Presenting Lily Mars (1943)

(On Cable TV, June 2021) I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll end up seeing Presenting Lily Mars a few more times in my life — not because it’s good, not because it’s bad, but because it’s so utterly generic. I will forget all about it and then grow curious enough to watch it again. Hence this review as a warning to myself. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, classic movie fans: Small-town girl goes to Broadway, where she catches her break and becomes a star. Even saying that Judy Garland stars in the film doesn’t help narrow it all that much. Fortunately, the film itself is not bad even in its utter genericity: the usually likable Van Heflin co-stars, and the film eventually works itself up to a big musical finale to the tune of “Broadway Rhythm.”  Much of the film was tailored for Garland, intending to smooth her transition from child star to adult actress with a coming-of-age story beginning with a small-town girl and ending with a Broadway star. Mid-1940s is probably my favourite Garland era, and Presenting Lily Mars is a clear demonstration of why. As for the rest, it’s a familiar film both in form and function — not much removed from the Broadway Melody films, or any of the near-countless movie musicals that used a rise to Broadway stardom as their narrative engine. Heflin and Garland do bring something extra for their fans, but otherwise this is the same song-and-dance — which is admittedly very watchable.