Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Bereamic Awesome Movie

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Goingbegging Even as The Sound of Music was winning its Academy Award, someone asked Julie Andrews what she would most wish for next. She said she'd like a re-make of the previous year's winner, My Fair Lady, but with herself in Audrey Hepburn's role as flower-girl turned aristocrat, which of course, Andrews had made famous on Broadway in the Fifties. Well, we could say she got her wish.This film biography of Gertrude Lawrence leans far too much weight on the social-climbing theme, which had become simply stale and irritating in the wake of the huge Sixties shake-up. Equally stale is the insertion of faked black-&-white newsreel clips, which are supposed to carry the story in-between the songs. This might have worked, if anyone had heard of the late Gertrude Lawrence, which millions hadn't. And a script like weak lemonade just added to the sense of anti-climax, which brought the unthinkable - a Julie Andrews flop.The film was (and is) notable only for the musical numbers, though the choice of songs is patchy. The words of Noël Coward's first hit 'Parisian Pierrot' probably didn't mean much even in 1923, though the melody showed more of the young man's promise. 'My Ship' hadn't weathered well, a contrived job by Ira Gershwin, impossible to sing with conviction, though he does better with the athletic 'Poor Jenny'. Best by far is 'Limehouse Blues', a brilliant staging of the Chinese drug-den sequence, lean and spare, far superior to the other extravagant scenes with which 20th-Century Fox were trying to buy their way to a hit.Songs apart, then, what are we left with?Julie Andrews acting as a full-blooded woman for the first time (truly startling as the drug-whore). Daniel Massey as Coward, his real-life godfather and patron, for which he was nominated for an award, though he sometimes seems unsure whether he is acting or just impersonating. Some wooden performances by the star's various escorts, except for the much-eclipsed first husband, played convincingly by the Yorkshireman John Collin. An interesting glimpse of Jenny Agutter as the school-age daughter, and a quaint cameo of Bruce Forsyth. But otherwise just a lot of more-or-less agreeable escapism, which failed to win audiences, because it was a few years too late and simply lacking in edge.

mark.waltz Over the years, this big budgeted elephantine musical biography of British stage legend Gertrude Lawrence has gotten a rather smeared reputation thanks to its lack of box-office success. Even a much edited down version of the film ("These Were the Good Old Days") failed to attract viewers, and I can't recommend that version at all, having seen it originally on T.V. in that form. It is the three hour long circus that actually stands out, and if not excellent, certainly has some great moments.People mainly remember Lawrence as the original Mrs. Anna in "The King and I" on Broadway long before Yul Brynnur was considered "the star" of the show. Lawrence had a long association with such show-biz icons as the Gershwins (introducing "Someone to Watch Over Me" in "Oh, Kay!") and Noel Coward (originating the role of Amanda in the much revived play "Private Lives"). She also, according to this, was one heck of a personality, not one to mess with, and searching for love, yet driving each of the men she met and often married crazy. The one person who understood her and allowed her to just be herself was the playwright and actor Noel Coward, played here with both humor and humanity by Daniel Massey who deservedly was nominated for an Oscar.The musical sequences are smashing, from the early days of her life in music halls (singing "Pickadilly" while smashing a heckler in the face with his own tomato) and giving other chorus girls a taste of their own medicine in some very funny musical numbers, one starring Jack Buchannan, then London's biggest musical comedy star. Lawrence takes off, doing both musical revues, dramas and comedy's, takes over Broadway in the mid 20's through early 40's (the film stops with her smash hit in "Lady in the Dark"). Missing is the last decade of Lawrence's life. Sadly, during the run of "The King and I", Lawrence became ill and suddenly passed away. The original cast album of that show proves she was no Julie Andrews when it came to singing (being sometimes quite off pitch) but still magnetic and able to give the King of Siam a run for his elephants.The big highlight of the show is "Jenny", the big circus production number from "Lady in the Dark". Andrews is radiant, sliding down a rope onto the stage and dancing up a storm. I don't think that she had previously done such a high-energy number, only topped years later in her Oscar Nominated role in "Victor Victoria". Robert Wise, who directed her in "The Sound of Music", failed to strike lightning twice, but the film's reputation has improved over the years, even if some people consider it quite long and even obnoxious in places. But give the film a chance and you may actually find it charming and informative as to a slice of what life in the theater during its golden age was like.

TheLittleSongbird As a fan of Julie Andrews I watched Star! even after hearing some not-so-nice things about it. My overall thoughts were although it is watchable, it is very flawed. The film is very lavish, the costumes, settings and scenery are all sumptuous, and the production numbers are spectacular and full of razzmatazz. Berlington Bertie was a real delight especially. In terms of performances, Julie has certainly been better, but she does a decent job as Gertrude Lawrence and looks beautiful, a real scene stealer in the production numbers and there are some very poignant scenes with her daughter as well. Daniel Massey however fares much better as Noel Coward, and Richard Crenna and Michael Craig offer strong work too. On the other hand, Star! has a number of failings, the pacing can be quite sluggish at times and the story is predictable and elephantine. I don't think it helps that the film is perhaps too long. Then we have a script that does have some soap-opera elements to it, direction that is somewhat uneven fine in the production numbers but plodding sometimes in the more moving parts and some of the romantic elements don't quite convince. Overall, worth watching, it looks great, with some nice performances and terrific music & choreography but the story and script could have done with more work. 5/10 Bethany Cox

