I Could Go On Singing

Infobox Film
name = I Could Go On Singing


imdb_id = 0057168
writer = Robert Dozier (story),
Mayo Simon (screenplay),
Dirk Bogarde (uncredited)
cinematography = Arthur Ibbetson, BSC | starring = Judy Garland,
Dirk Bogarde,
Jack Klugman,
Gregory Phillips
director = Ronald Neame
producer = Stuart Millar,
Lawrence Turman
distributor = 1963-1981
United Artists
1981-present
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released = March 1963
runtime = 99 min.
language = English

"I Could Go On Singing" is a 1963 film starring Judy Garland (in her final film role) and Dirk Bogarde.

Although not a huge box office success on release, mostly due to its soap opera type plot, it won Garland much praise for her performance. In Bogarde's autobiographies and in the 2004 biography, it is recounted that Judy Garland's lines were substantially rewritten by Bogarde (with Garland's consent). [John Coldstream, "Dirk Bogarde", Weidenfeld and Nicholson 2004, p. 287]

Plot

Judy Garland plays a superstar singer, not unlike herself, named Jenny Bowman. She had met a man 15-16 years before, who was now a prominent physician, played by British actor Dirk Bogarde, and they had produced a child whom she let his father raise in England. Jenny wants to finally see him, but in the end is left to her true home, the stage. Originally titled "The Lonely Stage", it was renamed "I Could Go On Singing", so that audiences would know it was the first time Garland sang in a movie since "A Star Is Born" in 1954. The movie contains some thrilling Garland concert musical numbers including "By Myself", "Hello Bluebird", "It Never Was You", and the title song.

Cast

*Judy Garland as Jenny Bowman
*Dirk Bogarde as David Donne
*Jack Klugman as George Kogan
*Gregory Phillips as Matt
*Aline MacMahon as Ida
*Pauline Jameson as Miss Plimpton
*Jeremy Burnham as Hospital surgeon
*Lorna Luft as girl on boat
*Joey Luft as boy on boat

Music

All songs performed by Judy Garland.

*"I Am the Monarch of the Sea" (Judy Garland and Boys), music by Arthur Sullivan, lyrics by William S. Gilbert
*"Hello Bluebird", words and music by Cliff Friend
*"It Never Was You", Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson
*"By Myself", Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz
*"I Could Go On Singing", Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg

Film reviews

"Either you are or you aren't - a Judy Garland fan that is. And if you aren't, forget about her new movie, "I Could Go On Singing", and leave the discussion to us devotees. You'll see her in close-up...in beautiful, glowing Technicolor and striking staging in a vibrant, vital performance that gets to the essence of her mystique as a superb entertainer. Miss Garland is - as always - real, the voice throbbing, the eyes aglow, the delicate features yielding to the demands of the years - the legs still long and lovely. Certainly the role of a top-rank singer beset by the loneliness and emotional hungers of her personal life is not an alien one to her..."- "Judith Crist", "The New York Herald Tribune"

"3 stars...Judy Garland is back on screen in a role that might have been custom-tailored for her particular talents. A new song, "I Could Go On Singing", provides her with a little clowning, a chance to be gay, a time for wistfulness, an occasion for tears. She and Dirk Bogarde play wonderfully well together, even though the script itself insists on their being mismatched..."- "Dorothy Masters", "The New York Daily News"

oundtrack and video/DVD releases

It was released on video in 1989, and on DVD in 2004. The soundtrack album was released at the time of the original movie release, and appeared on CD in 2002 along with the Garland album "That's Entertainment!"

External links

* [http://www.thejudyroom.com/discography/soundtracks/icgos.html The Judy Garland Online Discography "I Could Go On Singing" pages.]
* [http://www.judygarland.tk The Judy Movie Page at "The Judy Garland Is The Best Website"]

References