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A Star Is Born (1937)
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Overview
User Rating:
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Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
27 April 1937 (USA)
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Tagline:
Fate Raised Her To Fame - and killed the man she loved ! more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 1 win
&
7 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Budd Schulberg Dies Aged 95
(From EmpireOnline. 6 August 2009, 12:37 AM, PDT)
Pre-Code Wellman and Godard's Code Unknown
(From IFC. 31 March 2009, 7:17 AM, PDT)
(From EmpireOnline. 6 August 2009, 12:37 AM, PDT)
Pre-Code Wellman and Godard's Code Unknown
(From IFC. 31 March 2009, 7:17 AM, PDT)
User Reviews:
One Star Born, One Star Fades
more (31 total)
Cast
(Complete credited 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) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
111 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System Noiseless Recording)
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
When the drunken Norman Maine character raucously interrupts the Oscar presentation, it was déja vu for Janet Gaynor. She had brought her sister to the Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, when she won the first Best Actress Oscar ever awarded, for 7th Heaven (1927). Her sister became very drunk and completely out of control, thoroughly embarrassing Gaynor.
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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.
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Quotes:
Grandmother Lettie:
Esther, everyone in this world who has ever dreamed about better things has been laughed at, don't you know that? But there's a difference between dreaming and doing. The dreamers just sit around and moon about how wonderful it would be if only things were different. And the years roll on and by and by they grow and they forget everything, even about their dreams. Oh yes, you want to be somebody, but you want it to be easy. Oh you modern girls give me a pain!
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Green Acres: A Star Named Arnold Is Born: Part 2 (#3.30)" (1968)
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Soundtrack:
Wah! Hoo!
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FAQ
A Note Regarding SpoilersWhat was Norman Maine's real name?
Why is Janet Gaynor listed as playing two different characters?
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more (31 total)
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A Star is Born has had two remakes since this 1937 version, but when this film is discussed this is usually the version that stands out.
I guess if the story has a moral to it, it's that for one star in 'shimmering firmament' to be born one has to die. It can be a funny end like what happens to Lina Lamont in Singing in the Rain or it can be a tragic tale as what happens to Norman Maine in this film. But Kathy Selden and Vicki Lester do go on.
Esther Blodgett as played by Janet Gaynor is a symbol for all the young people, women in this case, who dream of seeing themselves on the big screen. Encouraged morally and financially by her grandmother May Robson, Gaynor goes to Hollywood and experiences all the frustrations of a young hopeful. But fate is on her side in the person of leading man Norman Maine, played by Fredric March in one of his best screen performances.
Though Gaynor and March were both nominated for Gaynor the part of Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester was no stretch for her. She'd been doing the part of fresh small town girls for most of her screen career, this being the best of them. For March however, he has to play a weak character, something he had not really tackled before.
I guess Hollywood knows itself better than anyone else and films about the industry can be scathing. The star is a creature with a fragile ego, one moment a whim can move mountains, a slip in public affections and no one wants to know you. March as Maine has been slipping for some time and he catches on, way too late.
But as March is going down, Gaynor is on the up escalator and they meet mid point and fall in love. How they deal with their joint careers or lack thereof in one case is what A Star is Born is all about.
March and Gaynor get good support from Adolphe Menjou as an understanding producer, Andy Devine as Gaynor's fellow boarder at her place of residence and most of all from Lionel Stander as the cynical press agent who inadvertently puts the finish to March's career.
Gaynor's final moment on the screen is one of the great classic events as she proclaims to the world she's Mrs. Norman Maine. And why March does what he does is will start an endless discussion of speculation. Watch this film and come to your own conclusion.