This 1937 version* is yet another 1930s movie that is fabulous to watch.** In this non-musical version, Janet Gaynor is charming as the fresh-faced aspiring actress while Fredric March charms as an actor on a downward slide.*** There’s a lot of good stuff about love****, and the trappings of alcoholism, back when it was something to be hidden.
Cost: free from library via Hoopla (for this movie, I figured out how to watch Hoopla via the app on the TV. It’s a little bit wonky, but works great once you figure out all the steps.)
Where watched: at home.
*Regular commenter Jan watched the 1954 version and alerted me to the fact there will be four versions, once the 2018 one is released. Four versions of the same movie? With the exact same title? There was no way I was leaving that alone.
**Though it presents a very different lifestyle than my previous 1930’s movie: The Grapes of Wrath.
***Also very good was Andy Devine, playing Gaynor’s friend Danny.
***Both of career/movies and romantic love.
Poster from: https://alchetron.com/A-Star-Is-Born-(1937-film)
Wow! 4 versions of the same movie. I like doing the same watch with all of the P&Ps, though I watch the Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson (I have to look that up) 1940 version very often!
Zoe and I were discussing the many versions and she noticed the release date for the 2018 version has changed again. First it was September, then May, now October 5. This is good, as I need to put a lot of space between the first two versions (both of which I loved) and the 1970s version which looks like will be a steaming heap of excess that only the 1970s can deliver.