The Star (1952)

Simply A Masterpiece

Sadly Over-hyped

Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Not the best for Ms. Davis. Trite and empty. Sterling Hayden was the Keanu Reeves of his era--flat, expressionless and contrived. A few good lines delivered by others regarding the shallowness and boorishness of Hollywood. Other than it's a 'Bette' movie, it's boring, predictable and silly. And, she looks awful. Natalie Wood was way over the top trying to be a cutesy 12-year old and looking like a ripe teenager--which she was. This movie is at the bottom of my collection.

"DESPICABLE!!" - Yep. That's right - If I were to describe to you (in just one word) what I thought of Bette Davis as an actress - That one word would definitely be "Despicable!" Believe me - Knowing that Davis is looked upon (by many) as being one of Hollywood's legendary greats - I'm seriously trying to find even one of her films where I'm convinced of that so-called "greatness" of hers. But, so far - I haven't found one yet.Here in 1952's "The Star" - Davis (44 at the time, but looking 64) was downright awful with her hammy, non-stop scenery-chewing.Her performance was so annoyingly self-conscious (as her character wallowed in such a detestable display of self-pity) that, before long, Davis came across to me as if she were, in fact, delivering a grotesque parody of herself (clipped speech, bugged eyes, and all).As I understand it - Davis openly admitted in an interview that her portrayal in said-picture as the sloppy, drunken, aging, has-been actress, Margaret Elliot was, in reality, modelled after her hated rival in real life, actress, Joan Crawford.... Sheesh!!... And, I ask you - How low could this despicable bag go!??

Watching The Star I wondered how close to him it all was for Davis. There's a scene in the end where it gets meta and you can almost see Davis as Margaret hearing the script storyline that she is offered. Regardless, this is a fine film and it has Davis working with her usual spark and unlikeable presence. But like always, she knows how to make you root for her. I also think the running time, while seems short, is pretty much the perfect length for the story the film is trying to tell. This is a problem I thought Mr. Skeffington had, way too long for its own good. So yeah, if you want to seek out all of Davis this is still a fine entry and a required one really.

In 1950, in one of her greatest films, "All About Eve," Bette Davis, in the role of Margo Channing, played a Broadway stage actress "of a certain age" who has become fearful about her future career and personal attractiveness. Two years later, Ms. Davis essayed a similar kind of role--an aging Hollywood actress who can no longer get parts and who is on the edge of bankruptcy--in Stuart Heisler's "The Star." When we first encounter Margaret Elliot, she is standing outside an auction house that is selling off all her worldly effects, the words "Going, going, gone" also serving as a cruel commentary on her vanishing career. A former Oscar winner, Margaret is now divorced, broke and with little in the way of prospects. Her young daughter Gretchen (played by 14-year-old Natalie Wood, here on the cusp of womanhood) still reveres her, but to the rest of Tinseltown, she is "box office poison." After serving a night in the can for a DUI, Margaret is bailed out by her one-time fellow actor Jim Johannsen (played by the great Sterling Hayden). The possibility is held out for a normal life with this gentle and understanding man, but can Margaret resist the urge to try for a comeback, in the form of an "older sister" screen test?Often seen as a film that closely parallels Davis' own career, "The Star" is only analogous to a certain point. Like that of Margaret Elliot, Davis' career of course had its ups and downs, its Oscar win(s) and its fights with the studio system. But unlike Margaret, Davis would go on to appear in many more great pictures in her later years (such as "The Virgin Queen," "The Catered Affair," "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte," "The Nanny," "The Whales of August" and on and on). Still, Davis must have identified closely with her character here, and it shows in some truly great work. In a film with numerous compelling scenes, two with Davis especially stand out: her drunk-driving episode while clutching her Oscar in one hand and a bottle in the other, simultaneously giving the imaginary listener a tour of Hollywood ("On your left is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Brinkman...better known to you tourists as Jeanne Crain...."), and the sequence in which she reacts, in horror, to the results of her most recent screen test. Bette, indeed, at her finest, and certainly worthy of her real-life Oscar nomination for her work here. Hayden, of course, is at his sterling best; how nice to see him playing a tender, kindly role, for a change, coming back into Margaret's life as some kind of impossibly understanding guardian angel. In another strange parallel, Hayden, an ex-sailor who became an actor to raise money for a boat, here plays an ex-actor who gives up his career to become a boat mechanic! And how strange to see Natalie, with her well-known fear of ships and the water, here blithely bouncing all over the deck of Johannsen's schooner!"The Star" is a compact film, coming in at 90 minutes, and Heisler serves it well. Five years earlier, he had directed Susan Hayward in her breakout film, "Smash-up: The Story of a Woman," which also featured a frustrated female entertainer going on a drunken bender. "The Star" is at least the equal of that great film, and indeed features what turns out to be an essential Bette Davis performance. No, it is not as fine a picture as "All About Eve" (few films are), but is still eminently likable, memorable and praiseworthy. All this, and a Hollywood happy ending, too!