A Star Is Born 1937/1954

[ChiO]

Yeah...I'm tired of those boyish DeNiros, Keitels, Pacinos, Eastwoods, Marvins, Oates, Bridges, O'Tooles....

[MichiganJ]

Or Tom Hanks, Colin Firth, Sean Penn, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Liam Neeson, Josh Brolin, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, George Clooney, Paul Giamatti, Jeff Daniels, Viggo Mortensen, etc.

Not a grown man among them.

[charliechaplinfan]

That true.

I suppose we should be grateful for Stallone, Schwarznegger and van Damme

[Midge]

Does anyone know who's house that was that Janet and Frederick go to live in? It's stunning, that's the kind of house I would like when my lottery numbers come up

Hi, newbie here. This is my first post. I hope it's not too late to answer the OP's question. The Hollywood home of "Mr. and Mrs. Norman Maine" was the real-life Beverly Hills estate of one Harold Janss. The Janss family was prominent in southern California real estate and owned a great deal of property in the Los Angeles area. This information is from the book David O Selznick's Hollywood by Ronald Haver.

[moira finnie]

Welcome, Midge and thanks for sharing your information! I can't believe that house was real!

[JackFavell]

Hi, Midge! Welcome to the SSO!

[Midge]

Thanks, Jack and Moira! I am a huge fan of the 1937 A Star is Born and have seen it many, many times. Much as I love Judy Garland, I have to agree with the poster who says it's The Judy Garland Show. Did you know that Humphrey Bogart was also a big fan of the 1937 version? He had a 16mm print and used to screen it at his home on his birthday every year. He would always cry at the scene where Norman Maine shows Vicki the lights of Los Angeles and tells her that someday this will be all hers. Perhaps Bogie related to the Norman Maine character because in real life he was a heavy boozer and was married to a successful actress many years his junior.

The irony of the 1937 A Star is Born is that Janet Gaynor, who played the up-and-coming ingenue, was in fact near the end of her movie career while the "washed up has-been" Fredric March still had a long and distinguished career ahead of him.

[JackFavell]

I didn't know that about Bogie! I like the picture you created in my mind of him crying over Norman Maine....it makes him seem more real to me. I cry like a baby every time I see the 37 version myself.

I never thought about the way the roles reversed for Gaynor and March. Glad you brought it up!

Wendy/JackFavell

[Lzcutter]

This information is from the book David O Selznick's Hollywood by Ronald Haver.

Ron Haver was a terrific guy. He used to be the film programmer at the LACMA, the Los Angeles County Art Museum back in the 1970s and 1980s. He did a terrific job of programming classic films and programs on film preservation.

He was one of the driving forces behind the preservation of the 1954 version of Star and went on a true detective hunt for the missing footage. His book on the preservation of that film (and how he found the various bits of film and soundtrack that he did) is definitely worth reading.

He was also a major force behind the old FILMEX film festival that was started by the two Garys back in the 1970s and continued into the early to mid-1980s.
Those of us who knew him still miss him.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I really enjoyed that Selznick book, and I had read Memo From David O. back when it was a Doubleday Book Of The Month club selection.
Welcome to the boards, Midge.

Thanks for that Haver insight, Lynn!

[RedRiver]

I prefer the 1937 in every way. Cukor's film is fine. The players in top form. But the earlier telling is tighter, more dramatic. The atmosphere is haunting, like a fable. I don't know how to describe the color process, but the result is beautiful!

Gaynor and March are wonderful. The writing, by Dorothy Parker and others, is pointed and theatrical. The suicide scene is heartbreaking and unforgettable. I kind of HAVE forgotten the 1954 parallel. To be fair, I've only seen it twice. Its counterpart? More like five times!

Two good movies. One clearly superior.

[charliechaplinfan]

A belated hello Midge from me. Glad to have you onboard and thank you for answering my question. I had thought the same about Janet Gaynor in A Star is Born, she was at the end of a long career whereas Fredric March continued to go from strength to strength. I actually think it's one of March's best films and that his portrayal of Norman Maine is easier to understand, he's playing more of the matinee idol whereas James Mason never really comes across as a matinee idol but as an accomplished actor disgusted at the industry he's in and what he has become. Of course, it was Mason's part that fell foul of the editing, perhaps his part was more rounded. I could watch either film happily but the second version is heavily weighted towards Vicky whereas the earlier version was more about Norman's story.

[RedRiver]

I don't know the story of Mason and the editing. But he's fine as Norman. He was never not fine, as far as I know. He and Judy do a commendable job in this film. Gaynor and March do justice to their endeavor. Barbra and Kris? Haven't seen it. Don't want to!

Off topic, I knew I was getting old when I described Kristofferson as a song writer, and somebody said, "Kris Kristofferson writes songs?" He's certainly not an actor!

[JackFavell]

Ha! Someone thought so! KRIS has done a couple of movies that are very good. ASIB is not one of them.