The Star (1952)

Director:

Stuart Heisler

Writers:

Dale Eunson (original screenplay) and
Katherine Albert (original screenplay)

Release Date:

11 December 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The story of a woman...who thought she was a star so high in the sky no man could touch her!

Plot:

A washed-up movie queen finds romance, but still desires a come-back.

Plot Keywords:

Hollywood | Actor | Career | Shipyard | Joint Custody

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Margaret Elliot
Sterling Hayden	...	Jim Johannsen aka Barry Lester
Natalie Wood	...	Gretchen
Warner Anderson	...	Harry Stone
Minor Watson	...	Joe Morrison
June Travis	...	Phyllis Stone
Paul Frees	...	Richard Stanley
Robert Warrick	...	R.J., Aging Actor at Party
Barbara Lawrence	...	Barbara Lawrence
Fay Baker	...	Faith
Herb Vigran	...	Roy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Alpert	...	Keith Barkley - Director (uncredited)
James Anderson	...	Bailey - Actor playing Jed Garfield in The Fatal Winter (uncredited)
Florence Auer	...	Annie's Friend in Store (uncredited)
Marie Blake	...	Annie, Stones' Maid (uncredited)
Claire Carleton	...	Jailbird (uncredited)
Byron Foulger	...	Druggist (uncredited)
Gil Frye	...	George, Assistant Director (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Al Hill	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
John Indrisano	...	Projectionist (uncredited)
Marcia Mae Jones	...	Waitress (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien	...	Waiter at Party (uncredited)
Lorin Raker	...	R.J. Somers (uncredited)
Kay Riehl	...	Mrs. Adams, Landlady (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Auctioneer (voice) (uncredited)
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Annie - Old Biddy in Department Store (uncredited)
Katherine Warren	...	Mrs. Ruth Morrison (uncredited)
Barbara Woodell	...	Peggy Morgan (uncredited)

Directed by
Stuart Heisler

Writing credits
Dale Eunson		(original screenplay) and
Katherine Albert		(original screenplay)

Produced by
Bert E. Friedlob	....	producer

Original Music by
Victor Young

Cinematography by
Ernest Laszlo		(director of photography)

Set Decoration by
Edward G. Boyle		(as Edward Boyle)

Makeup Department
Del Armstrong	....	makeup supervisor
Jane Romeyn	....	hair stylist

Production Management
J. Paul	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Vreeland	....	assistant director

Art Department
Boris Leven	....	set designer

Sound Department
John R. Carter	....	sound engineer (as John Carter)

Special Effects by
David Commons	....	special effects
Jack Rabin	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bill Edwards	....	wardrobe (as William Edwards)
Orry-Kelly	....	gowns: Miss Davis
Ann Peck	....	wardrobe
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Otto Ludwig	....	editorial supervisor

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (as Sid Cuttner)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator
Victor Young	....	conductor

Other crew
Bert E. Friedlob	....	presenter
Weslie Jones	....	script supervisor
Leo Taub	....	assistant to producer

Production Companies

• Bert E. Friedlob Productions

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | USA:Approved | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bert E. Friedlob Productions

Trivia:

Fox starlet Barbara Lawrence's presence is felt even though her actual screen time is brief. Besides her fleeting cameo appearance, she is referred to at least five other times as the young nemesis to Bette Davis' aging star. She is mentioned as an up-and-coming prospect by an agent, a drunken Davis drives by her house in a mock tour of stars' homes, her image appears in a drugstore ad that confronts Davis, Davis stops to stare at a huge portrait of Lawrence before entering her prospective producer's office, and she spitefully uses Lawrence's vacant dressing room to change alter her make-up before her screen test. For added Hollywood verisimilitude, references are made to other contemporaneous Fox stars including Victor Mature, Debra Paget, Mitzi Gaynor, and Jeanne Crain. Curiously there is a reference to an actor named Ralph Bellows, who's playing the rich, stuffy second lead. This is an obvious reference to the screen persona of Ralph Bellamy, who was not under contract to Fox at the time.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Margaret goes to work in a department store, she descends an escalator and all sorts of electrical cables from the film production can be seen on the floor beneath.

Quotes:

Margaret Elliott:If you're a star you don't stop being a star.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth 2 (2013)

Whatever happened to Margaret Elliot?Going,going gone!

Another movie where the director does not matter much.It's the actress who makes the movie.And when the actress is none other than Bette Davis ,the pleasure is intense.

Although not as good as "Sunset Boulevard" ,which it often recalls,"the star" is a solid absorbing melodrama.Davis was one of the few actresses who had the guts to play her "days to come" ;it was even more stunning in Aldrich "Whatever happened to Baby Jane?" during the following decade.And deservedly,Davis never really grew old-fashioned ,in 1981,she had even a song dedicated to her eyes.

"The star" has two great moments.The first one happens when Davis is walking down the street and when relics of her heyday are sold by auction:going,going,gone!;the second one when she watches her test and cries over the dismal results.Davis was so gifted an actress she could "play badly" and remain fascinating: the test was her last fight to regain a youth which eluded her.As Holden told to Swanson in Wilder's opus:"Being fifty is nothing tragic when you do not pretend you are thirty".