As numerous technicians prepare for the shoot, Esther is brought on set and quickly

wrapped into a burly fur coat. Before the shooting begins, the director of the film

cautions: "It's farewell, Esther, so give it everything you've got." After the technicians

hit the lights, snow, wind, and steam, the cameras begin to roll. Then, there is a problem.

What is meant to be a memorable shot of a handkerchief trembling in the wind as the

train leaves the station reveals a face. During the shoot, Judy Garland's bewildered face

inadvertently peaks through the train window, a pleasure that cannot be afforded at this

point in the narrative. That moment is cut, and in a second take, we see what is necessary

to keep the plot rolling: just a solitary hand, waving goodbye. Except that Cukor also

shows the entire mechanism required to create that second, memorable shot, complete

with artificial lights, wind, snow, and steam.


















Figure 5-1: Lights, wind, snow, steam: action!

 The two shots of this scene illustrate the difference between a cinephiliac moment

and a memorable moment. The latter, which most likely makes it into the narrative film,

follows the rules of the studio system. That choreographed shot carries the narrative

along. But the former, which does not make it, presents the possibility of disruption, of