Stella Dallas (1937)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Olive Higgins Prouty (novel)
Harry Wagstaff Gribble (dramatisation) ...

Release Date:

6 August 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Sure - I like a good time!

Plot:

Working-class Stella Martin marries high-end Stephen Dallas and soon they have a daughter named Laurel...

Plot Keywords:

Sacrifice | Marriage | Compassion | Orchestral Music Score | Social Climber

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Stella Martin 'Stell' Dallas
John Boles	...	Stephen Dallas
Anne Shirley	...	Laurel 'Lollie' Dallas
Barbara O'Neil	...	Helen Morrison Dallas
Alan Hale	...	Ed Munn
Marjorie Main	...	Mrs. Martin
George Walcott	...	Charlie Martin
Ann Shoemaker	...	Miss Margaret Phillibrown
Tim Holt	...	Richard 'Dick' Grosvenor III
Nella Walker	...	Mrs. Grosvenor
Bruce Satterlee	...	Cornelius 'Con' Morrison
Jimmy Butler	...	Cornelius 'Con' Morrison (grown up)
Jack Egger	...	John Morrison
Dickie Jones	...	Lee Morrison

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #3558)

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

Frances Farmer was suggested for the part of the daughter, but producer Samuel Goldwyn was not keen after having clashed with Farmer on his previous Come and Get It (1936).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stephen Dallas is first seen in his office, he's typing a letter. You can see that his fingers type several different keys, spaced out on the keyboard (probably in the middle of the middle rows), before he lowers his hands and stops typing to read. Then when he reads, you see that his letter ends with - -. It's not possible for him to have typed - - using the keys he was striking before he lowered his hands.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sanford and Son: The Infernal Triangle (#2.19)" (1973)

Soundtrack:

Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)

The Complexity of Mother Love

Stella Dallas is probably one of the most complex roles in a soap opera for any female actress to play. She's loud, brassy, and vulgar. She also knows that she desperately wants some kind of class. Her problem is that she thinks she can marry it and her problems are solved.

For Barbara Stanwyck as Stella Martin that was only the beginning when she married Stephen Dallas played by John Boles. They come from different worlds, Stanwyck and Boles, and even with the birth of a daughter it doesn't bring them together.

Samuel Goldwyn had great success with the silent version of Stella Dallas, it was his biggest moneymaker as a silent film. Goldwyn waited until he found the right actress for Stella before doing it again.

Though he wanted Ruth Chatterton to play Stella, he was more than pleased with Barbara Stanwyck's Oscar nominated performance. Stanwyck hits Stella on every level just right, especially when she realizes after overhearing some women on a train talking about how vulgar she is and realizing what harm she was doing to her now grown up daughter played by Anne Shirley. Stanwyck makes the ultimate sacrifice for a mother and tears at the audience's hearts.

Two other performances I liked in Stella Dallas. One was Barbara O'Neil as Mrs. Morrison the widow who became John Boles's second wife. Her scene with Stanwyck as Stanwyck tells her to take Shirley off her hands is a classic. Barbara O'Neil was gracious and charming, and exhibits a discerning heart. This would have been her career role had she not also played Scarlett O'Hara's mother in Gone With the Wind.

The other performance is from that scene stealer Alan Hale as the good time salesman who Stanwyck takes up with. He's as vulgar as she is, but he also is not a bad person, just not anyone's ideal husband. Still they're as suited for each other as Boles and Stanwyck were not.

I guess the moral of the Stella Dallas story is that romance is not like water, it does not seek its own level. Maybe it should however.