Rainbow

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.

If you are looking for an in-depth, warts and all, look at Judy Garland. this is not your film. This 1978 bio pic is extremely sugar coated. Her father being a homosexual is merely hinted at through dialogue because that wasn't a subject that could be spoken of at the time. Her drug abuse is played about as deeply as an episode of Saved by the Bell.

This is a light film that walks one through the highlights of the life of Judy Garland from the point of being part of the Gumm Sisters singing group through her being cast in the Wizard of Oz. Andrea McArdle is slightly miscast since her voice is much bolder and Broadway than the real Judy Garland. (Thus a few of the undeserved reviews here about how loud she is)

McArdle was the original Annie on Broadway, and she has appeared in other regional, off-Broadway and more Broadway productions for over 40 years. So I find it humorous that there is a review here saying she can't sing!

I love the 30's music that Ms. McArdle sings throughout the production. The songs stick with you long after viewing. The supporting cast is great and it's a nice saccharin view of the days of yesterday and the Movie Studio system of the 30's.

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.

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 ****

I saw this back in '78, and parts of the dialogue and music have stuck with me for the past 21 years. In fact, I had just quoted one of the songs at work the night before I discovered that this was running on my local cable "on demand" for free! The cast is excellent, and Andrea McArdle's voice is amazing.

Perhaps a few of the performances were a little "stiff" or "wooden," but I think that speaks more to the direction of the film, and the fact that people back in those days WERE more stiff and wooden (read: "proper") than they are now.

It doesn't have the production quality of a theatrical release, but keep in mind, this was a made-for-TV movie. I thought the entire production was brilliant, and am so happy to have been able to see it again after all these years!