A Star Is Born (1937) Review

 

        So, you’re probably wondering about the movie today. Was the one that I watched a remake? In fact, the one from 2018 is a remake. Of a remake, of a- you know where I’m going with this. Throughout the remaining weeks of August, I’ll be looking at the four versions of A Star is Born. You’ll be surprised with what gets carried over, and what’s the very obvious difference. With all that out of the way, let’s begin. 

1. Golden Age Hollywood

        Given what you may know of the recent adaptation, this one doesn’t have music as the central focus. Instead, this one concentrates on Hollywood. A rising star going to Hollywood hoping to make it big. We see in the beginning Esther from North Dakota. She dreams of becoming an actress, her family laughs at the idea. Her grandmother gives her the money to start. 

        What makes Esther likeable is that she’s grounded. I’m glad that the movie didn’t make it easy for her to get a job. The scene that perfectly summed up her situation is when she tries to get an audition. The receptionist shows her a room of women answering the phone of prospective actors. To pour salt in the wound, she tells Esther that there’s a 1 in 100,000 chance she’ll get a shot. 

        For a movie from that time, it doesn’t hold back with being real. Yeah, it shows the glamorization of the movie stars, we have moments where Esther looks at the actors footprint in the cement. And showing the affluent side of Los Angeles. It can at least be appreciated that it doesn’t sugar coat who has a chance to get in. Aside from seeing Esther becoming a rising star, we see the opposite with the lover. 

        Danny is the fading star. When we see him, he’s a wreck since he suffers from alcoholism. Inevitably, he sees Esther and helps her become an actress. The highlight of the whole movie is just seeing them together. He’s genuine to her, but the stigma about him is that he drinks. It gets to a point where he realizes that his wife has started to be more popular than him. 

        I’m trying to restrain myself by saying that this film was progressive for its time. It’s something to see in an old movie from the 1930s where it talks about issues where it wasn’t discussed. As far as I’m aware, people worshipped stars as near perfect. Whereas you have this film that strips it away and shows an actor struggling with something. Nowadays, we see that with some actors dealing with something mental etc. 

2. Double Edge Sword

        This leads to the main takeaway with the movie. And it’s kind of ironic when I think about it more. I feel that this movie is anti-Hollywood. Let me explain, we hear from Esther’s family that it’ll be bad. And we see just how fame can easily switch on a person. It’s sudden and from what’s apparent is that it can be easily a massive demotivator. 

        Another thing about Hollywood is that it changes a person. We learn that Danny’s name isn’t even his actual name. And the same thing happened to Esther when she meets with her agent. He comes up with a new stage name, Vicki, so that she can have the same background but not her original name. More so that near the end of the film, fans still clamor for Esther for an autograph, even though she’s in a rut. 

        Although the film has a lot of heavy topics, it’s not an overly depressing film. You could say that it’s a tragic story, an underdog, or a passing of the torch. The whole point of it is that it shows just what happens to any actor in Hollywood. Be it that it has one that’s rising, and the other seeing that his glory days are done with. 

3. Overall

        The 1937 film is a good watch. It can be commended that it was progressive with showing the side of Hollywood no one talks about. Ultimately, it laid the groundwork for the succeeding films to come after this one.