Judy Garland - Lehrjahre eines Hollywood-Stars

I was very fortunate to find a VHS tape of this movie and have watched it many times since. One never tires of seeing and hearing it. It's one of those videos you hang onto like a treasure. You do not even have to like musicals to love this musical drama. Some might say McArdle was deadpan or the like but I see her performance as a reflection of a person living an unhappy childhood (Garland). And that's how a person feels. I consider it one of the better movies I have seen. One cannot praise Andrea McArdle enough, not only for her knock out vocals but as a superb actress as well. In fact, the whole film is loaded with talented people. Never during the whole movie does one stop and think of acting ability. When the acting is great, as in this one, you forget that these are people acting out parts. It was that good. The famous Jackie Cooper also deserves a huge pat on the back as the Director. Why this movie was not promoted into top billing and put on DVD, I have no idea. It certainly runs circles around many movies pushed as the greatest. I hope that it will end up on DVD to help preserve it. This is the story of Judy Garland's early life, as she struggled into stardom. It helps us understand how she became addicted to drugs because the studio wanted her thinner. She took pills for energy, then pills to go to sleep and on it went. What a shame, she died too young. She was unhappy many times in her life. But so are many other people. I was wondering to myself – why is it that we feel such compassion for the problems of a movie star, when ordinary people may go through even worse lives? There is only one answer – they live public lives. We see them on the screen and we think we know them (which we don't), are a part of their lives. This movie will certainly make you feel that for Judy Garland. Judy complained to her mentor Roger Edens, that there was no use in trying. She didn't feel thin enough nor good looking enough to make it. Roger told her that he always thought she was pretty and that she had something more than the beautiful actresses, she had a voice. Yet she did make it big, but it was also her undoing in the end. Andrea has that great voice. In addition, her acting ability will make you believe every scene is for real. With a voice like that, there is no reason she could not have made it big in the movies, perhaps she didn't know the right people. However, perhaps she is lucky that she did not, because she is probably a lot happier than Judy ever was as a super star. Andrea starred on Broadway as "Annie". McArdle was nominated for a 1977 Tony Award for that part. Nothing against other singers, it is just very tough to better the voice of Andrea McArdle. When Judy's father (Don Murray) was dying in the hospital, listening to Judy (Andrea) on the radio, sing their favorite song (I'll Get By), you would have to be a made of stone not to feel it. McArdle sang a number of songs in this movie and everyone was a keeper. Forgive me if I don't get the titles exactly right, but she sang You Made Me Love You in Dear Mr. Gable, Somewhere Over The Rainbow at the end of the movie, Zing Went the Strings of My Heart, Stormy Weather, Dinah and probably more. In a couple of scenes it was mentioned that she sang in B flat and I wondered if that was the same key for both Judy and Andrea. As I said earlier, there are many talented people in this wonderful film. Michael Parks played Roger Edens in his usual low-key method. I first noticed him in a TV show from 1969 titled Then Came Bronson where he travels around the country by motorcycle seeking the meaning of life. He reminded me of the new James Dean. He has done a wealth of work over the years. Rue McClanahan played her part to a T and I am not a Rue fan, or maybe it is the parts she plays. Nice job Rue. Donna Pescow played Judy's sister Jinnie. My hat's off to anyone who will gain 40 pounds for a part as she did in Saturday Night Fever – crazy, but dedicated. It is hoped good things will continue for her. Martin Balsam was Louie B. Mayer in this movie and he certainly was believable. A great actor who is missed. It is said he was a bit annoyed when fans only seemed to remember him falling down the stairs in Psycho when he had done so many other works. Piper Laurie was Judy's mother and her portrayal was a difficult one to pull off. In a kind of contradiction, she was both one of those mothers who push their kids into show business and yet she displayed a real concern for the welfare of her daughter. Piper ably wove both types into the personality of the character. Others also contributed to make this a wonderful movie. It is well worth the time you spend to view it – no doubt about it – absolutely! Experience this movie if you get the opportunity.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Andrea McArdle has to be rated a ten if only for the strength, clarity and beauty of her singing abilities. Add to that the fact that the girl can actually act. To see her in any movie would be a treat. To see her in a movie depicting Judy Garland, another showbiz "10" with a voice that overwhelms, is an unbelievable delight. "Rainbow" tells the story of the emotional triangle that proved to be a trap for Judy Garland. Wanting to please her parents, wanting to "make it big" in show business, and always longing to be a normal girl proved to be a conflict too large to overcome. The movie is bittersweet in that it shows the drive the mother infuses into young Judy Garland, the special relationship between Judy and her father, and the unbelievable talent inside this child, all the while reminding us that each of these facets took a toll on Judy Garland and eventually shaped her life both in positive ways and in ways that were painful.

