In the end, Jackson goes the way of all the male leads in A Star Is Born history and dies. It’s blissfully shorter than the 19 versions, the soundtrack is full of bangers, there’s chemistry between the leads, and Jackson is arguably far more empathetic than his predecessors, which makes the film’s climax all the more poignant. It is intimate, playful scenes like this that, for all the film’s inherent cheesiness, make their relationship believable. His masculinity is secure enough that he’s completely chill with Ally putting him in makeup and fake Edith Piaf-esque eyebrows. (Picture: Warner Bros/Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

Esther manages to pass it off like it’s part of an act, and when he realises she saved him from a big potential embarrassment, he asks her to dinner and sees her perform.Ĭooper and Gaga make a pretty convincing on-screen couple. That chance comes in the form of (you guessed it) Norman, a matinee star who meets Esther when he’s blind drunk and stumbles on to a stage where an orchestra is performing. This film intruded the strong musical element to the story, with Judy’s famously incomparable voice being used to show Esther as a person destined for success in show business, just waiting for the right chance. Here, we see Judy Garland as Esther and James Mason as Norman Maine, in a movie which resulted in one of the most famous real-life Oscar snubs of all time. The film ends with Esther, devastated after the loss of her husband, introducing herself at the premiere of her next film as Mrs.

When he overhears Esther saying that she wants to quit Hollywood to take care of him, he drowns himself in the Pacific. She meets Norman Maine (Fredric March), an established actor with an alcohol problem, while working as a waitress and he takes an interest in her at once. Maine gets Esther a screen test, and gets her a part in Norman’s new film, which launches her into the spotlight.Īfter this, Norman tries once again to get sober, but to no avail. In it, we see farm girl Esther Victoria Blodgett (played by Janet Gaynor) journey to Hollywood in the hopes of becoming a movie star. This was the version that started it all off. He finds a new low when he embarrasses her while inebriated at an awards ceremony where she is being honoured, tries to get better, but eventually realises that he’s holding her back and tragedy ensues. They fall madly in love, and he helps her achieve fame and recognition just as his substance abuse problems speed up his own professional decline. Since 1937, there have been four different film versions of A Star Is Born.Įven though they veer off over the years in slightly different directions, the four films still have a basic plot in common.Ī man with a successful but waning career in showbiz meets a talented young ingenue who wants to break into his field. How many versions of A Star Is Born are there?

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