This is a VERY unusual episode of "American Masters" because it was included as a DVD extra for an MGM film and it's NOT from PBS video. It's a PBS biography of Judy Garland and is on disc two of her musical "Easter Parade". It's also a bit unusual because in addition to interviews, you 'hear' from Judy and other dead people by having modern voice actors read their actual words.
As far as biographies go, this one is what you'd expect--a discussion of the childhood, career, personal life and death of the subject. However, and this is important, at almost two hours long, there is lots of time to explore her life. It's not rushed and you get some interesting insights into Miss Garland. One of the saddest things about her you see in the film is how so many people used her. The worst case was when she first got married and her mother and new husband pushed her to have an abortion she didn't want--all so they could keep riding the Judy Garland gravy train! And, throughout the whole film, you get a strong sense that she gave to others but was left with little in return.
The only thing the film didn't explore that I wished it had was looking at the psychological patterns in her life. It mentioned how her father way gay but failed to mention the strange recurring pattern in her marriages, as she married two other gay men in an apparent symbolic attempt to somehow connect with her long-dead father (he died when she was quite young). As a trained psychotherapist, I find this aspect of her life the most fascinating (as well as her daughter Liza also following a similar pattern). Still, overall it's the best biography on Judy I have seen. It will impress you and sadden you as well--about what you'd expect in the story of her life.
As far as biographies go, this one is what you'd expect--a discussion of the childhood, career, personal life and death of the subject. However, and this is important, at almost two hours long, there is lots of time to explore her life. It's not rushed and you get some interesting insights into Miss Garland. One of the saddest things about her you see in the film is how so many people used her. The worst case was when she first got married and her mother and new husband pushed her to have an abortion she didn't want--all so they could keep riding the Judy Garland gravy train! And, throughout the whole film, you get a strong sense that she gave to others but was left with little in return.
The only thing the film didn't explore that I wished it had was looking at the psychological patterns in her life. It mentioned how her father way gay but failed to mention the strange recurring pattern in her marriages, as she married two other gay men in an apparent symbolic attempt to somehow connect with her long-dead father (he died when she was quite young). As a trained psychotherapist, I find this aspect of her life the most fascinating (as well as her daughter Liza also following a similar pattern). Still, overall it's the best biography on Judy I have seen. It will impress you and sadden you as well--about what you'd expect in the story of her life.