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

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)

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:

The first all-color film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

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:

Oliver Niles: Now, I'm going to turn you over to our demon press agent, Libby. Don't let him frighten you. He has a heart of gold... only harder.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Green Acres: A Star Named Arnold Is Born: Part 2 (#3.30)" (1968)

Soundtrack:

Les Préludes

Good Cast & An Interesting Story

This early version of "A Star is Born" is well-performed by a good cast, and an interesting story. The basic idea is fairly simple, but filled with potential, and it is done skillfully.

Janet Gaynor and Frederic March work very well as a Hollywood couple whose careers are headed in different directions, with March's performance being especially good. The rest of the cast rounds out the picture nicely with good performances of their own. While the inside look at Hollywood is interesting in its own right, the heart of the story is the way that the couple's marriage and relationships are affected by her career taking off at the same time that his is crashing. It's the kind of story that only works with believable characters, careful writing, and convincing acting, and all of those are present here.

While overshadowed by the lavish 50's remake, this earlier version is still quite worthwhile in its own right.