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:

Mabel Colcord is listed in studio records as an actress in this movie but did not appear. Al Shean, Lillian West and Mildred Gover were in Hollywood Reporter production charts, but also did not appear in the movie.

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 Susan Slept Here (1954)

Soundtrack:

Margie

Sentimental Soap

As she struggles to make a living, a floozy of a woman tries to give the best things to her daughter. An effective soap opera that gives Stanwyck one of her best roles and she's the whole show here. This film helped launch the peak period of her career, culminating with "Double Indemnity" seven years later. She's ably supported by Shirley, perhaps a bit too syrupy, as her daughter and Boles as her ex-husband; interestingly, both actors retired early from films a few years later. Hale is over-the-top as her no-good boyfriend. Vidor, a hack director who managed to make a couple of notable films, milks the story for all the sentiment he can.