This is one of the wildest stories about the Hollywood movie industry ever and many of you have probably never heard it.
In 1984, film librarian Merle Ray Harlin was accused of stealing 419 films. One of the clippings found in his vast collection was a missing scene from the 1954 film A star is born Starring Judy Garland. Many films have been lost that could have been lost to history… and many more that we don’t even know! Unfortunately, that loss still includes 7 minutes of… A star is born.
If you try to watch the original clip it will be displayed in its entirety A star is born Now, it’s a very strange experience. About 41 minutes into the film, it briefly stops being a “moving” picture, and instead suddenly consists of still images like some avant-garde thing your friend in Brooklyn might drag you in to see. It’s strange.
Only 4 minutes missing from The star is BorRecovered from Merle Harlin… There are still 7 minutes of the complete cut of the film that were supposedly lost to time forever, resulting in a somewhat incomplete film. So, who stole those final seven minutes? Why does it matter?
A Star Is Born (1954) Streaming now.