There’s always a harp in a dream sequence! Don’t be silly.

I just watched all 154 minutes of Star is Born (1954) for the first time, borrowed from the library. Obviously. Below you’ll see my favorite scene where Vicki Lester (Judy Garland) comes home from a long day at the studio to her struggling-alcoholic-bored-out-of-his-mind-has-been-star of a husband Norman Maine (James Mason) and uses the living room props to reenact a lively number-”the production number to end all production numbers”- from her new film. Vicki puts on the practice record, still wearing her ‘practice clothes’- a button down and tights- because each day she races home from work without even changing so she can hurry home to her (see long list of tied together adjectives above) husband.

The fact that Judy Garland didn’t win the Oscar for Best Actress in her role as Vicki Lester is regarded as one of the biggest Academy Award upsets in history. To capture Judy’s acceptance speech live a film crew was sent to her hospital bed where she had just given birth to her son. Grace Kelly won the Oscar for The Country Girl.