A Star Is Born

The original 1937 version of A Star Is Born introduced the quintessential showbiz drama—a grand fable of Hollywood stardom done up with romantic glamour and tragic melodrama and a cynical undercurrent of caustic wit (the script was co-written by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, and Robert Carson). Janet Gaynor plays Esther Blodgett, whose Cinderella-story rise to movie stardom is counterbalanced by the fall of her husband, former-matinee-idol-turned-bitter-alcoholic Norman Maine (Fredric March). Gaynor's milk-fed wholesomeness is a tad corny next to March's worldly cynicism, but she's a star through and through, and Adolphe Menjou brings a lively spark to the proceedings as Oliver Niles, a mercenary agent with a singsong patter. An Oscar-winner for both story and cinematography, A Star Is Born was another prestige project from the prolific William A. Wellman, who directed Wings (which won the first-ever Oscar for Best Picture), and it remains one of the great Hollywood self-portraits (remade twice, once in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason, and again in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson). While there are numerous DVD editions of this version available, most are mediocre or downright poor. Kino has remastered this early Technicolor feature for both Blu-ray and DVD from an original nitrate 35mm print, and while the image appears soft and somewhat mushy next to better-preserved color films of the era, it's still the best-looking home video edition on the market. Extras include a stills gallery. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)