Poster from TMDB
OverviewAI-generated
A Star Is Born is a 1937 American black-and-white drama, romance, and musical film. Directed by William A. Wellman and Jack Conway, the movie was produced by David O. Selznick through Selznick International Pictures. The screenplay was written by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, Robert Carson, and Adela Rogers St. Johns, with music composed by Max Steiner. The cast includes Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, and May Robson.
Set in Los Angeles, the narrative explores themes such as the movie business, show business, husband-wife relationships, and alcoholism. The film has a runtime of 111 minutes and was released on April 20, 1937. It was distributed by United Artists and Netflix in video on demand format. The production had a budget of 1,200,000 and generated a revenue of 2,370,000.
A Star Is Born received several accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Story and recognition as a National Board of Review Top Ten Film. It was also nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director. Critical reception included a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metascore of 77.
Synthesized by Vinony from 45 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, OMDb, IMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
7.2Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of her idol Norman Maine, is sent for a screen test, and before long attains stardom as newly minted Vicki Lester. She and Norman marry, though his career soon dwindles to nothing due to his chronic alcoholism.
Cast
- Janet Gaynor as Esther Blodgett / Vicki Lester
- Fredric March as Norman Maine
- Adolphe Menjou as Oliver Niles
- May Robson as Lettie Blodgett
- Andy Devine as Danny McGuire
- Lionel Stander as Matt Libby
Themes
- husband wife relationship
- waitress
- movie business
- show business
- alcoholism
- hollywood
- alcoholic
- has been
- movie star
- fading star
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Ratings
IMDb
7.3/10
11,515 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
100%
Metacritic
77/100
- Year
- 1937
- Runtime
- 111 min
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- Approved
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 7 wins & 7 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Key facts
- Directed by
- William A. Wellman
- Screenplay by
- Dorothy Parker Alan Campbell Robert Carson
- Story by
- William A. Wellman Robert Carson
- Produced by
- David O. Selznick
- Starring
- Janet Gaynor Fredric March
- Cinematography
- W. Howard Greene
- Edited by
- James E. Newcom Anson Stevenson (uncredited)
- Music by
- Max Steiner
- Color process
- Technicolor
- Production company
- Selznick International Pictures
- Distributed by
- United Artists
- Release date
- April 20, 1937 ( 1937-04-20 ) ( Grauman's Chinese Theatre )
- Running time
- 111 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $1.2 million
- Box office
- $2.37 million (worldwide rentals)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Genre
- musical film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Director
- Jack Conway
- Screenwriter
- William A. Wellman
- Cast member
- Jed Prouty
- Composer
- Max Steiner
- Producer
- David O. Selznick
- Production company
- Selznick International Pictures
- Cinematographer
- W. Howard Greene
- Narrative location
- Los Angeles
- Duration
- 111
- FilmAffinity ID
- 671543
- Distribution format
- video on demand
- Image
- Fredric March-Janet Gaynor in A Star Is Born (1937).jpg
Show 11 more facts
- Commons category
- A Star Is Born (1937 film)
- publication date
- 1937-01-01
- nominated for
- Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
- Commons gallery
- A Star Is Born (1937 film)
- film editor
- James E. Newcom
- title
- A Star Is Born
- color
- black-and-white
- distributed by
- Netflix
- derivative work
- A Star Is Born
- different from
- A Star Is Born
- review score
- 100%
Sources (11)
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A Star Is Born is a 1937 American Technicolor drama film produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman from a script by Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell, and starring Janet Gaynor (in her only Technicolor film) as an aspiring Hollywood actress, and Fredric March (in his Technicolor debut) as a fading movie star who helps launch her career. The supporting cast features Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander, and Owen Moore. At the 10th Academy Awards, it became the very first color film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The movie's plot is heavily based on a previous Hollywood production, What Price Hollywood?, released in 1932 though not as widely known. This movie however would garner popularity and kickstart a legacy which led to it being remade three times: in 1954 (directed by George Cukor and starring Judy Garland and James Mason), in 1976 (directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson), and in 2018 (starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, who also directed). Unlike the original film, the three remakes are all movie musicals.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “A Star Is Born” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.