A Star is Born (1937, William Wellman)
A Retrospective Review by David M. Arnold
"A Star is Born" tells the story of small-town girl Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) who aspires to become a movie actress. She travels to Hollywood and is discovered by screen star Norman Maine (Frederic March) who convinces his producer (Adolphe Menjou) to sign her. She adopts the stage name Vicki Lester, falls in love with and marries Norman. Soon Vicki's career rockets while the boozing Norman's crashes. If this sounds familiar, it is: The film has been remade twice, in 1954 with Judy Garland, and in 1977 with Barbara Streisand.
I am especially fond of the original version of this film. The screenplay was written in part by Dorothy Parker. The 1994 film about Parker, "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle", directed by Alan Rudolph and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, reconstructs the filming of "A Star is Born" in its opening scenes. Parker was a key figure in the Algonquin Round Table, a group of second-string New York literati who wrote some of the best light humor of the first half of the 20th century. Parker's book reviews, penned under the name of Constant Reader, are some of the funniest literary put-downs in print. Example: "'Daddy, what's an optimist?', said Pat to Mike as they walked down the street one day. 'An Optimist', replied the absent- minded professor as he wound up the cat and let out the clock, 'Is someone who thought Cosmo Hamilton wasn't going to write any more books.'"
Parker (along with many from the New York literary scene) was lured to Hollywood in the early '30's as a screenwriter. She discovered that Hollywood wasn't nearly as literate a place as New York, but the money was good. She stayed on, teamed up with her then husband Alan Campbell, and with Richard Carson to deliver the final, credited script to "A Star is Born" that had also been worked on by Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner, and others. The film sparkles throughout with gems of Parker's witticisms: "OLIVER NILES: I'm now going to turn you over to my demon press agent, Libby. Don't allow Libby to frighten you. He has a heart of gold. Only harder."
The story is as much about Norman Maine's self-destruction resulting from alcoholism and egomania as it is about Vicki Lester's rise to stardom. Norman provides a dark and tragic bass note to an otherwise lighthearted story, and Frederic March is absolutely believable in the role. Dorothy Parker knew about the effects of alcohol abuse first-hand. If you believe Rudolph's 1994 film, then you believe she was responsible for introducing her tea-totaling friend, writing partner, and fellow Algonquinite Robert Benchley to drink which eventually killed him.
The film represents with brutal honesty how Hollywood operates. Menjou plays producer Oliver Niles as a pragmatic businessman who is happy to tolerate Norman Maine's drunken escapades while Maine remains a star, and in order to keep his new star, Vicki, happy. But, soon the theatre marquees are replacing "Enchanted Nights starring Norman Maine" with "Enchanted Nights starring Vicki Lester", and it's obvious that Niles will cut his losses over Norman. Lionel Stander is excellent as Matt Libby, the Press Agent from Hell.
"A Star is Born" was a big production in 1937. Janet Gaynor was by then a Hollywood veteran, having won the first ever Oscar for Best actress in 1929 for her roles in F. W. Murnau's "Sunrise" (probably the most romantic silent film ever made), and in "Street Angel" and "Seventh Heaven". Adolphe Menjou and Frederic March were big-name stars in their own rights, and the film was produced by David O. Selznick, the Stephen Spielberg of the day. It was shot in Techicolor, which at that time was the expensive and difficult 3-strip system. "A Star is Born" was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Assistant Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay categories; it won the Oscar for Best Original Story, and it won a special award for color cinematography.
For everyone out there who loves classy, smart, bittersweet old movies: This is a classy, smart, bittersweet old movie: Well written, well directed, and well acted.
Essay copyright (C) 1999 David M. Arnold. All rights reserved.
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