Film Review: A Star Is Born (1937)
Hollywood is often described as “dream factory” and, as such, prime purpose of its films was to deliver illusion to to the audience. At times, however, some Hollywood film makers, either consciously or unconsciously, tried to deliver something more in line with real life on the screen and, on some occasions, that real life dealt with Hollywood itself. Some of such films were made even during Classic Hollywood period, when the disconnect between glitz and glamour of American film industry and its more prosaic reality was even greater than in our, more cynical, times. Probably the best known and the most influential of those film is A Star Is Born, 1937 romantic drama directed by William A. Wellman, known not only as the one of the first Hollywood films to realistically deal with Hollywood itself, but also for serving as basis for three major remakes.
The plot begins at a Midwestern farm where Esther Blodgett (played by Janet Gaynor) is a young woman obsessed with films and dreaming of becoming a Hollywood star. The rest of her family mocks her dreams, except her grandmother Lettie (played by May Robson), old pioneer who encourages her to follow her ambitions even if the price might be a broken heart. After obtaining enough money for train ticket, she arrives to Los Angeles, but it soon becomes clear that her path to stardom is all but impossible and that she has to compete with tens of thousands of other aspiring and chronically unemployed actresses. She, however, manages to befriend unemployed assistant director Danny McGuire (played by Andy Devine) who helps her find a job of waitress at a Hollywood party. There she is noticed by famous actor Norman Maine (played by Fredric March) who is smitten with her and talks his powerful producer Oliver Niles (played by Adolphe Menjou) to get her a screen test. It works splendidly, with Esther getting a role and new name “Vicki Lester” and later marrying Norman. The careers of both spouses, however, take very different trajectories. While Vicki Lester makes hit after hit and becomes grand star, Norman makes flop after flop and becomes frustrated and angry, trying to make solace at the bottom of the bottle, which would ultimately end in tragedy.
William A. Wellman was one of the most prolific and celebrated directors of Classic Hollywood, known for many of the most important films of the era. However, the real driving force between this film was David O. Selznick, one of the producers of the Classic Hollywood era that could be described as “independent” in the modern sense of the word. Selznick “borrowed” much of the plot from What Price Hollywood?, obscure and now mostly forgotten film made five years earlier, in which he served as one of the executive producers. Selznick was, despite general scepticism of Hollywood film makers towards film dealing with Hollywood, gathered rather impressive collection talents behind and in front of camera. Script was, in one way or another, collaboration of celebrated writers like Budd Schulberg, Ring Lander Jr., Ben Hecht and, most notably American literary star Dorothy Parker. Two main roles were played by actors who had won some of the earliest Oscars – Fredric March (for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Janet Gaynor (for Sunrise, one of the last grand films of the silent era). But the greatest asset of the film was the use of three-strip Technicolor, technology that finally allowed audiences to enjoy images in bright colours instead of black-and-white. The process was expensive and clunky and some of the earlier experiments resulted in audiences, unaccustomed to it, actually suffering headaches. Selznick, however, insisted that cinematographer W. Howard Greene uses soft instead of instead of bright colours, making the film more realistic and less demanding on the eyes. The general result of his efforts was not only a solid hit, but film that won almost all critics and, more importantly, had its share of Oscars – for Best Director, for Best Original Story and the special award for Greene’s colour cinematography.
Success of A Star Is Born led to three remakes (not counting obscure 1951 television adaptation), all musicals – 1954 version starring Judy Garland and James Mason; 1976 version starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofersson; and 2018 version starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Of all those versions, Wellman’s is the most authentic. Not only it deals exclusively with Hollywood, unburdened by musical numbers, but its script and characters are closest to the source. Story of young ingenue coming to pursue dreams and achieving them while experiencing heartbreak, as well as story about fleeting nature of fame and ruthlessness of American film industry was something Selznick and people around him were quite aware of. Character of Norman Maine is composite of number of real-life personalities, mostly Hollywood superstars like John Barrymore, John Gilbert or John Bowers who, for one reason or another, failed to maintain their stardom which led them to alcoholism and premature deaths. Even some of the cast members found inspiration for their roles in their own lives – Gaynor during the scene showing Academy Award ceremony used her own golden statue as prop, while the incident resembled the actual incident cause by Gaynor’s sister who got drunk and embarrassed herself during the 1927/28 Oscar ceremony. Even elderly May Robson played character who, like actress herself, had lived as pioneer in wilderness during her youth. Gaynor’s character in the film contemplates ending the career at the zenith of her popularity in order to take care of her family and this is exactly what Janet Gaynor actually did following this film.
Even the viewers who aren’t familiar with cinema history and its references would probably appreciate this film. With colour A Star is Born doesn’t look that different from modern films and the story is simple and comprehensive. Script effortlessly bounces between pathos, drama and little humour. Although constrained by heavy censorship of Hays Code, this film clearly shows dark side of Hollywood, with heroine at first forced to live in seedy hotels and doing odd jobs. Although Adolphe Menjou’s character of producer at times looks too nice compared to real Hollywood moguls at the time, scenes featuring him give some insight into typically Hollywood ruthlessness. Lionel Stander, one of the great character actors of the era, plays very Hollywood character of Libby, studio’s PR man dedicated from getting Norman out of alcohol-related troubles who viciously turns against him when the actor’s fortune make him insignificant. This performance is well-matched by Andy Devine as heroine’s mentor and friend who also serves as something of comic relief. Their efforts make A Star Is Born into not only one of the more important, but also one of the more enjoyable works of Classic Hollywood.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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