MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 3,359 this week

A Star Is Born (1937)

 -  Drama  -  27 April 1937 (USA)
7.5
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.5/10 from 3,962 users  
Reviews: 37 user | 22 critic

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.

Director:

Writers:

(story), (story), 9 more credits »
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 106 titles created 04 Nov 2011
 
a list of 3595 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 629 titles created 29 May 2011
 
a list of 83 titles created 3 days ago
 
a list of 34 titles created 13 Feb 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: A Star Is Born (1937)

A Star Is Born (1937) on IMDb 7.5/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of A Star Is Born.
Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Queen Kelly (1929)
Certificate: Passed Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Prince Wolfram is the betrothed of mad Queen Regina V of Kronberg. Supreme ruler, her word is law and he is a playboy. On maneuvers as punishment for partying with other women, he sees ... See full summary »

Director: Erich von Stroheim
Stars: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever. They go to Paris to see if Louise's blindness can be... See full summary »

Director: D.W. Griffith
Stars: Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

A young woman marries an older millionaire and then falls in love with a handsome nobleman on her honeymoon.

Director: Sam Wood
Stars: Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Edythe Chapman
Coquette (1929)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A flirtatious southern belle is compromised with one of her beaus.

Director: Sam Taylor
Stars: Mary Pickford, Johnny Mack Brown, Matt Moore
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A prostitute seeking a fresh start becomes the obsession of a religious extremist.

Director: Raoul Walsh
Stars: Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Friderici, Charles Lane
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

The desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four day drinking bout.

Director: Billy Wilder
Stars: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

When three thuggish men are responsible for the death of his father and the crippling of his brother, young David must choose between supporting his family or risking his life and exacting vengeance.

Director: Henry King
Stars: Richard Barthelmess, Gladys Hulette, Walter P. Lewis
La Strada (1954)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A carefree girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way.

Director: Federico Fellini
Stars: Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

After opening a convent in the Himalayas, five nuns encounter conflict and tension - both with the natives and also within their own group - as they attempt to adapt to their remote, exotic surroundings.

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Stars: Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A stenographer who works for a lawyer falls in love with and marries a wealthy young man. His family has the marraige annulled, after which she gives birth to a child. Her former boss helps... See full summary »

Director: Edmund Goulding
Stars: Gloria Swanson, Robert Ames, Purnell Pratt
All About Eve (1950)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

An ingenue insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Stars: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders
Certificate: Passed Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

The career of a waitress takes off when she meets an amiable drunken Hollywood producer.

Director: George Cukor
Stars: Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
...
...
...
Grandmother Lettie Blodgett
...
...
Owen Moore ...
Casey Burke - Director
...
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)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Janice Hood
Edit

Storyline

Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of alcoholic star Norman Maine, is given a test, and is caught up in the Hollywood glamor machine (ruthlessly satirized). She and her idol Norman marry; but his career abruptly dwindles to nothing Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

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

Genres:

Drama

Certificate:

Approved | See all certifications »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

27 April 1937 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Nace una estrella  »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,173,639 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Sound System Noiseless Recording)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The funeral scene was inspired by the funeral of Irving Thalberg, where fans swarmed around his widow Norma Shearer outside the church. A similar scene occurred at Jean Harlow's funeral two months after the film's release. See more »

Goofs

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. See more »

Quotes

Grandmother Lettie: Tragedy is a test of courage. If you can meet it bravely, it will leave you bigger than it found you. If not than you will have to live all you life as a coward, because no matter where you may run you can never run away from yourself.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Petticoat Junction: A Star Is Born? (1967) See more »

Soundtracks

"California, Here I Come"
(1924) (uncredited)
Music by Joseph Meyer
(variations in the score as Esther arrives in Hollywood)
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
It's Norman's movie
24 August 2006 | by (Italy) – See all my reviews

I believe this as one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. I enjoyed the story, the dialog and above all I enjoyed the atmosphere and the actors. All of them are great but to me Fredric March is outstanding.

Norman/Alfred is a wonderful character: frail, undignified, touchy, weak and able to love Vicki/Esther so much, with all his heart.

Fredric March brings all of it on the screen, providing one of his best performances here.

If you would like to become an actor, I believe you should watch this movie and Mr. March's way of acting. Pay attention to his eyes, his hands, his face and his moves, especially when he interrupts his wife thanking everybody for the Oscar she got and claims he deserves three statues for the worse performances.

He is overcome by himself and starts dying. I just shivered.

To me, this version can't be compared to its remakes. The allure and the fascination of Hollywood have been perfectly represented here, together with an unpleasant and creepy feeling of emptiness.


20 of 21 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Best DVD to buy? bjnevin
Lana Turner? tomtac
Norman Maine's real name? cestsibon
Favorite scene supertrav77
I haven't seen any remakes. Are they good? krajackex
I honestly thought something different was the case javajk-javajk
Discuss A Star Is Born (1937) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?