Such a frustrating disappointment

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Charlie Chaplin shtick hearkens to British Music Hall. Both Gertrude Lawrence and Julie Andrews received their training from the British Music Hall. The Muppets hearken to the British Music Hall. To appreciate Broadway, you have to appreciate the British Music Hall. Julie Andrews' rendition of "Burlington Bertie from Bow" immediately calls to mind Chaplinesque shtick and shows the pervasiveness of that British Music Hall. Irving Berlin would revamp a similar song for Astaire/Garland in "A Couple of Swells" in the film Easter Parade. Julie Andrews' Burlington Bertie should rank with Donald O'Connor's "Make em laugh" from Singing in the Rain.Just watch "Parisian Pierrot" and one immediately sees Joel Gray the Emcee of "Cabaret". The world from Berlin Cabaret to British Music Hall to the Broadway Stage and Hollywood is awfully short.I seem to recall reading that Gertrude Lawrence had a very limited vocal range (A to A flat) but she could put over a song. Julie Andrews on the other hand can give the musical range the song intends. By the end of the film, Gertrude Lawrence about 1940 is aged 42 and in obvious distress from alcoholism; she would die in 1952 at age 54 of liver cancer. Gertrude Lawrence was extremely difficult to work with, but her ability to put a song over made her acceptable to producers etc. Gertrude Lawrence was fortunate in her friendship with Noel Coward, apparently a friendship that dates from her pre-teen years.Comedy is hard, dying is easy--so goes the trope. Just watch :"Burlington Bertie" to see how much physical discipline the comedian must bring to the task of comedy. The actor must call on their body to act, to respond in a certain way to get a certain effect, a certain laugh. It ain't as easy as it looks.The movie was a flop when released in 1968; an hour was cut from the three hour film and it was still a flop. Apparently, the original had been 'lost' or misplaced and didn't turn up till some 25 years later when it was re-released. Sometimes you see a movie for snippets or a song. "Thanks form the Memories" or "The Last Time I Saw Paris" creating memorable moments from forgettable movies. But this is a movie that sustains its own weight throughout; it is memorable for the Julie Andrews performance (as well as Daniel Massey as Noel Coward) and others for what is a memorable film production.Most of us know Gertrude Lawrence from the Broadway Production of the King and I, which was developed as a property for her specifically; Rodgers & Hammerstein were concerned about her limited vocal range but agreed to her role. Apparently even during production of the Broadway Play she was sick from Liver cancer, missing performances, and ultimately collapsing after a Saturday Matinee Performance.16 August 1952 and dying n 6 September 1952 at age 54. The film stops with her marriage in 1940 to Richard Aldrich (played by Richard Crenna).As an interpretation of Gertrude Lawrence this film does not miss the mark; especially compared to other biopics like "Night and Day" that depicted a skewed and sanitized life of Cole Porter. It would be a disservice to the film to simply see it as a channeling of Gertrude Lawrence and her time; it is more than that: out of time even as it is in its own time.

As a cohesive film, I would have rated this film a 4. As a showcase for the phenomenal Julie Andrews, then at the peak of her powers, I would give it a 10. As a compromise, I give it an 8. I can add little to the other discussions of this film and, all these years later, my little comment will do little to alter anyone's opinion of it. I do wish, however, that it would be released on Bluray, with the intermission music restored. The picture, when compared with the recent Bluray release of Hello, Dolly! is rather faded and washed out. Julie's terrific music numbers and the fantastic sets and costumes deserve first-class treatment.

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.

'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.