graham clarke To compare "The Star" to "Sunset Boulevard" and "All About Eve" is to do an injustice to those films. They are classics because at their helm were Billy Wilder and Jospeh Mankiewicz, directors of great intelligence and above all great style – qualities blatantly missing in "The Star"."The Star" has no style whatsoever. All it has is a big star, Bette Davis. Ironically her character boasts having directed more than one director and that's exactly what seems to be happening here. Hers was a talent that needed to be harnessed by a strong director. Stuart Heisler clearly leaves Davis to her own devices and what results is an over the top, campy, mannered performance. Of course her fans will eat it up. But this is not good acting. Its acting that weakens what from the start is not a strongly scripted film."The Star" should have been memorable as a film about ageing in Hollywood, an ever pertinent subject, rather than being memorable as Bette Davis camp fest.

vincentlynch-moonoi I love Bette Davis, but by 1952, just as with her character in this movie, her best days were behind her. But, that didn't mean one couldn't enjoy a good Bette Davis performance.The main problem I have with this film is not Miss Davis (my all-time favorite female actress), but with her co-star -- Sterling Hayden. If ever there was a limited actor, he was it. The desk I'm sitting at is less wooden than he was.The second problem I have with this film, and only slightly less significant is the script. At first it seems plausible. An older Academy Award winning actress is suddenly on the skids, and she is reaching her breaking point (which might have been a good title for the film). But why drop into the depths when television was alive and well, and yes, although "Playhouse 90" was not around yet, there were dramatic television series on the air already, and quite a few actors and actresses (including people like Ronald Colman) were beginning to do work in television. But, that logical storyline wouldn't have made a dramatic film, even if it had been based on reality. And then there's the ending of the film. She basically kidnaps her own daughter (gee, no problem there) because she has suddenly realized that true love conquers all, and heads off to a relationship which is outside of show biz. Really, that's sort of pathetic.But back to Bette Davis. Her performance here is, in my view, flawed. There are scenes with brilliance. And there are scenes where I really felt she was "overacting".Natalie Wood is here as the daughter, but isn't given much of do of significance, but wow -- this was his 17th film! It was good to see an older Minor Watson here...always a welcome character actor.I see this film as abounding in transition. Bette Davis transitioning into films where she played older character. But even the film industry transitioning (coarsely at times) into what it saw as more realistic and gritty film-making. But is this a top-notch film? No. Good, but not great.

bkoganbing 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.

jotix100 Aging in the movie business is one of the worst curses an actress must endure after reaching her forties. The indignities which Margaret Elliott must go through can destroy women that find themselves ignored by the same people they helped getting started. Margaret finds herself in a quandary because she is broke and has no prospects of ever working in pictures again. To add to the terrible situation she is facing, Margaret finds herself thrown out of the small apartment where she has been living in almost poverty because she cannot come up with the money owed to the corporation that owns the building.As we come to meet her, Margaret Elliott is passing by the auction place where most of her belongings are offered to any bidder in order to repay some of her debts. To make matters worse, she is confronted by her sister and brother-in-law, who have taken a lot from her, giving her nothing in return. At the height of her desperation, she gets drunk and is jailed for a night. Margaret is horrified by the scene she finds, even as drunk as she must be. The bail is paid by Jim Johansson, a kind man that feels he owes Margaret for her pushing him to be in movies, something that he was not comfortable with. Now he has his own business; he asks her to stay with him in the place by the water where he has his boat repair shop. Margaret's only daughter, is now living with her father in the home he is now sharing with Peggy, his second wife. Margaret, in spite of what common sense dictates, doesn't want to give up on whatever is left of her film career. For that she ask her agent to talk to a studio executive into letting her have a pivotal, but minor part in a movie based on a book she once optioned. The test she makes is a disaster because instead of following what the director wants from her, she decides to do it her way. Needless to say, she doesn't get the part. That incident proves to be what brings her back to her present reality and it is with Jim, who has proved he really loves her and cares for her and Gretchen, her daughter.This 1952 picture, directed by Stuart Heisler, is one of the most honest films about that reality in the fake world of Hollywood, a monster that creates and destroy lives as it sees fit. This story about a woman who gave her all to the medium and suddenly sees herself rejected and alone, owing to her creditors and without any prospects for ever finding a paying job in the movies.Bette Davis was about forty-one when this film was made. "The Star" followed one of her triumphs, "All About Eve". She was perfect for the part as it touched on many aspects of her own life and experience in the movie industry. That is why her Margaret Elliott feels so real and pathetic, at the same time. Ms. Davis did a marvelous job in conveying the difficulty she was under in a performance that gives the viewer chills just by watching the actress destroying herself.Sterling Hayden was much younger than his co-star, and yet, he makes an impression as the good man that realizes what Margaret is facing and comes to her rescue. Young Natalie Wood is sweet as Gretchen, the daughter Margaret couldn't keep with her. Warner Anderson and Minor Watson, are seen in supporting roles.The music is by Victor Young, and not by Alfred Newman, who scored most of the great Bette Davis' movies at Warner Bros. Ernest Lazlo is the cinematographer and in a funny moment Ms. Davis mentions the way he used to light up her scenes to make her look better, and all along he was behind the camera doing just that! Stuart Heisler and his star Bette Davis did a real fine job in telling it like it really was in that fantasy world of Hollywood that no one spoke about.