Star! (1968)

Director:

Robert Wise

Writer:

William Fairchild (writer)

Release Date:

22 October 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Musical

Tagline:

The Love Affair of the Century - Between a Woman, and the World!

Plot:

Film based on life of actress Gertrude Lawrence, on- and offstage, takes the opportunity to feature extravagant...

Plot Keywords:

Price Of Fame | Women | Broadway | Fame | New York City

Awards:

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Julie Andrews	...	Gertrude Lawrence
Richard Crenna	...	Richard Aldrich, Producer
Michael Craig	...	Sir Anthony Spencer
Daniel Massey	...	Noel Coward
Robert Reed	...	Charles Fraser
Bruce Forsyth	...	Arthur Lawrence
Beryl Reid	...	Rose
John Collin	...	Jack Roper
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Andre Charlot, Producer
Richard Karlan	...	David Holtzmann, Gertrude's Attorney
Lynley Laurence	...	Billie Carleton
Garrett Lewis	...	Jack Buchanan
Anthony Eisley	...	Ben Mitchell
Jock Livingston	...	Alexander Woollcott
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Dan

Also Known As:

Loves of a Star! (USA) (promotional title)
Those Were the Happy Times (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

176 min | UK:218 min | USA:120 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | 70 mm 6-Track

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Denmark:15 (DVD) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG (video rating) (2005) | UK:U (original rating) | USA:G

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This film grew out of a massive attempt by Twentieth Century-Fox to duplicate its earlier success with The Sound of Music (1965) by producing three expensive, large-scale musicals over a period of three years, Doctor Dolittle (1967) and Hello, Dolly! (1969) being the others. Unfortunately, tastes in popular entertainment were beginning to change and all three films' box-office performance reflected this. All were released amidst massive pre-release publicity and all lost equally massive amounts of money for the studio. The result was that several top studio executives lost their jobs, and the studio itself went into such dire financial straits that it only produced one picture for the entire calendar year of 1970. In truth, it would never recoup its losses until a highly successful theatrical reissue of "The Sound of Music" in early 1973.

Quotes:

Noel Coward: Close personal relationships are bloody difficult, my darling but they do get easier with time. Loneliness gets harder.

Movie Connections:

References Rembrandt (1936)

Soundtrack:

Piccadilly

a musical extravaganza

Julie Andrews may be nothing like Gertrude Lawrence in looks or voice, but who cares? This is a hugely enjoyable musical romp from the teens to the forties through such numbers as 'Saga of Jenny', 'The Physician', 'Burlington Bertie', and 'Has Anybody Seen Our Ship?'. She is terrific in a part which required a fair range of acting - the scenes with her daughter are poignant, the ones with her numerous lovers are amusing (some good support here from Michael Craig and Robert Reed) - and the whole thing gels together well. See the long version, there's much to enjoy in it.