Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Abbigail Bush
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
lweigard-768-200640
Of interest only to die-hard Garland fans. The story is a mish-mash between "42nd Street" and the Andy Hardy series. The musical numbers--with the exception of the finale--filmed as an afterthought--completely forgettable. I don't wish to be mean here, because I love MGM musicals, and in particular Judy Garland musicals, but this picture is nowhere up to the standard of what MGM was making at the time, nor what Garland would become in her signature musicals. I've watched this picture twice now, so I don't think I can attribute these comments to a bad evening. Let's just say, Miss Garland and the MGM musical wwnt on to legendary triumphs past this film.
JLRMovieReviews
In "Presenting Lily Mars," Judy Garland is an aspiring actress and singer, who is trying to get an audition with Van Heflin. He's a successful Broadway producer and writer who hails from her home town. When he goes home to visit mom, played by Fay Bainter, who's a friend of Judy's, they both try to set it up for Van Heflin to see what she can do. But he has always insisted on not seeing another eager amateur with no talent. Even for his own mother, no more auditions. In fact, the whole first half of the movie is about her trying to get noticed, even getting one of her younger sisters in on the act of playacting. Her mother, played by Spring Byington, encourages her. I had reviewed this before a couple of years back, when I gave the movie a rougher review, but upon seeing again, I enjoyed it more. As usual Judy is in great voice and the film has an offbeat sense of humor with a brother of hers collecting doorknobs. But what will happen? This movie may be predictable but it makes up for it by being very pleasant and having good supporting actors, and a madcap pace keeps the viewers' interest. "Lily Mars" is another good vehicle for Judy Garland, showcasing her versatility in comedic acting along with some very upbeat songs. Not much is mentioned about the movies she made in this time period between "The Wizard of Oz" and her more well-known MGM musicals like "Easter Parade" and "The Harvey Girls;" but watch "Presenting Lily Mars" and see just how great Judy Garland was whenever she was on screen, even in lesser-known films. She always lit up the screen.
edwagreen
In this 1943 film, Judy Garland is deemed not to be ready for the big-time yet by the man who loves her-Van Heflin. This film was certainly a big change for Mr. Heflin, especially after his supporting Oscar win the year before in "Johnny Eager."Wasn't Spring Byington too old to be the widowed mother of 5 children, with four of them appearing to look like her grandchildren?The singing and dancing are just marvelously staged but the way that the blossoming romance between Heflin and Garland was depicted left a lot to be desired. It was a Gigi-like one where a young girl is eventually swept off her feet by a charmer.
bkoganbing
Presenting Lily Mars may have provided Judy Garland with one of the easier roles she had while at MGM because Lily Mars is definitely a character she could identify with. A young girl with talent enough for ten, she knows she has what it takes to make it in the theater no matter how much producer Van Heflin from her home town discourages her.I really liked Judy in this one as the girl determined to make it in the theater. Because it is Judy Garland with the talent of Judy Garland you in the audience know she has the right stuff even if it takes Van Heflin nearly the whole movie to be convinced.Both Judy and Heflin hail from the same small town, Heflin's dad was the town doctor who delivered her and Heflin while he may have moved away and become a big producer on Broadway, their respective moms, Fay Bainter and Spring Byington have kept in touch. That's her entrée, but Heflin's constantly barraged with stagestruck kids, but never anyone quite like Lily Mars.No real big song hits came out of Presenting Lily Mars for Garland, though she sings all her numbers. The best in the film is a revival of that gaslight era chestnut, Every Little Movement Has A Meaning All Its Own. Judy sings it with Connie Gilchrist playing the cleaning lady in a Broadway theater where Heflin's show is being produced. Gilchrist was a star back in the days of the FloraDora Girls and she and Judy deliver the song in grand style with Connie. It's the best scene in the film as Gilchrist encourages Judy to keep at it. Composer Karl Hoschna had died a long time ago, but lyricist Otto Harbach was still alive and I'm betting he liked what he heard.European musical star Marta Eggerth is in Presenting Lily Mars as the show's star who's at first bemused, then angry and finally, understanding of Garland and Heflin. She did a couple of films with MGM and then went back to Europe for more work on the continent. I'm betting MGM didn't quite know what to do with her and her thick Hungarian accent, though Louis B. Mayer never met a soprano he didn't like.Van Heflin does well as the patient producer who puts up with a lot from Garland and Eggerth. Heflin was just coming off his Oscar for Johnny Eager the previous year and he and Garland wouldn't appear to be an ideal screen team, but they're not bad together.Presenting Lily Mars is a fine showcase for the talents of Judy Garland. And she didn't have to share the screen in another backstage film with Mickey Rooney.
