The Star (1952)

Director:

Stuart Heisler

Writers:

Dale Eunson (screenplay) and
Katherine Albert (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:

Career | Hollywood | Shipyard | Screen Test | Actor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Margaret Elliot
Sterling Hayden	...	Jim Johannson 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	...	Herself
Fay Baker	...	Margaret's sister
Herb Vigran	...	Roy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Alpert	...	Keith Barkley (uncredited)
James Anderson	...	Actor playing Jed Garfield in The Fatal Winter (uncredited)
Florence Auer	...	Old Biddy 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)
Lorin Raker	...	Somers (uncredited)
Kay Riehl	...	Mrs. Adams, Landlady (uncredited)
Frank J. Scannell	...	Auctioneer (uncredited)
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Annie's Friend in Department Store (uncredited)
Katherine Warren	...	Mrs. Ruth Morrison (uncredited)
Barbara Woodell	...	Peggy Morgan (uncredited)

Directed by
Stuart Heisler

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

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)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bert E. Friedlob Productions

Trivia:

In the scene where a drunken Margaret Elliot takes her Oscar for a ride in her car, Bette Davis used one of her own Oscars.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Margaret visits her ex-husband's home, a handkerchief appears and disappears from coat pocket throughout scene.

Quotes:

[to an Oscar statuette]
Margaret Elliott: Come on, Oscar, let's you and me go get drunk!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "This Is Your Life: Bette Davis" (1971)

Over The Top...What A View!

This is Bette Davis in all her tempestuous, splendid fury and indignation. As Oscar-winning actress Margaret Elliot, she is now given the go by from her own studio in favor of younger Hollywood fillies like Barbara Lawrence who is thrown at the viewer like a new car off the assembly line.

Margaret Elliot is down to cases,bankrupt, with no prospects and is suffering the ignominy of seeing her former household possessions being sold on the auction block to satisfy her creditors,with rock bottom bids at that. Even her relatives are still putting the bite on her for monthly touches she can no longer provide, resulting in an explosive scene which only Miss Davis could deliver.

One of the most searing moments occurs when Margaret takes her "Oscar"(even more unsettling knowing that statuette is,indeed, one of Miss Davis's Best Actress awards) on a drunken odyssey through residential Hollywood. Behind the wheel,she grazes fenders, screams like a wounded banshee at motorists who happen to be driving on the same road as she is and lashes out verbally in front of the house where Barbara Lawrence resides. Her subsequent incarceration for DUI is as demoralizing as the clearly visible toilet inside the cell photographed in publicity stills.

'The Star' has a seedy look to it, which is desirable for this flick as we get a glimpse of Hollywood's underbelly during the early 1950's. One can almost imagine rows of palm trees rooted in used coffee cans with the scent of chicory mixed with cigarette butts. Even Miss Davis's wardrobe is downright frumpy, straight off the Woolworth's rack. Only when she does her screen test for an possible bit part in a movie does she try to project herself as a sexy tart with disastrous results.

The only jarring note to this movie is the appearance of Natalie Wood as Margaret Elliot's teenage daughter. She is bubbling with youthful enthusiasm, quite startling against this cynical, world weary backdrop. Sterling Hayden provides the obligatory beefcake and an ample shoulder for Margaret to cry on.

'The Star' radiates like the hood ornament on the Cadillac Margaret Elliot drives on approval before the studio dashes her dreams yet again and the repo man chases after yet another falling 'Star'.

Rate this *** out of **** stars.