Editing George Cukor (section)

===Later Hollywood career===
[[File:Judy Garland in A Star is Born trailer.jpg|thumb|Judy Garland, star of ''A Star Is Born'']]
In December 1952, Cukor was approached by [[Sidney Luft|Sid Luft]], who proposed the director helm a musical remake of ''A Star Is Born'' (1937) with his then-wife Judy Garland in the lead role. Cukor had declined to direct the earlier film because it was too similar to his own ''What Price Hollywood?'' (1932), but the opportunity to direct his first [[Technicolor]] film and work with screenwriter [[Moss Hart]] and especially Garland appealed to him, and he accepted.<ref>McGilligan, 217–18.</ref> Getting the updated ''[[A Star Is Born (1954 film)|A Star Is Born]]'' (1954) to the screen proved to be a challenge. Cukor wanted [[Cary Grant]] for the male lead and went so far as to read the entire script with him, but Grant, while agreeing it was the role of a lifetime, steadfastly refused to do it, and Cukor never forgave him. The director then suggested either [[Humphrey Bogart]] or [[Frank Sinatra]] tackle the part, but [[Jack L. Warner]] rejected both. [[Stewart Granger]] was the front runner for a period of time, but he backed out when he was unable to adjust to Cukor's habit of acting out scenes as a form of direction.<ref>McGilligan, pp. 219–20.</ref> [[James Mason]] eventually was contracted, and filming began on October 12, 1953. As the months passed, Cukor was forced to deal not only with constant script changes but a very unstable Garland, who was plagued by chemical and alcohol dependencies, extreme weight fluctuations, and real and imagined illnesses. In March 1954, a rough cut still missing several musical numbers was assembled, and Cukor had mixed feelings about it. When the last scene finally was filmed in the early morning hours of July 28, 1954, Cukor already had departed the production and was unwinding in Europe.<ref>McGilligan, pp. 224–26.</ref> The first preview the following month ran 210 minutes and, despite ecstatic feedback from the audience, Cukor and editor [[Folmar Blangsted]] trimmed it to 182 minutes for its New York premiere in October. The reviews were the best of Cukor's career, but Warner executives, concerned the running time would limit the number of daily showings, made drastic cuts without Cukor, who had departed for Pakistan to scout locations for the epic ''[[Bhowani Junction (film)|Bhowani Junction]]'' in 1954–1955. At its final running time of 154 minutes, the film had lost musical numbers and crucial dramatic scenes, and Cukor called it "very painful".<ref>McGilligan, pp. 236–37.</ref> He was not included in the film's six Oscar nominations.

[[File:Remick - Cukor - 1962.jpg|thumb|upright|Rehearsing with [[Lee Remick]] in 1962]]
Over the next 10 years, Cukor directed a handful of films with varying success. ''[[Les Girls]]'' (1957) won the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture&nbsp;– Musical or Comedy]], and ''[[Wild Is the Wind (1957 film)|Wild Is the Wind]]'' (also 1957) earned Oscar nominations for [[Anna Magnani]] and [[Anthony Quinn]], but neither ''[[Heller in Pink Tights]]'' nor ''[[Let's Make Love]]'' (both 1960) were box-office hits. Another project during this period was the ill-fated ''[[Something's Got to Give]]'', an updated remake of the comedy ''[[My Favorite Wife]]'' (1940). Cukor liked leading lady [[Marilyn Monroe]] but found it difficult to deal with her erratic work habits, frequent absences from the set, and the constant presence of Monroe's acting coach [[Paula Strasberg]]. It was reported at the time that after 32 days of shooting, the director had only 7½ minutes of usable film.<ref name="Levy, p. 271">Levy, p. 271.</ref> Footage would be discovered in the 1990s that showed at least 37 minutes of total footage had survived. Then Monroe travelled to New York to appear at a birthday celebration for President [[John F. Kennedy]] at Madison Square Garden, where she serenaded Kennedy. Studio documents released after Monroe's death confirmed that her appearance at the political fundraising event was approved by Fox executives. The production came to a halt when Cukor had filmed every scene not involving Monroe and the actress remained unavailable. [[20th Century Fox]] executive Peter Levathes fired her and hired [[Lee Remick]] to replace her, prompting co-star [[Dean Martin]] to quit because his contract guaranteed he would be playing opposite Monroe.<ref>McGilligan, p. 272.</ref> It was also reported at the time that with the production already $2 million over budget<ref name="Levy, p. 271"/> and everyone back at the starting gate, the studio pulled the plug on the project. However, Monroe successfully renegotiated her contract from $100,000 to $500,000 with a bonus should the film be completed on time. Cukor was to be replaced by Jean Negulesco. There was limited press at the time about the project restarting and even less on Cukor being replaced. When Monroe was found dead in her home in the beginning of August, Cukor would give a high-profile interview discussing Monroe's many reported problems.

Two years later, Cukor achieved one of his greatest successes with ''[[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]]'' (1964). Throughout filming, there were mounting tensions between the director and designer [[Cecil Beaton]]; Cukor was thrilled with leading lady [[Audrey Hepburn]], but the crew was less enchanted with her diva-like demands.<ref>Levy, p. 289.</ref> Although several reviews were critical of the film – [[Pauline Kael]] said it "staggers along" and [[Stanley Kauffmann]] thought Cukor's direction was like "a rich gravy poured over everything, not remotely as delicately rich as in the [[Anthony Asquith|Asquith]]–[[Leslie Howard (actor)|Howard]] 1937 [''sic''] ''[[Pygmalion (1938 film)|Pygmalion]]''"—<ref>Levy, p. 293.</ref> the film was a box-office hit which won him the [[Academy Award for Best Director]], the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director]], and the [[Directors Guild of America Award]] after having been nominated for each several times.

Following ''My Fair Lady'', Cukor became less active. He directed [[Maggie Smith]] in ''[[Travels with My Aunt (film)|Travels with My Aunt]]'' (1972) and helmed the critical and commercial flop ''[[The Blue Bird (1976 film)|The Blue Bird]]'' (1976), the first joint Soviet-American production. He reunited twice with Katharine Hepburn for the television movies ''[[Love Among the Ruins (film)|Love Among the Ruins]]'' (1975) and ''[[The Corn Is Green (1979 film)|The Corn Is Green]]'' (1979). At the age of 82,  Cukor directed his final film, ''[[Rich and Famous (1981 film)|Rich and Famous]]'' for MGM in 1981, starring [[Jacqueline Bisset]] and [[Candice Bergen]].

In 1970, he received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}</ref>

Cukor wanted the Academy to host a film festival in Los Angeles however the olan did not materialise and Cukor ended up being co-founder of the [[Los Angeles International Film Exposition]] (Filmex) in 1970.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=January 14, 1987|page=1 Calendar section|title=AFI introduces its new offspring: A film festival|last=Matthews|first=Jack}}</ref>

In 1976, Cukor was awarded the [[George Eastman Award]], given by [[George Eastman House]] for distinguished contribution to the art of film.<ref>[http://www.eastmanhouse.org/museum/awards.php The George Eastman Award] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415183637/http://www.eastmanhouse.org/museum/awards.php |date=April 15, 2012 }}</ref>