A Star Is Born (1937)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

William A. Wellman (story) and
Robert Carson (story) ...

Release Date:

27 April 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Fate Raised Her To Fame - and killed the man she loved !

Plot:

A young woman comes to Hollywood with dreams of stardom, but achieves them only with the help of an alcoholic leading man whose best days are behind him.

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Alcoholic | Party | Malibu California | Loss Of Husband

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Janet Gaynor	...	Esther Victoria Blodgett, aka Vicki Lester
Fredric March	...	Norman Maine
Adolphe Menjou	...	Oliver Niles
May Robson	...	Grandmother Lettie
Andy Devine	...	Daniel 'Danny' McGuire
Lionel Stander	...	Matt Libby
Owen Moore	...	Casey Burke, director
Peggy Wood	...	Miss Phillips, Central Casting clerk
Elizabeth Jenns	...	Anita Regis
Edgar Kennedy	...	Pop Randall, landlord
J.C. Nugent	...	Mr. Blodgett
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Posture coach (as Guinn Williams)

Also Known As:

Skandal i Hollywood (Finland: Swedish title) (TV title) (Sweden) [sv]
È nata una stella (Italy) [it]
A Star Is Born (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Det hände i Hollywood (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Ein Stern geht auf (West Germany) (TV title) [de]
Ein Stern ist geboren (Austria) [de]
Ha nacido una estrella (Spain) [es]
Hollywood (Sweden) [sv]
Hollywood bag kulisserne (Denmark) [da]
Nace una estrella (Venezuela) [es]
Narodziny gwiazdy (Poland) [pl]
Nasce uma Estrela (Brazil) [pt]
Tähti on syntynyt (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Tähti on syttynyt (Finland) (video title) [fi]
Tapahtuipa Hollywoodissa (Finland) [fi]
Une étoile est née (Belgium: French title) [fr]

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #2968) | Finland:S | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

David O. Selznick originally rejected the story, as films about Hollywood had generally failed, but was persuaded to do the film by his wife Irene Mayer Selznick. Writer-director William A. Wellman had alternately suggested a sequel to The Public Enemy (1931), titled "Another Public Enemy".

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the night court scene, the judge refers to the "commonwealth" but the movie is set in California which isn't one of the states to have commonwealth status. The judge should have referred to the "state" instead.

Quotes:

Grandmother Lettie: If you've got one drop of my blood in your veins, you won't let Mattie or any of her kind break your heart, you'll go right out there and break it yourself.

Movie Connections:

References The Garden of Allah (1936)

Soundtrack:

Wah! Hoo!

The best version

Fredric March gave a magnificent performance, probably the best of his career, as Norman Maine, the actor whose career is in the descendant as that of his wife, Vikki Lester, is in the ascendant in this, the first 'official' version of "A Star is Born", (the 1932 film "What Price Hollywood" roughly told the same story). March displays just the right degree of brashness, of knowingness, and a combination of ego and a real actor's almost complete lack of ego. It's a miraculous piece of work.

As Lester, Janet Gaynor is touchingly blank but the star quality she is meant to display seems conspicuously absent; (in the 1954 musical remake Judy Garland was almost too much a star). It seems inconceivable that she could eclipse March on screen (even with his drinking). If Lester is a star and possibly a great actress Gaynor keeps the secret to herself.

The script for this version was partly written by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell and it shows. It's an acerbic and, at times, savage movie about the movies, quite cynical for a major studio picture of it's day. It is very well directed by William Wellman who draws first-rate performances from the supporting cast, in particular Lionel Stander as a heartless, slime-ball studio hack. This remains the best of the three versions to come thus far.