| A Star Is Born | |
|---|---|
VHS cover |
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| Directed by | Frank Pierson |
| Produced by | Jon Peters Barbra Streisand |
| Written by | Frank Pierson William A. Wellman Robert Carson John Gregory Dunne Joan Didion |
| Starring | Barbra Streisand Kris Kristofferson Gary Busey |
| Music by | Kenny Ascher Rupert Holmes Roger Kellaway Kenny Loggins Leon Russell Paul Williams Barbra Streisand |
| Cinematography | Robert Surtees |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | December 8, 1976 |
| Running time | 140 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $123 million |
A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline. It is a remake of two earlier versions - the 1937 version was a drama starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and the 1954 version was a musical film starring Judy Garland and James Mason. This version was the highest-grossing of the three films.
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An aspiring female singer/songwriter meets a famous, successful and self-destructive male singer/songwriter, who over a series of coincidental meetings finally start dating and he, believing in her talent, gives her a helping hand and her career begins to eclipse his.
Writer and director Frank Pierson, in his now notorious New West (magazine) article My Battles With Barbra and Jon summarized it this way: "An actress is a little more than a woman, an actor a little less than a man (Oscar Wilde)...The woman in our story is ambitious to become a star, but it is not necessary: it can make her happier and richer, but she could give it all away and not be a better or worse person. With stardom she is only a little more than a woman. For the man, his career is his defense against a self-destructive part of himself that has led him into outrageous bursts of drunkenness, drugs, love affairs, fights and adventures that have made him a legend. His career is also what gives him his sense of who he is. Without it, he is lost and confused; his demons eat him alive. That's why he is a little less than a man. And it is not that her success galls him, or that she wins over him; the tragedy is that all her love is not enough to keep alive a man who has lost what he measures his manhood with."
And so the conclusion is measured by the theme: he takes his life in the mistaken belief that he will then not drag her down with him.
Directed by Frank Pierson, the film updates the original story and screenplay of William A. Wellman and Robert Carson with additional contributions by Pierson, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion. It also features Gary Busey and Sally Kirkland. Venetta Fields and Clydie King perform as Streisand's backing vocalists "The Oreos". Kristofferson's wife Rita Coolidge and Tony Orlando appear briefly as themselves.
The earlier films had portrayed the behind-the-scenes world of Hollywood film making; however, this version adapted the story to the music business. For example, the 1937 and 1954 films each portrayed the lead female character winning an Academy Award, while the 1976 version depicted the heroine winning a Grammy Award instead.
A Star Is Born was co-produced by Streisand and her then-partner Jon Peters for Barwood Films and Warner Brothers with Peters as the main producer and Streisand as executive producer. Among the actors considered for the male lead were Neil Diamond and Marlon Brando. Both Streisand and Peters wanted Elvis Presley for the role: they met with Elvis and discussed the film, and he was interested in taking on the part, thinking it would revive his stagnant career. Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, insisted that Elvis have top billing and asked for a substantial sum of money for the role, even though he hadn't been in a film since 1969 and people were unaware of what kind of box office draw he would be, which essentially ended Elvis's involvement with the project. Parker also did not want to have Elvis portrayed as having a show business career that was in decline.
The film cost around $6 million to produce. Its soundtrack album was also an international success reaching number 1 in many countries and selling nearly 15 million copies worldwide. It featured the ballad "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)", which became one of the biggest hits of Streisand's career, spending three weeks at number one in the United States, and peaking at number three in the United Kingdom. The filming locations included many in Arizona such as downtown Tucson, Tucson Community Center, Sonoita and Tempe.[1]
A costume note was that Streisand's character's (Esther Hoffman Howard) clothing used in the movie was straight out of Streisand's own closet. The film was choreographed by David Winters of West Side Story fame, who worked closely with Streisand to perfect the movie's dancing sequences.[2][3]
A Star Is Born maintains a 46% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[4] Roger Ebert gave the film two and 1/2 stars.[5]
The film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Evergreen" with the award shared by its songwriters, Streisand and Paul Williams, and was also nominated in the categories of Best Cinematography (Robert Surtees), Best Sound (Robert Knudson, Dan Wallin, Robert Glass and Tom Overton) and Original Music Score (Roger Kellaway).[6]
It won five Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Streisand), Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Kristofferson), Best Original Score (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher) and Best Original Song, (Streisand and Williams for "Evergreen").
In the two previous versions, Gaynor and Garland were each depicted on screen as winning an Oscar, yet neither won for their film in real life (though both had won an Oscar before, as did Streisand). In this film, Streisand is instead depicted as winning a Grammy, and in real life the film's song "Evergreen" won her both a Grammy (for Song of the Year) and an Oscar.
According to at least one Streisand biography, unhappy with a few of Frank Pierson's scenes, Streisand later directed them herself (a claim also made for 1979's "The Main Event"), adding to the rumours that she and Pierson clashed constantly during production.
In 2006, the Region 1 DVD was released in North America in 5.1 dolby sound with extras which include, a full length commentary by Barbra Streisand, 16 minutes of never before seen and additional footage and original wardrobe test. In 2007 the Region 2 DVD with the same extras was released in Germany. In 2008 the Region 4 DVD was released in Australia which appears to be the same as the Region 1 edition. The DVD has yet to be released in any other region.
The soundtrack to the movie, performed by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, was successful, reaching the number-one spot on the Billboard 200 chart for 5 weeks and eventually sold more than 4 million copies with a reported 10 million copies world wide. The import version of the CD adds the Spanish version of Evergreen as a bonus track.
The track listing of the album is as follows:[7]
It should be noted that the songs that appear on the soundtrack are in some cases alternate (live) and studio recordings that do not appear in the film.
| Year | Chart | Position | Sales | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Billboard 200 | 1 | 4,000,000 | 5 x Platinum |
| 1977 | UK Album Chart | 1[8] |
| Preceded by Wings over America by Wings |
Billboard 200 number-one album February 12 - March 25, 1977 |
Succeeded by Rumours by Fleetwood Mac |
| Preceded by The Muppet Show by The Muppets |
UK Albums Chart number one album 2–9 July 1977 |
Succeeded by The Johnny Mathis Collection by Johnny Mathis |
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