PRESENTING LILY MARS (1943)

This is one of Judy Garland's last "young starlet" pictures before she became an adult superstar in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS the next year. Garland plays the title character, a small town girl who dreams of being a great actress, and who "acts" in real life whenever possible. Her big chance comes when producer Van Heflin visits town to see his mother (Fay Bainter); Garland pesters him incessently and even hitchhikes to Manhattan to get him to cast her in a new play. Richard Carlson is the playwright and Martha Eggerth is the tempermental star who is involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Heflin. Garland does land a small part, getting inspiration from Connie Gilchrist, a cleaning lady at the theater who once had her own dreams of being a star. Eggerth eventually quits the show and Garland, in a 42ND STREET move, is pegged to replace her, but things don't quite work out and she winds up in a tiny one-line part.

The studio (MGM) must have decided that audiences would react badly to such a relatively downbeat ending, because they undercut it with a finale that features Garland as the star of an elaborate musical number which seems to be taking place either in her imagination or in the future. Garland gets a few good songs, such as a swing version of "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son," and the "Broadway Rhythm" finale. The first half, set in small town Indiana, is fun, even if Garland's character gets irritating in her quest for attention. Spring Byington is Garland's mother who comes to NYC to see her debut; Ray McDonald, a spirited young man who never got a big break yet is always fun to watch (BABES ON BROADWAY, GOOD NEWS), is wasted as Garland's small town boyfriend; Douglas Croft is Garland's doorknob-stealing little brother--the same year, he played Robin in the BATMAN movie serial. Janet Chapman, a Shirley Temple wannabe, is the little sister. Bob Crosby (Bing's brother) appears with his band and I was amazed how much he sounds like Bing. The most amusing scene has Richard Carlson evesdropping on Garland and Chapman performing a scene from a play which he thinks is a real conversation about how Heflin has gotten Garland "in trouble." Worth a viewing, but not terribly memorable.