A Star Is Born - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of A Star Is Born or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to A Star Is Born

[brent]

Early in the film, when Esther stops at Grauman's Chinese Theater to see the stars' footprints, the second one she visits is Harold Lloyd, which is to the right of Janet Gaynor's own prints from 1929, a portion which is visible on screen, including the "r" in her signature.

[javier]

The music heard at the Hollywood Bowl scene is Les Preludes by Franz Liszt.

[scarlett]

Widely considered to be the first Technicolor film that was a bona fide critical and box office success. Until A Star is Born and Nothing Sacred (1937), color films had been garish, over saturated and, as many critics complained, headache-inducing. Producer David O. Selznick insisted on muted, realistic color, and it was the success of these two films that paved the way for his Technicolor masterpiece, Gone with the Wind (1939).

[janice]

The movie's line "Hello, everybody. This is Mrs. Norman Maine." was voted as the #52 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.

[chris]

It seems odd that when Esther picks up her Oscar, there are no other nominees and no winner is announced. Early in Oscar history, the winners were all announced BEFORE the actual ceremony. In A Star Is Born (1954), Esther is up against other nominated actresses.

[sandra]

The Oscar that Janet Gaynor receives in the film is her own Oscar, which she won for her role in 7th Heaven (1927).

[kenzi]

The first all-color film nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

[melinda]

John Barrymore was originally cast as Norman Maine, but was replaced after a few days of filming due to his inability to remember his lines. The character was partly inspired by Barrymore and his alcoholism.

[linda]

The character of Oliver Niles was partly based on Paramount producer B.P. Schulberg, whose career was ruined by alcoholism; his son Budd Schulberg was one of the script writers on the movie.

[frederick]

"Screen Director's Playhouse" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on June 16, 1950 with Fredric March reprising his film role.

[cassandra]

The motion picture playing at the Chinese Theatre when Esther Blodgett arrives in Hollywood is the David O. Selznick production, The Garden of Allah (1936), with Marlene Dietrich prominently displayed on the posters.

[lonnie]

The movie appears to have "stolen" its story-line from What Price Hollywood?? (1932), released five years earlier.

[kristen]

Helene Chadwick, the first wife of the movie's director William A. Wellman, appears briefly in the movie as an extra; it was her last movie appearance.

[duane]

This film received its earliest documented telecast in Charlotte NC where it was chosen to launch WBTV (Channel 3), the first television station in the Carolinas, and the 13th in the USA, on its first evening of operation, Friday 15 July 1949; it first aired in Los Angeles Sunday 14 August 1949 on KTLA (Channel 5), in Chicago Sunday 28 August 1949 on WGN (Channel 9), in Atlanta Wednesday 1 September 1949 on WSB (Channel 8), in Detroit Sunday 4 September 1949 on WWJ (Channel 4), in Cincinnati Sunday 1 January 1950 on WLW-T (Channel 4), and in New York City Friday 17 March 1950 on WPIX (Channel 11). All these telecasts were in B&W, since commercial color broadcasting had not yet been developed.

[kristina]

Plans were announced in 1938 for a sequel entitled Heartbreak Town, about a child actor, but it was never made.

[gabriel]

It has been speculated (though never confirmed) since the time of the movie's release that the story was inspired by the real-life marriage of Barbara Stanwyck and her first husband, Frank Fay.

[leo]

Sometimes erroneously stated as Lana Turner's film debut as an extra in the scene at Santa Anita, but Turner's daughter Cheryl Crane has confirmed that Turner did not appear in this film.

[tom]

The only film to be nominated for Best Actor and Actress Oscars that year.

[javier]

The character of Norman Maine was based on several real actors, including John Barrymore, John Gilbert, and John Bowers, who drowned off Malibu during the film's production.