http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029606/
Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou and Lionel Stander star in this funny, touching, acidic skewering of the Hollywood studio machine of the 1930s.
It's been remade several times. The story is a classic contrast, of stars respectively in ascendancy and decline. It also plays against the standard of the day where the man is expected to stay strong and be that breadwinner, while the wife demurely accepts his providing and support. As their movie careers cross, Gaynor is torn - her one-in-a-million dream came true, but at the same time the love of her life slowly falls apart in messy, public fashion.
Gaynor is adorable as the waif-like girl with figurative and literal stars in her eyes. She seems genuinely amazed, marveling at the opportunity she's been given. March is at once hilarious, pathetic and in the end doomed. He's more of the irrepressible drunk that is the life of every party, until the party lights are dimmed. Menjou is patriarchal, willing to guide both actors while realizing the disposable fate of all actors in that studio system of the day. Stander shows off cutting wit, firing off a bunch of arch lines (Spoiler: "First drink of water he's had in months, and it's by accident...how do you say 'congratulations' to the Pacific Ocean?").
Look for Andy Devine, veteran character actor famous for "Destry Rides Again" and "Stagecoach", among others.
Note the scene where Gaynor's character is awarded an Oscar, and her husband "arrives" during her acceptance speech. iMDB notes something similar happened in Gaynor's real-life career, eight years previous. Art imitating life, indeed.
This version resonated with fans and movie insiders at the time of its release.
I normally get a kick out of movies that provide that warts-and-all view of Hollywood. This film did a good job of peeling back the curtain and showing movie buffs some of the inside scoop. I enjoyed it.
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