William Wellman’s A Star is Born is a romantic drama from 1937 that stars screen legends Frederic March and Janet Gaynor. This picture was shot in Technicolor, making it that much more enjoyable to watch. This is the first version of the movie, having been remade in 1954,1976 and 2018.
The story, for those who have seen any version of the film is basically the same. Esther Victoria Blodgett (Janet Gaynor, State Fair) aspires to be a Hollywood actress. Her father and aunt try to discourage her from following her dream, but her grandmother basically tells her to go for it, and she does. When in Hollywood she befriends Danny McGuire (screen legend Andy Devine, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach) at the boarding house she stays at. When they attend a concert, Esther meets actor Norman Maine (Frederic March, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Death Takes a Holiday). Norman’s career is on the decline and has a drinking problem. She catches his eye and later he asks his producer Oliver Niles (Adolphe Menjou, The Tall Target, A Bill of Divorcement) to give her a screen test and Esther impresses him. She goes into to being a major celebrity and winning the best actress award, while Norman continues a downward spiral.
I certainly enjoy William Wellman’s A Star is Born, as much as the 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason. The story, acting and direction for this film is top of the line, and Wellman’s direction is perfect, with compelling characters. The cinematography by W. Howard Greene is superb along with the great music by the iconic Max Steiner.
Warner Archive has outdone themselves again with their Blu-ray of A Star is Born, given this 1080p release a fresh new 4K scan. The Technicolor image quality are a delight to see in high definition. The colors aren’t dark or robust for the most part and are more on the bland side of the scheme with often pale yellows and periwinkle blue dominating, but it works well here. Greens look also strong on this Blu-ray. Flesh tones look perfect with lots of clarity in close-up shots. Black levels also look perfect! No DNR appears to have been applied and no compression issues were detected.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 for this Blu-ray is also excellent, and any audio issues have been kept to a minimum. The dialogue, action sounds, and music are clear without much in the way of any distortions. No major drop-out or hissing took place during the audio presentation. English subtitles are available for this release!
Warner’s Blu-ray also has some extras!
For this release we get a classic Warner Merrie Melodies cartoon from 1938, entitled “A Star is Hatched” which is has been restored, offering crisp lossless audio and a clear picture!
There are three classic Warner shorts. This is a trio of 1937 black-and-white that were shown around the time of A Star is Born’s theatrical run. The three shorts are, Music and Dance: Mal Hallett & His Orchestra, Taking the Count, a comedy that features Joe Palooka, Specialties: Alibi Mark is the third short.
Lux Radio Theater Broadcasts, which is two radio adaptations of A Star is Born with different leads.
The first radio adaptation stars Janet Gaynor and Robert Montgomery
Judy Garland and Walter Pidgeon are the stars in the second adaptation. Judy Garland would go on to star in the 1954 remake.
A theatrical trailer is also part of the immense extras package.
This could easily be a release of the year contender. A fantastic film, getting the best audio/video quality to go with hours of bonus content. Highest recommendation!
A Star is Born (1937)
Director- William Wellman
Cast- Fredric March, Janet Gaynor
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Archive/Warner Home Video
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –4/3/22