Description

A Star Is Born is a 1937 Technicolor romantic drama film produced by David O. Selznick and directed by William A. Wellman, with a script by Wellman, Robert Carson (writer), Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell (screenwriter). It stars Janet Gaynor as an aspiring Hollywood, Los Angeles, California actress, and Fredric March as an aging movie star who helps launch her career. Other members of the cast include Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander and Carole Landis.

Cast

• Janet Gaynor as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester
• Fredric March as Norman Maine
• Adolphe Menjou as Oliver Niles
• May Robson as Grandmother Lettie
• Andy Devine as Daniel “Danny” McGuire
• Lionel Stander as Matt Libby
• Owen Moore as Casey Burke
• Peggy Wood as Miss Phillips
• Elizabeth Jenns (actress) as Anita Regis
• Edgar Kennedy as Pop Randall
• Clara Blandick as Aunt Mattie
• J. C. Nugent as Mr. Blodgett
• Guinn Williams (actor) as posture coach

Production

A Star Is Born was filmed from October to December 1936 with an estimated budget of $1,173,639, and premiered in Los Angeles, California, California on April 27, 1937 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. In New York, the film premiered at Radio City Music Hall. The scene in the film where Menjou offers the fading star a supporting role was added at the suggestion of George Cukor, who directed the A Star Is Born (1954 film).
It is not known how much Dorothy Parker contributed to the finished script. When she first saw the film, Parker was proud of her contribution and boasted about both the script and the film, but in later life she believed that she had contributed nothing of significance.
A common Hollywood myth about the film is that Lana Turner appeared as an extra in one of the scenes in the film. Turner often denied the myth over the years, mentioning that she was discovered several months after the picture had finished production.

Soundtrack

• “A Star is Born”, sung by Buddy Clark with the orchestra of Eddy Duchin. Lyrics by Dorothy Dick to the music of Max Steiner from the film soundtrack.