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Sid & Judy
The documentary and the biopic are blended to dazzling effect in 2019's Sid & Judy, an intimate, riveting, and consistently fascinating look at the life and career of the iconic Judy Garland, concentrating on her third marriage to Sid Luft and told mostly from Luft's point of view.
I have always prided myself on being an expert on the life and career of Judy Garland, but even I was blown away by the endless parade of interviews, still photographs, on the set clips, and musical memories from Garland's short-lived CBS variety series from 1963 that were on display here.
This film takes a daring and original approach to documenting Garland here that was a refreshing alternative to most Hollywood documentaries. The film opens with a recorded conversation between Sid Luft and a CBS television executive complaining about having problems with Judy on the variety show. Luft and Garland then begin providing portions of the narration about their marriage, alternating with scripted narration about certain events in their lives with Jennifer Jason Leigh providing Garland's voice and Jon Hamm providing Luft's.
The story of Sid and Judy's marriage is seamlessly interwoven with an overlook of Garland's entire career, dating all the way back to her vaudeville roots as part of the Gumm Sisters. We are treated to a clip of George Jessel on Judy's CBS show telling the story of how he was responsible for her name being changed from Frances Gumm to Judy Garland. We are given insight into her pain regarding the death of her father and her troubled relationship with her mother. One of the most heartbreaking moments is when Garland, in her own voice, talks about how much pain her mother brought to her life.
There's so much new stuff I actually learned that I don't want to spoil here, but I will tell you that just like "Get Happy" in Summer Stock, "Born in a Trunk" in A Star is Born was filmed after the rest of the film was completed. We were also treated to four different versions of "The Man that Got Away" with different settings and costumes that came about because of the decision to film the movie in Cinemascope. There is also a wonderful clip from the variety show where Judy talks about what happened the night she was nominated for the Oscar for the film and she was still in the hospital after giving birth to her son Joey.
We are also gifted with some heretofore unseen footage from Judy's incredible concerts at the London Palladium, the Palace, and at Carnegie Hall that made clear that, despite her movie career, Judy Garland was a live performer and made her biggest impression that way. My heart sank a little during a clip of an interview with Jack Paar who asked her what it was like being a living legend. Her reply to this question was the essence of who Judy was and why her life and career impacted so many people, regular folks and other show biz folks alike. A unique and beautifully crafted look at one of Hollywood's greatest creations whose fire would eventually flicker out.
The documentary and the biopic are blended to dazzling effect in 2019's Sid & Judy, an intimate, riveting, and consistently fascinating look at the life and career of the iconic Judy Garland, concentrating on her third marriage to Sid Luft and told mostly from Luft's point of view.
I have always prided myself on being an expert on the life and career of Judy Garland, but even I was blown away by the endless parade of interviews, still photographs, on the set clips, and musical memories from Garland's short-lived CBS variety series from 1963 that were on display here.
This film takes a daring and original approach to documenting Garland here that was a refreshing alternative to most Hollywood documentaries. The film opens with a recorded conversation between Sid Luft and a CBS television executive complaining about having problems with Judy on the variety show. Luft and Garland then begin providing portions of the narration about their marriage, alternating with scripted narration about certain events in their lives with Jennifer Jason Leigh providing Garland's voice and Jon Hamm providing Luft's.
The story of Sid and Judy's marriage is seamlessly interwoven with an overlook of Garland's entire career, dating all the way back to her vaudeville roots as part of the Gumm Sisters. We are treated to a clip of George Jessel on Judy's CBS show telling the story of how he was responsible for her name being changed from Frances Gumm to Judy Garland. We are given insight into her pain regarding the death of her father and her troubled relationship with her mother. One of the most heartbreaking moments is when Garland, in her own voice, talks about how much pain her mother brought to her life.
There's so much new stuff I actually learned that I don't want to spoil here, but I will tell you that just like "Get Happy" in Summer Stock, "Born in a Trunk" in A Star is Born was filmed after the rest of the film was completed. We were also treated to four different versions of "The Man that Got Away" with different settings and costumes that came about because of the decision to film the movie in Cinemascope. There is also a wonderful clip from the variety show where Judy talks about what happened the night she was nominated for the Oscar for the film and she was still in the hospital after giving birth to her son Joey.
We are also gifted with some heretofore unseen footage from Judy's incredible concerts at the London Palladium, the Palace, and at Carnegie Hall that made clear that, despite her movie career, Judy Garland was a live performer and made her biggest impression that way. My heart sank a little during a clip of an interview with Jack Paar who asked her what it was like being a living legend. Her reply to this question was the essence of who Judy was and why her life and career impacted so many people, regular folks and other show biz folks alike. A unique and beautifully crafted look at one of Hollywood's greatest creations whose fire would eventually flicker out.