Hollywood actress, Margaret Elliot (Bette Davis) is a has-been only she refuses to believe it. After a career, par excellence that made her the toast of two continents, Margaret's fame and fortune is reduced to a pick and save garage sale and public auction to help raise money. She's broke with no prospects of regaining her illustrious toe-hold in the land of make-believe. However, if living in the past agrees with Maggie, it certainly doesn't do anything for her beaux, Jim Johannson (Sterling Hayden) or adult daughter, Gretchen (Natalie Wood). But this can't be the end
can it? Is there life after fame? These are just two of the questions that director, Stuart Heisler attempts to answer in his interesting if a tad stoic reliquary of mumbo-jumbo that sadly, gets mired in a bit of heavy handed melodrama before the final fadeout. What is interesting about "The Star" (1952) is that, for the most part, it might have best been re-titled as "Bette Davis: My Life So Far." By 1952 Davis had lost the supremacy of acquiring plum roles for herself over at Warner Bros. In fact, her studio contract had been canceled. She had made a resounding comeback with "All About Eve" (1950) but had not been offered any more tour de force parts to aid in that upswing. By all accounts, Davis was a has-been. It is that underbelly of life imitating art that adds layering to a tale that otherwise would not be there for the asking.
Warner's transfer on "The Star" is rather good, exhibiting a very pristine characteristic with solid blacks, clean whites and a minimal amount of film grain. Fine details are nicely realized throughout the film without the appearance of edge enhancement. The audio is mono but has also been very nicely cleaned up. We also get a brief, but adequate featurette "How real is the Star?" that is a succinct summation of both Davis' status at the box office and the overall impact of the film itself. Not bad, but one wishes that Warner Brothers had had the courage to remaster some of Bette Davis' more lucrative and popular endeavors which made her a star in the first place.
Warner's transfer on "The Star" is rather good, exhibiting a very pristine characteristic with solid blacks, clean whites and a minimal amount of film grain. Fine details are nicely realized throughout the film without the appearance of edge enhancement. The audio is mono but has also been very nicely cleaned up. We also get a brief, but adequate featurette "How real is the Star?" that is a succinct summation of both Davis' status at the box office and the overall impact of the film itself. Not bad, but one wishes that Warner Brothers had had the courage to remaster some of Bette Davis' more lucrative and popular endeavors which made her a star in the first place.