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A Star Is Born (1937)

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100

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 12
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 0

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Release Date: Apr 20, 1937 Wide

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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 2,342

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Movie Info

A Star is Born came into being when producer David O. Selznick decided to tell a "true behind-the-scenes" story of Hollywood. The truth, of course, was filtered a bit for box-office purposes, although Selznick and an army of screenwriters based much of their script on actual people and events. Janet Gaynor stars as Esther Blodgett, the small-town girl who dreams of Hollywood stardom, a role later played by both Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand in the 1954 and 1976 remakes. Jeered at by most of

PG, 1 hr. 51 min.

Drama, Classics

Directed By: William A. Wellman , Jack Conway

Written By: Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, Robert Carson

In Theaters: Apr 20, 1937 Wide

On DVD: Nov 16, 2004

Image Entertainment Inc.

Cast

Janet Gaynor
Esther Blodgett
Fredric March
Norman Maine
Adolphe Menjou
Oliver Niles
May Robson
Lettie
Andy Devine
Danny McGuire
Lionel Stander
Matt Libby
Elizabeth Jenns
Anita Regis
Edgar Kennedy
Pop Randall
Owen Moore
Casey Burke
Clara Blandick
Aunt Mattie
A.W. Sweatt
Esther's Brother
Peggy Wood
Miss Phillips a clerk
Arthur Hoyt
Ward
Vince Barnett
Otto Friedl
Irving Bacon
Station Agent
Jane Barnes
Waitress
Wade Boteler
Cop
Helene Chadwick
George Chandler
Delivery Boy
Billy Dooley
Painter
Pat Flaherty
Cuddles
Trixie Friganza
Waitress
Carlton Elliott Griffin
Cameraman
Jonathan Hale
Night Court Judge
Harry Hayden
Makeup man
Robert E. Homans
Ken Howell
Olin Howland
Rustie
I. Stanford Jolley
Eddie Kane
People at Burke's Party
Claude King
Carole Landis
Girl in beret (Santa An...
Chris-Pin Martin
Prisoner
Edwin Maxwell
Voice Coach
Ferdinand Munier
Headwaiter
David Newell
J.C. Nugent
Theodore Smythe
Robert E. O'Connor
Bartender at Santa Anit...
Franklin Pangborn
Billy Moon
Lee Phelps
Bailiff
Jed Prouty
Artie Carver
Adrian Rosley
Paul Stanton
Academy Awards Speaker
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones
Black Prisoner
Lana Turner
Marion (Santa Anita bar...
Gayne Whitman
Announcer at Chinese Th...
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams
Posture Coach
Clarence H. Wilson
Justice of the Peace
Francis Ford
Prisoner
Marshall Neilan
Bert
Dennis O'Keefe
Party Guest
Charles Williams
Assistant Cameraman
Ursula Kent
Leonard Walker
Orchestra Leader at Hol...
Billy Coe

Critic Reviews for A Star Is Born

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (0) | DVD (2)

Starring Janet Gaynor and Frederic March in Oscar-nominated roles, this first version of the famous Hollywood story was directed by William Wellman; it was remade in 1954 with Judy Garland, and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand.

January 23, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Judy Garland, for all her personal problems, shows on the screen why she's a star.

July 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment (1)

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

William A. Wellman's original 1937 A Star Is Born is the essential Hollywood cautionary tale.

August 21, 2003 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

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Audience Reviews for A Star Is Born

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The Judy version is the best but this is an enjoyable film with fine performances.

October 12, 2007

jay nixon

Super Reviewer

Writer and director William Wellman couldn't get along with lead Janet Gaynor and tried to walk-out the set of this film, only to be thwarted by MGM; a good thing for the film. Nobody else could have pulled off wide-eyed Hollywood hopeful Vicki quite like Gaynor, and without Wellman's concise directing "A Star Is Born"

July 27, 2007

LaGina Phillips

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