A Star Is Born

Make sure to watch this before (or, preferably, instead of) the 1954 and 1976 remakes. It's by far the better film. But the 2018 version is worth your time.

Baloney, but well-paced, witty, thoroughly charming baloney. May Robson's performance in particular is a beaut

a hollywood movie about hollywood movies. many of the big name directors of the time had a crack at this sort of thing, and some of them are good, but they are a dime a dozen. and this? some of the dialogue is fitting, but story is silly and the direction is very, very uninspired. this selznick-backed film concludes with the notion that being a hollywood star is an act of bravery, so it's quite funny to hear that some consider its themes to be self-critical.

For a film showing the ruthless side of a always romanticized Hollywood, this sure was romanticizing Hollywood. Fredric March as the drunken actor on the way down was the strong side of the story, even if it was the sweet moods of Janet Gaynor that sets the atmosphere. And therefore it becomes a little too sweet to really reach the stars this was destined for. But for a sweet movie with a touch of sadness, it guides us through the moods. A great color movie even if it lacks that raw edge.

Stunning ending is based on the real-life tragedy of silent film star Wallace Reid, who died of a morphine overdose in 1923 at age 31.

The tendency is to think this is a movie about 'Vicky Lester'. In truth, it's actually more about Norman Maine and what Hollywood can do to those who they don't care about any more.

A classic ode to Hollywood and what spanned 3 subsequent remakes in the next ~80 years. Fredric March is always a treat and I loved him ever since I saw The Best Days of Our Lives. Janet Gaynor likewise is super sweet, but not at the level of inspired performance seen in Sunrise or 7th Heaven - the latter being a masterpiece. The best scene in A Star is Born is of course the tragic scene, you know the one I mean. The rest is a tad over the top and a bit too melodramatic.

A slap? At the Oscars? Come on, like that'd ever happen. Sure it's slow, overly romanticized (I mean, it's 1937) and not quite sure what to do with this new colour thing, and I'm not entirely convinced by 30-year-old Gaynor as a wide-eyed ingenue, especially since we never actually see her act. That said, it's certainly far from bad; I love how their banter gets progressively more forced, I love Stander's villain, I love the Esther role as written.

Yes, it's a mushy dream-of-Hollywood-fame story that we all dream about but know will never happen. Yes, there are several issues with the pacing (although I loved the character that appears at the end, it seemed a bit too much like deus ex machina). But there's something so self-aware (meta?) and emotionally manipulative that I couldn't help but enjoy it.

Wellman does an amazing job of telling life stories in under two hours. Because this film has to do with stardom, it's been remade several times. It gets more attention than films like "Frisco Jenny" or "So Big," which are just as good. The use of the script in the opening and closing was an interesting touch.

Wow! Very impressive! This original that launched 3 remakes to date had it all! A very smart script (ahead of its time) that exposed the real Hollywood. An emotional drama and love story and some well placed bits of comedy. Well done! It won for original screenplay and while both lead actors were deservedly nominated they didn't win. The best performance by March I've seen. I don't really know Gaynor, but she was excellent too.

A Star is Born looks and feels like the popular movies of its time, but with a smart, strong woman taking the lead. Norman is no tragic hero—he’s not a hero at all—but he’s a man loved by a woman. Could his demise have been reversed by a woman like this, or by anyone? The film seems to think not, and as Norman travels along his beautiful, downward spiral, Esther goes along with him because someone has to try.

Ah, yes, Technicolor. This is the earliest live-action colour film, I, and likely many filmgoers saw, and the cinematography is quite good considering how experimental the technology still was. The story, although slow, did end up hitting the right emotional chords for me. Ironically, it was March's career who was on the rise and Gaynor' who was on the decline, retiring two years later. Gaynor's remarkable performance provided a thematically appropriate finale to her career.