Customer Reviews

Star Is Born & Til the Clouds Roll By [VHS]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

Though this is the only non-musical version of the thrice filmed tale, this original is my favorite. It may more than likely appear dated to some, but it is not only a wonderful story about the price of fame, but an early record of Hollywood history. Fredric March and Janet Gaynor are wonderfully touching as the doomed couple ,"Norman Maine" and "Vicki Lester", she being the new discovery whose *star* is ascending, totally eclipsing March's descending stardom. This was my first glimpse at Janet Gaynor, and I fell in love with her. May Robson is great also as Gaynors feisty Granny, who encourages the young, unknown dreamer to follow her dreams, and is there at the end when she seems to have given up. There are many wonderful moments, as when Gaynor, as the then pre-stardom "Esther Blodgett" tries to get the attention of movie big-whigs by her impressions of then popular stars Mae West, Katherine Hepburn, and Garbo. Andy Devine (that VOICE!!) is comical as the fledgling director who befriends the naive, broke, and new to Hollywood "Esther", and sticks with her through her metamorphosis to "Vicki Lester", and her tragedy and heartache. There's also fun scenes of early Hollywood locales, like the Hollywood Bowl, and interesting behind the scenes looks at the star-making process, when a little nobody is given everything from a new hairline to a new name. I always find myself blubbering like a fool at the films end, when Gaynor, having triumphantley come back from tragedy, delivers her final, famous line with a teary-eyed close-up. Yes, it's corny, but I'm crying not only because it's a tear-jerker, but also at the memory of all those beautiful fools of that long ago time, when there really was a place called HOLLYWOOD.

This is the original... The best.... It has a great feel of the Hollywood that was... Gaynor and March are great. I love u Judy - but THIS is THE classic film of the often-told-story... Judy is a class act, but HER film was/is not a classic.

BUY IT FOR GOODNES-SAKES hehehe:)(:

Having been in public domain for so long now, it seems everyone has put out a print of this movie on video. They are consistently poor quality issues. This DVD issue is not perfect by any means, but it far exceeds any others I've seen. If ever a film was in need of a full restoration this is it. A great movie about that land of hopes and dreams called Hollywood. Honest, realistic, touching, and tragic. Although Judy Garland's version is excellent this is the version that truly delivers. I won't even mention the Streisand remake.

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.

The original 1937 David O. Selznick production of A Star is Born is definitely the best version so far produced. Filmed in early Technicolor, this print is better than most, but there is still a dark cast to many of the scenes. The real good news is the sound is perfect with little or no distortion. The quality of the transfer is better than most versions I've seen, so it's worth adding to your collection if you really like this film. Janet Gaynor and Fredric March give two heart-felt performances and are supported ably by Adolph Menjou, Andy Devine, and May Robson as Gaynor's irrepressible grandmother. Tightly directed by William A. Wellman, this version is nicely paced and never bogs down the way the Judy Garland remake does.

All but forgotten 1937 classic garnered 7 Academy Award nominations. Movie shows in full detail the effects of alcoholism abeting an actor's downfall (March). Unfortunately, Hollywood would have to wait until 1945"s "The Lost Weekend", directed by Billy Wilder, to see the disesae up close. Yet, at least director Wellman hits upon it here, without throwing the entire film into disarray.March knows that he's had it as an actor, and only through the auspices of his rising srar wife Gaynor is he able to avoid jail time.If Gaynor seems almost too good to be true,then so be it. Anything might have been better than her negative, sarcastic upbringing. Too late does anyone understand the depth of March's depression; no doubt to this viewer that his final swim towards Hawaii was a noble gesture on his part, paving the way for his wife's blossoming stardom.A really great oldie!

I haven't seen the remakes of this film to be able to compare them, but I do know that the basic story of this film has been used over and over in movie history, and that's because it's a good one. The plot follows the rise of a young actress and the fall of her actor-husband. Fredric March is excellent as the husband who turns to the bottle for comfort when his career flounders and his star dims. Janet Gaynor, as the star that is born, plays her role expressively, no doubt influenced by her days in silent films, but it works and anchors the film. Lionel Stander is great as a cynical studio man. There are a number of terrific scenes, including several surrounding the new actress' makeover (name and looks) which gives the viewer an idea of how the studio system must have worked in the Golden Age. The final scene is also a classic. A Star is Born is well scripted and acted, and it opens the door into Hollywood of the Thirties.

As with other fans of this classic film, I am greatly disappointed that KINO'S latest offering is not much of an improvement over previous KINO DVD releases of the film. While the IMAGE/KINO DVDs in 1998 and 2004 were at that time a marked improvement over the myriad of public domain travesties, the elements utilized for this release are only marginally better, despite the HD processing. This is also particularly disappointing when the film's fan base is aware that a restored print (by UCLA) exists.

According to a March, 2010 blog-post by NY POST film critic Lou Lumenick, he said, "Daniel Selznick, son of producer David O. Selznick, told me two years ago that WHV was doing a high-definition transfer of a UCLA restoration of the 1937 original, which has long languished in public-domain hell." Lumenick also quoted a Warner rep as saying, "When we looked at the master of the '37 'A Star is Born,' we realized that it really needed, more importantly, deserved a special restoration...using our Ultra Resolution process to bring out the glorious Technicolor of that film. So rather than it be an add on...some less than-terrific extra content, we pulled it back so as not to diminish the importance of either versions."

I suppose it was wishful thinking on my part that KINO would be releasing that long-awaited "restored" version. This will be the VERY last version I invest in until either Warner Home Video, Criterion or KINO offers us the ultimate version -- and that will only be when the restored print from the UCLA effort is finally utilized as the source material.

Despite's the Selznick Estate's stamp of approval, I would suggest people save their money and wait.