I had real fears about watching this film because the 1954 remake is one of my ten favorite films, and absolutely perfect in every way. It stars Judy Garland and James Mason, in my opinion two of a handful of truly great actors, and Garland's own tragedies gave the story an extra frisson and force. It makes the greatest ever use of Technicolour, intense, excessive and emotional; and its subject matter shook George Cukor out of his habitual gentility into his best direction, unafraid for once to be vulgar. It is a melodrama, it is a musical and I love it to bits. <br /><br />So you can imagine how initially this original felt inferior in every way. There was no musical numbers to take the load of emotions too intense to be verbalised. Janet Gaynor seemed like a mouse compared to Judy's tornado. Fredric March was a wonderfully versatile actor, particularly good in comedy, but James Mason, behind his trademark suavity, sadism and insanity, always had a sadness and resigned loneliness, a great generosity of spirit that was just right for Norman Maine. Worst of all, Wellman's direction was far too discreet and distant, making the storyline seem rather childish.<br /><br />And yet, as it began to build momentum, A STAR revealed itself to be a very wonderful film, quite different from its remake. For a start, it's as much a comedy as a tragedy, and there are many funny lines. The film is very bitter about Hollywood, and the sacrifices necessary for fame, as one might expect from a script co-written by Dorothy Parker, although it lacks the attention to detail that would have made the film truly corrosive. There is a seething cynicism that provides an interesting counter point to the film's weepy elements, without ever betraying them: the film opens and closes as a script, laying bear the artifice and manipulation we are about to see, mocking us for succumbing to the very canker it wants to expose. There are subtle attacks on Hollywood anti-Semitism - the very ethnic Henckel becomes WASP-worthy Norman Maine. Lionel Stander ('Moidah' Max from HART TO HART) is a very bitter publicity agent whose treatment of Norman towards the end is truly hateful, yet, we must admit, very funny.<br /><br />Far from being childish, the film is very mature, and is the most sensible and sensitive film about alcoholism until LEAVING LAS VEGAS. There is no judgmentalism, no trite explanations. The great tragedy is precisely this mystery: why should Norman - so attractive, so talented, so popular - give up everything at the height of his powers. It suggest demons that are way out of the depth of conventionally pat Hollywood narratives. Also sex is quite frankly present, and they got the shower sequence - where March is quite clearly naked - past the Hays Office is a mystery and a delight.<br /><br />A STAR is a sublime melodrama, building up to an unbearable tragic pitch. Even if you know what's going to happen, it's hard to resist the tears. This is principally due to the magnificent acting. Gaynor is truly great, convincingly maturing from a callow, ambitious, small-town girl, to a great actress who must helplessly witness the dissolution of the man she loves. March is truly heartbreaking, a worthy partner to James Mason. Norman is so patently warm, amusing, loveable, loving, that it's unbearable and unfair to watch his decline, his loss of control. As forces beyond his control topple him, he may lose his public dignity, but never our respect. Our world can't be all bad if it can find room for this masterpiece and its even better remake. Well, until we remember Mecha Streisand that is.