A good movie. I really wish it would be released on DVD. It definitely would be a worthwhile addition to any collection.

Fan-magazine equivalent of a biography, in this case a television-budget glimpse into the early life of actress and vocalist Judy Garland (née Frances Gumm). Director Jackie Cooper, who reminds us he befriended the real Judy during their years together at MGM, lays the pathos at our feet right from the start, with Broadway's Andrea McArdle belting out a lonesome "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", followed by a reprise of the song 15mns later! Cooper, and writer John McGreevey (working from a substandard book by Christopher Finch), perhaps were hoping to show us Judy's natural pluck and verve despite upheavals in the Gumm household--but, if so, somebody forgot to tell young McArdle. With her hangdog face, crooked mouth and watery eyes, she's about as far from plucky as a Garland substitute can be. Obviously chosen for the part due to her stage pipes as the original "Annie", McArdle has apparently studied Judy Garland but doesn't attempt an imitation (perhaps unwisely, as her singing voice lacks warmth). Cooper stages innumerable scenes around the piano with McArdle in song--always surrounded by adults nodding to each other, pretending to find her adorable--but he never gets at what was so unique about Judy Garland. She appears to us as just another kid songbird. The Hollywood studio sequences are also underwhelming, with key details and conversations coming off as suspect (made worse by repetitive moments, poor editing and mediocre acting). One can only scoff at what amounts to be a woe-is-me look at a poor little rich girl, one who finds herself wondering aloud, "When will I be in the right place at the right time?" as she walks the lot of the biggest movie studio in the world. One Emmy nomination and win: Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or a Special to Howard Schwartz. ** from ****

If you're a fan of Andrea McCardle, you'll want to check out Rainbow, a Judy Garland biopic from 1978. If you're not, you'll hate this tv flick so you might as well skip it. Andrea looks, sounds, and acts nothing like Miss Garland, and the whole movie is basically a vehicle to show off her belting singing voice. She sings and sings and sings, with very little plot in between songs. And since she looks, sounds, and acts nothing like the woman she was cast to impersonate, it gets old fast.

Within the very thin plot, it implies that Frances Gumm's father (played by Don Murray) was a closeted homosexual, and her frustrated mother (played by Piper Laurie) had an affair with her friend, a married man with an invalid wife. It never explains why the vaudeville act went from The Gumm Sisters to just Judy Garland, and it stops after the filming of The Wizard of Oz. Piper's character sort of fades into the scenery once they reach Hollywood, and Judy's very close relationship with an MGM composer, played by Michael Parks, isn't really explained. There's one point in the movie where Michael advises her to tone down her wild gestures she makes while she's singing, but it's more amusing than truthful. The real Judy Garland did have spastic mannerisms, but Andrea stands with her arms plastered to her sides and an extremely bored expression on her face. For the third time in his career, Martin Balsam plays Louis B. Mayer, and while he is portrayed as a stern studio mogul, he's not as cruel or domineering as he is depicted in other movies. All in all, it's just one giant songfest from Andrea, with very little resemblance to the real Judy Garland. Although, I have to admit it's very cute Jackie Cooper directed the picture.

Really very thin on plot, dealing as it does with a relatively short period in Judy Garland's life (and how much plot can one extract from "stage performer becomes film performer"?), and really just a showcase for a series of singing performances from Ms McArdle. Still, McArdle is definitely noteworthy, and this is ultimately not bad TV biopic fare.

When some actual plot does occasionally rear its head, it all seems to be handled in a fairly shallow way, without any real delving into the stories big emotional mines, such as Garland's relationship with her parents, reaction to her father's death and her treatment - and medication - by the studios.

Judy Garland/Wizard of Oz trivia: Piper Laurie, who plays Judy Garland's mother in this film, would go on to play Auntie Em, Dorothy Gale's mother-figure in Return to Oz.