Although Bette Davis received one of her ten Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in The Star, the thing that struck me about this film is how Sterling Hayden managed to land a part that was so much about himself in real life.
Hayden had a great love of the sea and sailing and in this film he played a character akin to himself in real life. He was a one film wonder who Bette Davis made a leading man on a whim and who proves to be her salvation. As for Davis she is in the title role of a film star whose day has come and gone.
Davis's character of Margaret Elliott is obsessed with her stardom, not her craft as an actress, but with film stardom. She's a has been who just refuses to accept that she's growing older. Had she been an actress first she would have considered transitioning to character roles.
There are some similarities to Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond. But unlike Desmond, Bette's money has dried up and instead of living in splendid and aloof isolation in her Beverly Hills mansion, she's having all kinds of problems both with bad behavior and the fact she can't get work.
Margaret Elliott in The Star is a great role for Bette Davis. The film is contrived and the ending quite artificial, but it allows Davis to chew the scenery and make it work because it's a part of her character. The part was originally offered to Joan Crawford who turned it down and I think the film may have it a little too close to home for Joan. One reason I think Davis did the part was that she also recognized that it hit home for Crawford and she may have used Joan as a model of someone who was a movie star first and an actress second.
The film is an absolute must for Davis fans.
Hayden had a great love of the sea and sailing and in this film he played a character akin to himself in real life. He was a one film wonder who Bette Davis made a leading man on a whim and who proves to be her salvation. As for Davis she is in the title role of a film star whose day has come and gone.
Davis's character of Margaret Elliott is obsessed with her stardom, not her craft as an actress, but with film stardom. She's a has been who just refuses to accept that she's growing older. Had she been an actress first she would have considered transitioning to character roles.
There are some similarities to Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond. But unlike Desmond, Bette's money has dried up and instead of living in splendid and aloof isolation in her Beverly Hills mansion, she's having all kinds of problems both with bad behavior and the fact she can't get work.
Margaret Elliott in The Star is a great role for Bette Davis. The film is contrived and the ending quite artificial, but it allows Davis to chew the scenery and make it work because it's a part of her character. The part was originally offered to Joan Crawford who turned it down and I think the film may have it a little too close to home for Joan. One reason I think Davis did the part was that she also recognized that it hit home for Crawford and she may have used Joan as a model of someone who was a movie star first and an actress second.
The film is an absolute must for Davis fans.