A Star Is Born (1937)

Directed by

William A. Wellman

Genre

drama film, musical film, romance film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 51m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 240 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is about a young actress who moves to Hollywood and gets help from a famous but troubled movie star. As her own career takes off, his begins to decline. It shows the costs of fame and a relationship tested by changing fortunes.

romanticbittersweetdramaticaspiringfading glamoursentimentalambitioustender

What happens

A Star Is Born is a 1937 American Technicolor drama film produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman from a script by Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell, and starring Janet Gaynor (in her only Technicolor film) as an aspiring Hollywood actress, and Fredric March (in his Technicolor debut) as a fading movie star who helps launch her career. The supporting cast features Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander, and Owen Moore. At the 10th Academy Awards, it became the very first color film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The movie's plot is heavily based on a previous Hollywood production, What Price Hollywood?, released in 1932 though not as widely known. This movie however would garner popularity and kickstart a legacy which led to it being remade three times: in 1954 (directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Garland and James Mason), in 1976 (directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson), and in 2018 (starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, who also directed). Unlike the original film, the three remakes are all movie musicals. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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