Fun
A Star Is Born
Dear Ann,
Everywhere you look, there’s an ad for A Star Is Born, a new telling of a bad romance, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Stephen Colbert has been gushing about it like it’s the best thing he’s ever seen.
I don’t need to be sold on it to see it. It’s a sentimental favorite. The 1976 version of A Star Is Born was etched on my memory at age 18. Although I don’t actually remember it that well, and I get it mixed up with The Way We Were (“Hubbell!”), I guess what I remember is that it made a big impression on me. I still love tragic love stories.
To get ready for the new A Star Is Born, I watched the 1976 version again, for the first time since I saw it at the Six West Cinema in Omaha. (I rented it on Amazon.)
Time travel! I’m not sure this version has aged well, but it’s fun to watch. If you want to enjoy it to the fullest, don’t read Vincent Canby’s review until after you’ve watched it. But then do read it, because it’s funny and interesting, and because they don’t write movie reviews like that anymore.
Speaking of time travel: in my search for A Star Is Born, I came across Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park, on Netflix. This is a film of a televised outdoor concert in which Streisand performed for 150,000 people on a summer night in 1967. The program was standards, corny novelty tunes, and of course, “People.” She stood on a bare stage and sang, in beautiful, windblown dresses. (And two different hairdos that the wind didn’t budge.) The shots of the audience are incredible; they all knew the words to “Second-Hand Rose.” It was over fifty years ago, and there are kids in the audience the age I was then.
I’m pretty confident that Cooper and Gaga’s new A Star Is Born will surpass the 1976 version, but it sure was fun to see it again.
Love,
Kay
Same!
I watched it last week. Sobbed all the way through it—- don’t ask me why. And I knew all the words to the songs, which is remarkable considering I don’t remember what I had for dinner last night. Anxious for the new Star for sure.
Wasn’t Judy Garland in a movie of the same name?
Yes. Also one back in the 30s with Janet Gaynor. I don’t remember seeing that one, though according to what I read about it she was an actresss, not singer.
Wow, that is one movie and three remakes!
I just read an article comparing all the versions. I need to find the Judy Garland one, they say that is the best, but who knows.
I remember seeing the Streisand version at the movies on a hot date. Neither one of us liked it is all I recall. Now I see that John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion were the writers. I don’t think I’ll revisit. But maybe Judy Garland…
My favorite movie ever! I tear up at the first notes of Evergreen. Hmmm, it’s raining, and I’m trying to finish my Rhinebeck sweater…I guess I know what I’ll be doing today. Thank you!
I remember seeing the ’76 version at the theatre, full of smoke, back in the days when they played the National Anthem at the start. You will have to check out the earlier Judy Garland version too!
Judy Garland and James Mason! No music
try watching the original 1937 version with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March.
Agree! (A bit of a correction, though – it’s the second version of the story, but the first with the “Star is Born” title).
Judy Garland version is on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today at 2:30.
Must see!
THANKS for the link to Vincent Canby’s review- what a hoot! My mother and I saw the movie in a local theater in ’76. We didn’t read the Times review back then, but I have to say we would both have agreed with Canby. Frankly, the story is so worn out that the new version doesn’t tempt me despite strong reviews, but I have seen both the Judy Garland and the Janet Gaynor versions on PBS decades ago and would enjoy seeing them again.
Saw it last night. Such a beautiful well made movie a refreshing change
Love the 1976 Star is Born. Watched it this past summer on Netflix and definitely teared up at the end.
Man! Wait til you see Bradley Cooper in love, and wait til you hear Lady Gaga. Yeah you’ll cry.
I cannot wait!
Have you seen the earlier version with Judy Garland and James Mason? I think it is even better.