Judy Garland is at the peak of her charm and appeal as the title character of Presenting Lily Mars. The 19-year-old aspiring actress has great hopes for the future but can't seem to catch a break even when a Broadway producer (Van Heflin) returns to her small Indiana town for a family visit. Undeterred, she follows him to New York and earns a small part and a romance is sparked, but when the leading role unexpectedly opens up, will the talented youngster be ready? Presenting Lily Mars was released in 1943, the same year Garland would do her last collaboration with Mickey Rooney (Girl Crazy) and between her first significant adult roles, For Me and My Gal (1942) and Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). What the movie doesn't have is a lot of great music. Many of the songs are performed by other people, and while the few numbers Garland sings are gold, the songs themselves can't match the Gershwin and Arlen standards in many of her other films. The most notable is Brown & Freed's "Broadway Rhythm," which everyone should recognize from Singin' in the Rain--it's a rousing closer by Garland backed by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. With Marta Eggerth as Garland's operatic rival, and future jazz singer Annie Ross as Garland's singing and piano-playing younger sister. --David HoriuchiMore...
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