Allen. De¬
spite their enthusiasm, however,
Warner Brothers was skeptical.
They couldn't imagine a thirtyyear-old movie having fresh appeal
for contemporary audiences.
Though they'd been generous with
funds for the reconstruction, they
made no plans for a re-release of

this classic. There would

be, in¬
stead, special showings in six ma¬
jor cities, centering around the
theme of film preservation.

The performances of
Judy Garland and

The film opened at Radio
City Music Hall on July 7, 198 3 to
a packed theatre and wild enthusi-

James Mason
convey greater

poignance in the
context
not

of scenes

Warner

asm.

contained in the

shocked

general release of

ceived, and

1954.

the

at

Brothers

was

reception it

even more

shocked

re¬
at

the

burgeoning crowds that began
lining up in Washington, Dallas,
Chicago, Oakland and Los An¬
geles to see it. These special show¬
ings around the country featured a
rare original Technicolor imbibi¬
tion print, run in double system
with a copy of the 4-track stereo
master.

ragamuffin costume, her face dot¬
ted with huge penciled-in freckles
and her hair a mass of cowlicks.
The reason is that in the uncut ver¬
sion, she is on a set filming "Lose
That Long Face" right before her
dramatic

scene

takes place. The

is purposely slick and pollyana-ish, to work as a foil to the
poignant moment when Esther

song

confesses to studio head Oliver
Niles how heartbroken she is over
Norman Maine's decline.
Esther describes the pain
of watching Norman throw his life
away.

cuts,

The scene is done in two
and Esther's anguish reaches

incandescent intensity. (At
every showing of the movie 1 at¬
tended this scene finished to loud

an

applause.) Then she is called back
onto

the

onds, she

set.

In

a

matter

manages to

of

sec¬

transform

her shattered face into a mask of
exaltation for the perky, phony

American

Cinematographer

Th e

success

of these

surrounding the tragic scene, it
takes on a poignance it had partly

showings was so impressive (in Los
Angeles the movie was extended

lost in the edited version.
Once we'd cut the
to fit the pre-recorded track,

for a full week to sold-out houses)
that Warner Brothers decided to
re-release the movie. At last, Ron
Haver's devotion to this project
had received the acknowledge¬
ment it deserved. For the re-re¬

easy to

film,

as

fit it into the

rest

scene

it

was

of the

edited. The end of the

mu¬

sical number dissolved into the
scene in the dressing room.

Ironically, barely a month
after we'd finished working on A
Star Is Born, the original edited
version of "Lose That Long Face"
was seized along with a cache of
footage that an eccentric film col¬
lector had stolen from a variety of
studios. When we screened
Cukor's version, we were pleased
to find that his cut was remarkably
similar to ours. This new find was

immediately cut into the CRI to
replace our version. The number,
and all the new prints of the pic¬
ture,

will henceforth contain this

segment.

song.

48

With the musical number

February 1984

lease,

new prints were struck from
fairly recent CRI, and the re-recording of the original sound track
was presented in Dolby i-track

a

stereo.

Reconstructing A Star Is
very special experience
for everyone involved. George
Cukor's sensitivity and artistry set
a high standard; James Mason's
performance was a jewel, and Judy
Born

was a

Garland

never

exhibited

more

clearly the talents that made her a
legend. Everyone who worked on
the restoration felt their presences
keenly, and strove to do them jus¬
tice.
■
American Cinematographer - February 1984

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