Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 13-June-10
Spoiler Rating: Medium

A Star is Born (1937, 1954)

A Star is Born (1937) birthed a true American classic. Carefully written and expertly acted, this haunting tale of love, addiction, and the movies follows a sweet young thing named Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) whose dreams of cinematic glory take her from Nowhere, North Dakota, to the California coast. After living in a fleabag and being ignored by casting agents for months, she is discovered while waitressing at a Hollywood party. There, matinee idol Norman Maine (Fredric March) sees something special in her through the liquor fumes that habitually engulf him. He convinces his producer to see it too, and before long she is in front of the camera. As newly minted sensation "Vicki Lester" she charms fans, critics, and Norman, whom she marries. It is a Cinderella story if ever there was one.

But Hollywood is a harsh place where actors are only as hot as their last picture and even the biggest ones can suddenly bump up against an expiration date. (Merciless publicity guys don't help.) Norman seems fit for the future after achieving wedded bliss, which is beautifully portrayed, but the drinking that has undermined his career now becomes a substitute for it. As his wife grows more successful, he becomes a has-been. The first time he breaks your heart (thanks to March's letter-perfect performance) is while Esther is accepting an Academy Award.* It is clear that he loves her and would do anything in his power to make her happy. Unfortunately, like most addicts he hasn't any power so his options are few.

One of my first reactions to A Star is Born was surprise that it had been remade, and more than once, because such a fine film is unlikely to be topped. Even so there are two things about it I would change, namely the pair of scenes that bookend the story. These involve Esther's grandmother (May Robson), who uses quaint phrases like "prairie schooner" while giving pep talks that would put Knute Rockne to shame. She is so hokey that one can only regard her as the artistic personification of Esther's inner courage, the drive that explains why she started her quest for fame and why she will continue pursuing it. This character is notably absent from the 1954 remake starring Judy Garland and James Mason.

Of course I can see another reason besides expunging the grandma why a remake was tempting, since Hollywood has always loved to turn the lens on itself. Strangely, for all the heightened glamour and full-blown musical status of the second A Star is Born, there is less of a sense of the Hollywood scene, certainly less of a sense of Esther's wonder at finding herself in the company of movie stars. (In this telling she starts out as a performer instead of a hayseed.) The song-and-dance numbers mostly detract from the flow of the drama, except for Garland's terrific rendition of "The Man That Got Away" which accounts for Norman's initial fascination and would be too good to miss under any circumstances. Yet if the remake is more cluttered and less hard-hitting than the original, the feeling of Norman and Esther really being in love comes through. The actors' contribution to this effect is aided by verbatim borrowings from the original film plus an excruciating new scene in which Esther describes the pain of caring for an alcoholic.

An irresistible pathos surrounds these characters that have been so woven into Hollywood history. (A second remake came out in 1976; a third is being considered.) Nowadays Garland's personal saga adds to the poignancy of the 1954 version. A modern viewer is also likely to compare the story with today's celebrity world, where most actors don't assume new names (like "Vicki Lester," "Norman Maine" is a marketing construct) but many assume new selves when exiting rehab and trying for a comeback. One could wish that the studio-dominated Hollywood of Norman's day were as open to the phoenix as to the peacock and canary. Then again, that would preclude the aching tragedy that makes A Star is Born so memorable.

*Incidentally, Gaynor accepted the first-ever such award a few years before she made this movie.

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