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:

Actress | New York City | Actor's Life | Beautiful Woman | London England

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
Harvey Jason	...	Bert
Mathilda Calnan	...	Dorothy (as Matilda Calnan)
Peter Church	...	Narrator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ian Abercrombie	...	Cockney Singer in Brixton Music Hall (uncredited)
Jenny Agutter	...	Pamela Roper (uncredited)
Richard Angarola	...	Cesare (uncredited)
Conrad Bain	...	Second Salesman at Cartier's (uncredited)
Ballard Berkeley	...	(uncredited)
Eric Brotherson	...	George (Policeman in Sidecar) (uncredited)
Ron Charles	...	Boatman (uncredited)
Cathleen Cordell	...	Fashion Show Vendeuse (uncredited)
Don Crichton	...	Gertrude's 'Limehouse Blues' Dance Partner (uncredited)
Linda Dano	...	Charles' Wife (uncredited)
Roger Delgado	...	French diplomat (uncredited)
Harry Fielder	...	Audience patron (uncredited)
Bernard Fox	...	Assistant to Lord Chamberlain (uncredited)
Jan Gernat	...	Ron James, Stage Manager (uncredited)
Ray Girardin	...	Young Reporter at "Tonight at 8.30" (uncredited)
Shelah Hackett	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Ann Hubbell	...	Beryl, a Daffodil Girl (uncredited)
Robin Hughes	...	Third Hyde Park Speaker (uncredited)
Pamela Kosh	...	Woman on the Bus Going to Maidenhead (uncredited)
Jeanette Landis	...	Eph, a Daffodil Girl (uncredited)
Anna Lee	...	Hostess (uncredited)
Tony Lo Bianco	...	New York Reporter (uncredited)
Damian London	...	Jerry Paul (uncredited)
Lester Mack	...	(uncredited)
Murray Matheson	...	Bankruptcy Judge (uncredited)
Lester Matthews	...	Lord Chamberlain (uncredited)
Clive Morton	...	Army Officer Outside Window (uncredited)
Ellen Plasschaert	...	Moo, a Daffodil Girl (uncredited)
Dinah Anne Rogers	...	Molly, a Daffodil Girl (uncredited)
Barbara Sandland	...	Mavis, a Daffodil Girl (uncredited)
Roy Scheider	...	(uncredited)
Mildred Shay	...	Hostesses friend (uncredited)
Elizabeth St. Clair	...	Jeannie Banks (uncredited)
Grady Sutton	...	First Salesman at Cartier's (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Wise

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William Fairchild		writer

Produced by
Saul Chaplin	....	producer

Original Music by
Lennie Hayton		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Ernest Laszlo		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
William Reynolds

Production Design by
Boris Leven

Set Decoration by
Howard Bristol
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Donald Brooks

Makeup Department
William Buell	....	makeup artist
Hal Saunders	....	hair stylist: Ms. Andrews
William Turner	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Saul Wurtzel	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ridgeway Callow	....	assistant director
Nicolas Hippisley-Coxe	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Richard Jenkins	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Dennis J. Parrish	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
Murray Spivack	....	sound
Douglas O. Williams	....	sound

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Art Cruickshank	....	special photographic effects
Emil Kosa Jr.	....	special photographic effects
Gerald Endler	....	mechanical effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Paula Dell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Russell Saunders	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Keith Blake	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Ron Pearce	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	photographer: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adele Balkan	....	wardrober
Ed Wynigear	....	wardrober

Music Department
Lennie Hayton	....	conductor
Lennie Hayton	....	music arranger
Michael Kidd	....	dances and musical numbers staged by
Robert Tracy	....	music editor

Other crew
Shelah Hackett	....	dance assistant
Maurice Zuberano	....	production associate

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• 20th Century Fox (1969) (France) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2006) (Spain) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Cartier  jewelry furnished by
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Lighting by Al Reiners  theatrical lighting

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:

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

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:

Daniel Massey plays Noel Coward, his own godfather.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1 (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Do, Do, Do

elephantine

It's de rigeur to dish this film; yes, it's interminable, and it's inevitable that Andrews outlives her welcome. (Not sure I can think of any star who WOULDN'T become somewhat wearisome in a biopic of this length). The pace is incredibly leisurely; the decision to work towards a wedding means that there is simply too much material. Unfortunately, there is no motor in the plot, no 'desire' that runs throughout, no theme; Andrews can't find a line for character development. Instead, there are endless changes of image, and endless set-piece re-creations of theatre history. Whatever else, you can't say that you're short-changed, but the experience is a little like having a whole box of chocolates force-fed to you at a sitting.

But Andrews works her tail off; she sings, she comedies, she thesps. She does her all-time best dancing. She generally outshines the frocks and the sets. It's probably deliberate that Gerty is chosen as the subject: it's an ADVANTAGE that most of the audience has never seen the real thing. Andrews is not trapped into a Streepish impersonation - she plays the script as if it's fiction.

Daniel Massey's Noel Coward is trapped by audience expectation; personally, I think it's very good, provided you accept that 'Noel Coward' is a fictional character based on a real person. He and Andrews have an excellent rapport, although I suspect the real Noel and Gertie were a bit more feral as performers. (Coward liked his godson's impersonation: but "A shade too many 'dear boys', dear boy.") In other roles, Beryl Reid and Bruce Forsyth are worth the price of admission (it's the English musical numbers that work best). The "beards" are dull: dull performers with a script that gives them absolutely nothing. (How much Sound of Music depended on the implicit threat of Christopher Plummer! )

In other news, Lennie Hayton's musical direction of this film is exemplary. The arrangements are simply splendid; this must just about be the last gasp of Hollywood's ability to pastiche all the styles of vaudeville and Broadway.

Bernie Leven's production design is so pervasive that it warrants savouring. You could argue that this is a movie that has been hi-jacked by its tradesmen: Wise hires all these great talents, and then "gives them their head".

I think "Star!" has all the joys of a triumphant folly. It's utterly predictable, but never dull (cf. Jumbo!) You have to be in the mood for it, and probably its pleasures are best savoured over several days, interspersed with Godard and Ken Loach.