6:45pm PST – A Star Is Born (1937) – A fading matinee idol marries the young beginner he’s shepherded to stardom. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson Dir: William A. Wellman C-111 mins, TV-G
While few films top the marvelous Judy Garland musical update of this classic, cautionary Hollywood tale, this version (itself a sort-of remake of George Cukor’s1932 “What Price Hollywood?” – Cukor would direct the Garland version, as well) offers up a memorable, heartbreaking performance from Fredric March as the sad and sodden Norman Maine, a has-been movie star living in the shadow of his famous wife. Lionel Stander also blazes through his scenes as a ruthless studio press-hack who inadvertently brings ruin to those around him all in the name of doing his job of creating movie stars and keeping them movie stars.
Hollywood has always been interested in films about itself, but unlike many (not all) of the self-referential films released today, “A Star Is Born” doesn’t romanticize or glorify those tragic and self-destructive elements that have been around since the idea of celebrity was born. That doesn’t mean the glamorous aspects of the film industry are repressed, but that there’s a realistic balance provided mainly through Adolph Menjou’s interesting and complicated character.
Produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William Wellman, scored by Max Steiner, shot in Technicolor and all wrapped in a screenplay touched by the likes of Budd Schulberg, Ben Hecht, and Ring Lardner Jr., this was quite the event film of its day and seventy years on holds up perfectly. Compelling from start to finish.
Thankfully, TCM has a pretty good print of “A Star Is Born,” much better than the public domain DVDs that have been floating around in various forms for a decade.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.