Every generation has its own A Star Is Born. From the 1937 original, through the Hollywood-ised 1954 version with Judy Garland to the Barbra Streisand 1976 vehicle, which moved to the world of rock music, it’s the classic showbiz fairytale with an uncanny knack of appealing to new audiences time after time.
And, it did it again in 2018, with a re-telling for the early 21st century that captured the hearts and minds of critics and cinemagoers alike. It arrives in all its glory on Netflix today (8 July).
Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut stuck to the essential fairytale, with a young, struggling performer discovered by an established name whose own career is on the slide.
He encourages her talent and the two fall in love but, as her rise is meteoric, his decline continues and it’s no spoiler to say there’s never going to be a happy ending for them.
In Cooper’s version, he also plays fading country music star Jackson Maine, whose battle with alcohol is spelling the end of his years at the top when he discovers talented singer Ally (Lady Gaga). Her love and rapid success give him a new lease of life but, eclipsed by her popularity, he falls back into self-destruction.
Back in 2011, Clint Eastwood was set to direct, with Beyonce confirmed as the film’s star but her pregnancy delayed the project, Eastwood went off to work on another film and, inspired by a conversation with him during the making of American Sniper, Cooper grasped the opportunity to take the director’s chair.
The result wasn’t simply a remake of a perennial classic. It walked the precarious tightrope of holding on to its connection with the previous films while giving the story a gritty urgency of its own and did it with unerring assurance.
Cooper’s passion for the project was written all over it, from the performances to the vital script and the strong sense that this was very much a movie of its time. Wrapped in glamour, romance and tragedy, the quintessential showbiz drama was nominated for eight Oscars and scored 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. And, less than twelve months after the film’s release, its soundtrack had sold six million albums worldwide.
Despite the popularity of all four versions of the story and its ability to appeal to the ever-changing tastes of audiences across the decades, A Star Is Born has gained a reputation for being unlucky, if not cursed, when it comes to recognition. Despite those eight Oscar nods, Cooper’s version only walked away with one trophy, and that was for Best Original Song. Both he and Lady Gaga were nominated in their respective acting categories but his name was noticeable by its absence among the Best Director nods and it was considered the biggest Oscar snub of the year.
When the first film was released in 1937, there was perhaps a hint of the luck – or perhaps irony – that was to surround its successors.
Set in Hollywood, it saw Janet Gaynor as the aspiring actress who wins a Best Actress Oscar with the help of an alcoholic actor played by Fredric March. Nominated in seven categories at the 1938 ceremony, it only went home with one statuette for what was then Best Original Story. Neither Gaynor nor March’s nods translated into wins. Even though this version is often forgotten, it’s still much loved by those who have seen it, especially for its satirical look at the Hollywood glamour machine, the razor-sharp dialogue and beautiful performances from the two leads.
Perhaps the strongest evidence of some kind of curse surrounding the film came at the 1955 Oscars, when George Cukor’s remake was nominated for seven awards.
Considered by many as the ultimate version – it scored 98% on Rotten Tomatoes – it starred Judy Garland and James Mason, both of whom were nominated for their performances. Again set in Hollywood, its most iconic moment saw Garland as the rising star receiving a Best Actress Oscar, only for the moment to be spoiled by her husband.
On the real Oscar night, Garland herself was in hospital, having given birth to her son Joey Luft, but such was the overwhelming confidence that she was a shoo-in that TV crews invaded her hospital room before the ceremony so they could capture her moment of victory. The award went to outsider Grace Kelly for the now almost-forgotten The Country Girl – and Garland watched while the camera crews packed up their equipment and left. Yet the role is still the one millions associate with her.
Just over 20 years later, the story moved from Hollywood to the music business in a version that took over $100 million at the global box office but received very mixed critical reactions.
What looked like a vehicle for its leading lady, Barbra Streisand – she was an uncredited writer and it was produced by her then long-term boyfriend, Jon Peters – paired her with Kris Kristofferson but, although the film received four Oscar nominations, neither of their names made it to the shortlist. Its love theme, Evergreen, however, walked away with the trophy for Best Original Song.
It’s now seven years since audiences were clamouring for tickets to see Cooper and Gaga in A Star Is Born and, based on the film’s history, we may have to wait several decades for another remake.
But when the most recent one pulls off what seems like the impossible – a film that’s both timeless and very much of its time – it hardly seems to matter. And, given the enduring popularity of all four movies, perhaps what looks like a curse is more of an advantage.
A Star Is Born (2018) is on Netflix in both the US and the UK.
All three other versions of the film, from 1976, 1954 and the original from 1937, are on Prime Video in the US and the UK.