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Booth Tarkington’s novel gets the glossy MGM treatment here, so that means the downbeat ending and realistic traumas the characters face are softened and/or jettisoned in favor of a triumphant final bow before the curtain closes/screen fades to black. Presenting Lily Mars is a great showcase for the full breadth of star Judy Garland’s talents even when the rest of the film is flabby, creaky, or generally hokey. But we get to watch Garland belt out “Broadway Rhythm” while dancing with Charles Walters, and it’s hard not to be enamored of a film that provides that chance.
Frankly, the first chunk is stronger and more focused than the rest. The first chunk finds Garland’s Lily Mars, a teenager with dreams of stage stardom, trying to charm a big Broadway producer, Van Heflin in purely reactive mode. The producer just so happens to be the son of her neighbor and family friend, Fay Bainter lovable as ever, and Lily manages to convince her to setup a meeting so Lily can demonstrate her talents. It’s a joy to watch Garland play as a novice actress that adopts that strange mid-Atlantic accent and overly done mannerisms around every vowel. Her Lily is a neophyte actress lacking skill but making up for it with gumption and a tremendous capacity to listen, learn, and grow.
Presenting Lily Mars automatically goes into more predictable and paint-by-numbers territory once she runs off to New York for a chance at the big time. She can’t make it past being an understudy with a tiny speaking part, but the girl gives it the old college try. Of course, when you’re blessed with a singing voice and style like Garland’s, you won’t be doing bit parts for very long. The eventual love story between Garland and Heflin feels tacked on and entirely out of the blue.
Those New York scenes are also undone by the presence of Martha Eggerth, a great singer but a lousy actress, as a grand diva of the stage annoyed and threatened by the upstart. Eggerth lacks a definable presence or quality in front of the camera, and much like she threw portions of For Me and My Gal got out of shape, she distorts plenty of space in Presenting Lily Mars. Perhaps putting her against acting greats like Garland, Heflin, and a fun Richard Carlson as a theatrical sidekick. Her best scene is a reaction towards Garland’s imitation of her. Make of that what you will.
It all winds up being a bit of a meh. Presenting Lily Mars is not one of Judy’s standout films, but it’s a perfectly enjoyable little minor work. It’s easy, breezy, and contains a great role for the actress transitioning to adult roles and away from being the perpetual adolescent. Better things were on the horizon, including The Clock and Summer Stock.
