A Star is Born
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Film
A Star is Born
1937United States
35mm nitrate master positive
GIft of the David O. Selznick Film Archive
2002.0551.0001
TextAbout the print
Struck in 1946, almost ten years after the original release, this print is probably a re-release copy for theaters (at one point, the reels had been doubled up into 2,000-foot rolls for projection). A dye-transfer print with the original variable density sound track, it is part of the donation made to George Eastman House in 1999 by Daniel Selznick, son of David O. Selznick. Few splices and minimal scratches at the heads and tails. Shrinkage rate: 1.0%.
About the film
“You can chalk this up as a production that will have the town talking, and a natural for the word-of-mouth advertising. It is the sort of film that is bound to create plenty of discussion. A lot of it controversial. But that is nothing to be alarmed about. . . . The film has all sorts of appeal with a real Hollywood studio story, great cast, beautiful directorial touches, and a writing job on the script that is a delight for human touches, clever dialogue and witty lines that are in the best Dorothy Parker tradition. . . . Direction, Excellent. Photography, Grand.”
—The Film Daily, April 23, 1937
“‘A Star is Born' is a good picture and the first color job that gets close to what screen color must eventually come to: it keeps the thing in its place, underlining the mood and situation of the story rather than dimming everything else out in an iridescent razzle-dazzle. The boarding house is drab and the sanitarium is severe and quiet and when it comes to the splendors of Hollywood money the sets have a rich but subdued luster. . . . And if the outdoors looks a little parky, that is not a fault but Beverly Hills.”
—Otis Ferguson, The New Republic, May 19, 1937
Nitrate Picture Show program notes, May 2015
Struck in 1946, almost ten years after the original release, this print is probably a re-release copy for theaters (at one point, the reels had been doubled up into 2,000-foot rolls for projection). A dye-transfer print with the original variable density sound track, it is part of the donation made to George Eastman House in 1999 by Daniel Selznick, son of David O. Selznick. Few splices and minimal scratches at the heads and tails. Shrinkage rate: 1.0%.
About the film
“You can chalk this up as a production that will have the town talking, and a natural for the word-of-mouth advertising. It is the sort of film that is bound to create plenty of discussion. A lot of it controversial. But that is nothing to be alarmed about. . . . The film has all sorts of appeal with a real Hollywood studio story, great cast, beautiful directorial touches, and a writing job on the script that is a delight for human touches, clever dialogue and witty lines that are in the best Dorothy Parker tradition. . . . Direction, Excellent. Photography, Grand.”
—The Film Daily, April 23, 1937
“‘A Star is Born' is a good picture and the first color job that gets close to what screen color must eventually come to: it keeps the thing in its place, underlining the mood and situation of the story rather than dimming everything else out in an iridescent razzle-dazzle. The boarding house is drab and the sanitarium is severe and quiet and when it comes to the splendors of Hollywood money the sets have a rich but subdued luster. . . . And if the outdoors looks a little parky, that is not a fault but Beverly Hills.”
—Otis Ferguson, The New Republic, May 19, 1937
Nitrate Picture Show program notes, May 2015
