A STAR IS CORN

A STAR IS BORN (1953)
dir: George Cukor

A STAR IS CORN
Panic #10, August-September 1955
w: Jack Mendelsohn
a: Jack Davis

Movie's been done several times with the basic storyline of a couple with the woman on her way up and the man on her way down, with the settings of showbiz from the time, leads have been Barbara Streisand and Lady Gaga. The 1976 version was parodied and covered a few weeks ago, here's the previous version, which like the others, was just as much a showcase for the female lead's songs..

At a benefit show, a drunken Norman Maine (James Mason) shows up, supposed to be the star of the show. Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) is a singer and dancer opening for it and as Norman drunkenly runs on the stage, she pretends it's part of the act.

Esther kindly rebuffs Norman when he thanks her for saving her and he asks her out. His handlers put him to sleep that night but after they leave he goes out on the prowl and sees her at a club that's closing. She's nice to him again and he tells her she has the makings of a star, then conveniently forgets how to contact her.

Dr. Kinsey was a doctor who wrote the first major report on human sexuality. The heart in the fifth panel is from a scene where Norman grabbed Esther's lipstick backstage and wrote their names on the wall.

Esther assumes she has been blown off and tries to make it on her own. Norman tries to find her and eventually finds her, giving her a screen test, changing her name to “Vicki Lester”, and she gets a small part in a motion picture. studio head Oliver Niles (Charles Bickford), overhears her and is so impressed by her voice she gets a big part in his next movie.

Liberace is the piano plater in the second panel. Phfft! was the name of a movie at the time.

The audience is impressed by Esther and Norman tells her she doesn't need him to succeed anymore. They stay together and they get married. The studio break their contract with Norman because he's drinking too much and his pictures aren't making enough money.

Easther wins an Oscar and Norman crashes her acceptance speech. Later . She worries about him and insists the studio give him another chance. Oliver visits him in rehab and gives him a part.

Norman gets in a fight and starts hitting the bottle again, and gets arrested, having to be bailed out by Esther. She tells Oliver she'll give up her career to take care of him. He overhears her and can't stand putting her through this. He tells her he's going out for a swim and walks into the ocean.

The mermaid in the last panel is Esther Williams, who starred in many underwater musicals then