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'The Sound of Music', starring Julie Andrews and directed by Robert Wise, became (for its time) the biggest box-office smash in movie history. 'Star!', a big-budget musical tailor-made for Andrews and directed by Wise for the same studio (20th Century-Fox), was expected to be a second bite of the cherry ... but it sank like a stone. This film flopped so thuddingly, one critic joked that Andrews's next movie would be a musical biography of Al Capone, titled 'Scar!'.'Star!' is the alleged life story of Gertrude Lawrence. In 1968, few movie-goers knew her name: Lawrence was primarily a stage performer, and her few films are seldom revived. In 'Star!', the only reference to Lawrence's screen career is a brief shot of Andrews wearing a copy of Lawrence's costume from 'Rembrandt'. Next offence: During the overture, there is a long long boring static shot of an orchestra against a backdrop emblazoned with some seemingly arbitrary phrases: 'Susan and God', 'Tonight at 8.30', 'Nymph Errant' and so forth. (I'm omitting one phrase from this description; I'll return to it later.) Movie-goers in 1968 were unlikely to recognise these phrases. In fact, these are the titles of Lawrence's stage vehicles (some from Broadway, some from the West End) ... and, after the overture, most of them are never mentioned anywhere in this film!We get that hardy cliché of movie bios: the subject is first seen in middle age, then the rest of the film is in flashback from the subject's youth or childhood. Most biopics do this as a technical necessity: James Cagney was in his forties when he played George M Cohan in 'Yankee Doodle Dandy', so we first see Cagney (in appropriate make-up) as the older Cohan; then, after the audience have accepted that Cagney is Cohan, we see the middle-aged Cagney portraying Cohan in his younger years. But this device wasn't necessary in 'Star!': Julie Andrews was young enough and fit enough to give a convincing portrayal of the young Lawrence. Yet the opening sequence gives us Andrews in dowager make-up (lamb dressed as mutton?), playing Lawrence at the oldest we'll ever see her in this movie, cueing the flashback to her youth. Also cueing an excellent title song: the only original song in this movie.Gertrude Lawrence was a notorious scene-stealer, reluctant to share the limelight. 'Star!' appears to have scripted as if seeking Lawrence's personal approval. In real life, Lawrence became a Broadway star in 'Charlot's Revue', co-starring with Jack Buchanan and Beatrice Lillie. In 'Star!', Buchanan is a mere dancing footnote, while Lillie (whom Gertrude Lawrence despised in her later years, after their early friendship) isn't even mentioned. When Andrews as Lawrence stars in 'Lady in the Dark', there's no mention of Danny Kaye ... who became a star in that production, and who famously had to defend himself against Lawrence's scene-stealing techniques. (Andrews gives a splendid and sexy rendition here -- surely much sexier than Lawrence's original -- of 'The Saga of Jenny', Lawrence's show-stopper from 'Lady in the Dark'.)I was delighted by Julie Andrews's performance (in male drag) of 'Burlington Bertie from Bow' ... but this song is not to my knowledge a Gertrude Lawrence speciality. The song was written for Vesta Tilley, referencing an earlier song performed by Ella Shields. Bunging it into a movie about Gertrude Lawrence would be like casting James Cagney as George M Cohan but then having him sing 'Mammy' and 'If You Knew Suzie'.Any biopic of Gertrude Lawrence must include Noël Coward. He's brilliantly played here by his godson, Daniel Massey. Massey's duet with Andrews on 'Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?' is delightful. On the one and only occasion when I met Noël Coward, his eyes lighted up with pleasure when I asked him about Gertrude Lawrence. It was clear that he deeply and sincerely loved her ... other factors in his personal life notwithstanding.This too-long movie falters when the music stops and Andrews as Gertie Lawrence descends into soap-opera argle-bargle. We get Gertie in a scene with the teenage daughter whom she has largely ignored in her pursuit of the limelight. The daughter is touchingly played by the young Jenny Agutter, unfortunately in an outfit that displays the birthmark on her sternum. After we've seen Lawrence shove aside everyone who got between her and the spotlight, we now hear her lamenting that all she ever really wanted was (pause, wistful smile, half-formed sob) to be truly LOVED!I mentioned that the overture curtain contained one phrase that modern audiences would recognise. That's 'The King and I', Gertrude Lawrence's last Broadway vehicle (now perceived as a vehicle for Yul Brynner). That phrase on the curtain is the ONLY time that 'The King and I' is mentioned in 'Star!'. We never see Lawrence performing in a scene from that musical. Were Fox unwilling to have Julie Andrews share the screen with Yul Brynner? Or unwilling to have another actor impersonate Brynner? Lawrence's stint in 'The King and I' is especially poignant, as she was dying of cancer during the Broadway run ... but you'd never know it from watching 'Star!'. The biopic ends arbitrarily, with Gertrude yammering during a motor trip: 'Lady in the Dark' behind her and 'The King and I!' still unmentioned.In the original production of 'The King and I', Gertrude Lawrence was billed over Yul Brynner. On her deathbed, Lawrence's dying request was that Brynner be given top billing. All the people who knew the selfish Lawrence were awed by this act of generosity. To which I say: Rubbish! It wasn't generosity at all, since giving top billing to Brynner would have meant taking it away from Lawrence's replacement (Constance Carpenter), not from Lawrence herself. The real Gertrude Lawrence was phony and superficial ... and so is this movie. I'll rate it 4 in 10, for the superb production values ... and for Julie Andrews's passion for this period in showbiz history.