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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful restoration, September 27, 2005
The historical 1937 film A STAR IS BORN has remained a classic for many many years. This film's merits are many, I need not comment on them, but will make a comment on the cast. While the entire cast is outstanding, the real standout is Janet Gaynor who portrays Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester in such a way that you can connect with her and feel her sincerity on a level that you cannot with Judy Garland in the 1954 version (and the less said about the 1970s Barbra Streisand version the better). The rest of the performances in this film are super.
This film, produced by the late great David O. Selznick and released through United Artists, is currently in the public domain and many of the numerous DVDs/VHSs of such films are of deplorable picture and sound quality. Fortunately, it is not so on this DVD release from Image. The colors are extremely bold and vibrant. There are some age-related artifacts present and graininess is visible in a number of places, however this has been kept to a minimum. I will forgive these shortcomings considering the elements used for the DVD transfer are nearly 70 years old. 3-strip Technicolor was still in its infancy in 1937 (indeed, the first feature shot entirely in this process was released only 2 years earlier), but some outstanding results were had even then. The sound, while obviously rendered in 1937 recording technology, has been nicely cleaned up for this release, allowing the musical score by the venerable Max Steiner to shine as it should.
Pass up the cheap DVDs and look only for the release from Image Entertainment, edition # ID2777IMDVD. I guarantee this will be the best DVD of A STAR IS BORN you will find.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another "Rolls-Royce" from Selznick, June 3, 2001
By A Customer
Much has been written about this 1937 film in regard to its story, characters etc. The word "classic" tends to be over-used but it IS a true "classic": the drama and the comedy haven't dated one bit. My main interest in this particular movie however is that it was the first Hollywood film with a contemporary plot to be filmed in the relatively new three-strip Technicolor process. Producer David Selznick's business partner Jock Whitney, a millionaire from New York who was interested in motion pictures, had a stake in the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation. This film was used as part of a showcase for the stunning new process. It is a Technicolor Timecapsule of 1930s Hollywood. Before I purchased this DVD copy of the film (King Video/Image Entertainment), every other version I'd seen (on VHS) was from a positively awful old print, with faded colour and no sharpness or contrast. I am pleased to say the DVD quality is very good, with pleasant colour. The source used was a 35 mm print from Selznick Properties Ltd which, while a little scratched in one or two places, is far superior to any other version of this motion picture that has been available for purchase. If this version had been mastered from the original camera negatives (as are many movies when transferred to DVD), I would have given it the full five stars. I believe the rights to this film have changed hands many times since 1937 so maybe the camera negatives and soundtrack are lost, deteriorated beyond salvation, or destroyed. If that was the case it is a great tragedy that we cannot enjoy this movie in its full Glorious Technicolor. But, as I have indicated, this DVD is the best copy of the 1937 "A Star Is Born" I have seen to date and it may be the best we will ever see it now. I have not viewed other available DVD releases of this motion picture.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MOVIE ABOUT GRATITUDE, April 17, 2007
This review is about the Image release of William A. Wellman's A STAR IS BORN. No bonus, just a scene access, excellent sound and above average quality of the images.
William A. Wellman, the director of the film, earned a well-deserved Academy award in 1938 for his story whose themes were also handled in A Star Is Born and in A Star Is Born since. This movie is about the role and the impact of the images in Hollywood and about a feeling rarely treated, because not particularly expressive, in cinema : gratitude.
David O. Selznick, the producer of A STAR IS BORN, liked to take risks in his job and often worked with directors blessed by a strong artistic vision, like Alfred Hitchcock Spellbound - Criterion Collection, King Vidor Duel in the Sun or William Dieterle Portrait of Jennie. William A. Wellman could thus propose, at the beginning and at the end of the film, these famous shots of a screenplay describing what we will see or have just seen on the screen. Think about it : we're in 1937 and the French New Wave will appear more than 20 years later only !
When we watch A STAR IS BORN now, we are boggled by the quality of the dialogues of the film and the importance of the supporting roles. Lionel Stander, Andy Devine, May Robson or Adolphe Menjou have all important lines to say and are not just here to fill the screen between two apparitions of Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Without them, there is simply no film at all.
A DVD for your library.
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