Just watched this with Mom. We both thought it was pretty weird with the changes in tone from full versions of happy-go-lucky musical numbers to the drama of the teen girl who performs them when her off-screen life is depicted. Natalie Wood plays the title character as she goes from a poor 15-year-old dreaming of movie stardom to becoming one but getting disillusioned by how heartless the people surrounding her are. She's compellingly dramatic during her trials along with her co-stars Christopher Plummer as her boss, Ruth Gordon as her mother, and Robert Redford as a fellow movie star who shares her attitude though keeps a secret from her as she falls for him. The movie's pretty long (they really didn't have to show those numbers complete) but the silences do make some compelling moments. The ending seems a cheat but I guess they didn't want it to be tragic...