Customer Reviews

A Star Is Born : The Making of the 1954 Movie and Its 1983 Restoration

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A great book by Mr. Haver, filled with facts on the making of "A Star Is Born", the masterpiece. It also shows that rumors have been wrong for many years,in blaming the high cost of filming on Ms. Garland and also why this masterpiece ended up being a disappointment at the box office, having been cut up by Warner's to appease the movie houses' demands for a shorter version so it could be run for more viewings. A shame, when you consider they would have made more if audiences had been allowed to see it in its entirety, as planned. However, we have this wonderful book to tell us and show us exactly what took place! Thank you again, Mr. Haver!

Not every movie deserves a book of this quality but the movie and the book are perfect matches. What a wonderful read and I highly recommend this book to any fan of the movie, Hollywood, or student of same. Very well done.

What an amazing story of how the pieces of this edited masterpiece were found during a painstaking search. The story of the production of the film is riveting, but even more so is the tale of the search for the lost footage. At the end it is slightly disappointing that all of the missing pieces could not be found, but ultimately the book is a celebration because the majority of it was discovered, and in the process, the restoration of this movie served as a catalyst for many films thereafter. Well written and hard to put down once started.

This book is a treasure. I first saw A Star Is Born in the 80s, when Haver's painstaking and brilliant reconstruction of the film had already been completed. The photo sequences puzzled me, but I knew that one day I'd get the full story. Well, what a story!
Haver divides the book into two parts--the first tells the epic story of how the 1954 remake of A Star Is Born came together. Which is quite a story, when you consider that the film, when it premiered, was heralded as among the best of all time. We're talking spontaneous standing O's at every screening. Unfortunately, that original, un-cut version has been lost to the ages.) The second part of the book is a detective story, detailing how Haver pieced together the missing footage, audio, and stills. Haver takes you into the dusty storage rooms at Warners, where amazing treasures await, still in their original wrapping, unseen for decades. Come on, isn't that worth...A PENNY!?! Really, I got this book for a penny, and by golly it's the best penny I ever spent.
Thanks to Haver for what I'm sure will be the best read of my summer.

Being undoubtedly what most would consider only a casual fan of the movie and of Ms. Garland, I was not sure if this book would hold my attention all the way through. Admittedly, it did take some time and effort to get through the more mundane details of how the remake came to be and the early day to day shooting schedule. However, the details of the creative process were valuable in giving a more complete understanding of the tragic destruction of Cukor's original work. I wish I had been able to see it. However, having seen the reconstructed version, stills and all, I found it a wonderfully charming and touching movie that was worth all the efforts to restore it as close to the original as possible. I think this book is very worthwhile reading for those who love this movie, even if they aren't fanatical film buffs or Garland fans.

Interesting book about the making of the movie, very detailed, but the language is not suitable for general audiences.