Judy Garland was considered washed up in Hollywood after she was fired by MGM in 1950 on grounds of "unreliability." When her personal manager and, eventually, third husband, Sid Luft, engineered her comeback as a concert entertainer at New York's Palace Theatre and the London Palladium in 1951, however, Hollywood's interest in her piqued. Luft was convinced that Garland would return to movies as an even bigger star, and the vehicle he knew would do it was a musical remake of the 1937 film classic A Star Is Born.

The role of screen newcomer Esther Blodgett was nothing new to Garland. She had played her in a 1942 radio adaptation for Lux Radio Theatre. Before she left MGM, she had pitched a musical remake to Louis B. Mayer as a follow-up to Summer Stock (1950), but he rejected the idea, claiming that her fans would never accept her as the wife of an alcoholic. When Luft proposed the project to her in September 1951, she jumped at the idea.

The original film's producer, David O. Selznick, had put re-make rights up for auction in the '40s when his production company, Selznick International, went out of business. They were picked up by Edward Alperson. He joined Luft and Garland to create Transcona, their own production company, to market the project.

Transcona sold A Star Is Born to Warner Bros. as the first part of a nine-picture deal that included three films starring Garland and six others produced by Luft without her. The deal was announced in December 1952.

Transcona's contract included a list of acceptable directors and co-stars for the film. At the top of the former list was George Cukor, one of Hollywood's best directors of female stars. They never had to go any further down the list. Luft called Cukor to arrange a meeting at the Brown Derby. Before they could even sit down, the director told him that if he was looking for someone to direct Garland, he'd be happy to do it. Cukor was paid $6,250 a week for his work, but since he was under contract to MGM at the time, he only got $4,000 a week from his home studio.

Finding a leading man was much harder. Laurence Olivier was the first name on the list, but he wasn't interested. Richard Burton was next, but he was already committed to make The Robe at 20th Century-Fox. Tyrone Power was too expensive. Stewart Granger read for the role, but after two rehearsals decided that he didn't like Cukor's approach to film acting. Cukor suggested Humphrey Bogart, who was a huge fan of the first film, and Frank Sinatra, who desperately wanted the role. Studio head Jack Warner felt Bogart was too old and Sinatra, who had not yet made his own career comeback in From Here to Eternity (1953), was considered too difficult. Errol Flynn also campaigned for the role, but Warner blackballed him from negative past experiences.

One name on the list that interested everybody was Cary Grant. The thought of Hollywood's most debonair actor sinking into alcoholic despair on screen was irresistible. Accounts differ as to why he turned down the role. Luft, who courted him avidly for the part, says that Warner refused to give Grant a percentage of the gross. Cukor, however, suggests more personal reasons. Grant had misgivings from the start, but finally Cukor got him to consent to a private reading, with the director reading all the other roles. Grant was brilliant, and Cukor enthused, "Can there be any doubt? This is the part you were born to play!" "Of course," Grant replied. "That is why I won't." Apparently, the role struck too close to home and his refusal to do it triggered a rift between the longtime friends that would last for years.

When Grant turned down the role, Luft and Garland turned to the actor they'd always considered their fallback, James Mason. The British star was already a respected actor with acclaimed performances in such films as Odd Man Out (1947). He'd also revealed a brooding romantic side in art-house hits like The Wicked Lady (1945) and The Seventh Veil (1946). In addition, he and Garland had become friends when he'd first moved to Hollywood to star in Madame Bovary (1949), directed by her ex-husband Vincente Minnelli. He was thrilled at the chance to work with her.

To complete the production team, Luft signed Moss Hart, an acclaimed playwright and Oscar®-winning screenwriter, to adapt the script; Harold Arlen, who had written "Over the Rainbow," to write the music; and Ira Gershwin to do the lyrics.

In tailoring the screenplay for Garland's talents, Hart transformed Esther Blodgett from a North Dakota farm girl who becomes a star in costume dramas to a seasoned singer who leaves her current job with a band to become a Hollywood musical star. They also combined aspects from two characters from the original - Esther's grandmother and an assistant director - to create the role of Danny, the band leader who stands by Esther after Norman's death.

The Production Code Administration, Hollywood's self-censorship organization, was concerned that the film not romanticize Norman's suicide. In particular, when Esther's friend, Danny, tries to talk her out of her depression after Norman's death, they demanded that Hart cut the line "It took guts to do what he did when he found out he couldn't lick it. But he did it." Instead, Danny says, "Maybe he was wrong to do what he did."

Since this would be his first color film, Cukor enlisted noted fashion photographer George Hoyningen-Huene as a special visual and color consultant. During production meetings, Cukor was impressed with one of set designer Lemuel Ayres' staff, Gene Allen, and elevated him to a position as production designer. He would continue to collaborate with Huene and Allen through the rest of his career.

by Frank Miller