Those directly or indirectly involved in the entertainment field, will find 1937's "A Star Is Born" somewhat laughable and hard to swallow. Mired in cliches, this version is a couple of notches below the superior Judy Garland/James Mason 1954 remake and a couple of notches above the Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson second remake (1976). Well respected upon its initial release, it was a major Oscar nomination grabber come awards time. In fact, the movie's dramatic script, probably the film's weakest link, went on and won an Oscar nevertheless.<br /><br />On the plus side are the lead performances. Janet Gaynor plays a verrrrrry naive but determined mid-western country lass, Esther Blodgett, who defies small town mores and a typically narrow-minded family to seek fame and fortune in Tinseltown. With apparently no acting experience whatsoever, our heroine struggles valiantly for at least a few months (with granny's help -- the family's sole supporter) before happening upon Frederic March's Norman Maine, a former matinee film idol on the decline. Maine meets Blodgett at a Hollywood party (she's actually the hired help) and takes an immediate romantic interest in the starry-eyed girl, so much so that he winds up getting her a studio contract on her sweet, winsome looks alone -- experience be damned! If stardom were only that easy. Ah well, if Lana Turner can be discovered sipping a soda at a malt shop (or so they say), why not this?<br /><br />Anyway, while Gaynor as Esther Blodgett-turned-Vicki Lester is quite winning, she has a full-time job overcoming the triteness of this obvious rags-to-riches story and narrowly succeeds by the skin of her teeth. Unlike Garland's Vicki, we never truly get to witness the genius of this supposedly innate, Oscar-winning talent Gaynor's Vicki has, save for a small stale bit with Maine at their film premiere. March (whose looks and voice is startlingly reminiscent of Gene Kelly here) comes off much better as the dipsomaniac star who has seen better days, although James Mason gave a far more trenchant and terrifying portrait of self-destruction in the Garland remake.<br /><br />Adolphe Menjou who created the Charles Bickford studio executive part and, especially, Lionel Stander as the publicity agent later played by Jack Carson, shine in their subordinate but finely tuned roles, helping to counter-balance the banal tendencies of the script, while May Robson's spiky but wise, benevolent granny, Clara (Auntie Em) Blandick's acidulous aunt, Elizabeth Jenns' actress paramour, Andy Devine's true-blue friend, and Edgar Kennedy's pop get caught up soundly in the film's cliches.<br /><br />Hollywood 'realism' has never been more obvious or watered down than here, yet the film still manages to give off a quaint charm and appeal that makes it bearable today. The first half of the movie is especially hard to take, but as the dramatic unfoldings take place, you'll find yourself caught up.<br /><br />It's worth a look just for comparison's sake.