“All you gotta do is trust me.”
If there's one film narrative out there that could be declared truly timeless and beloved by just about every generation, it might have to be the one featured in the various A Star Is Born movies. The tragic love story that tackles the price of fame, the allure of showbiz, and the jealousy that can come with working in cutthroat creative industries has been told four times since 1937, with the most recent iteration being in 2018. On average, a star is born about every 20 years, it seems, and every time so far, it's resulted in interesting and acclaimed movies, which makes it possible that perhaps at some point in the 2030s or 2040s, audiences will get a fifth one.
The general story followed throughout these movies sticks quite persistently from film to film, though details naturally change, as do things like the music, visuals, and some sequences here and there. Each movie sees a young woman dreaming of stardom while beginning a relationship with a man who's struggling in his profession and decides to champion her, only for the woman's success to exceed his, leading to drama and conflict, inevitably ending with tragedy. The narrative of A Star Is Born is naturally heartbreaking, but audiences over the years can't seem to get enough of it, with the four movies that share this premise being ranked below from worst to best.
Barbra Streisand was a huge star throughout the late 1960s and into the 1970s, starring in acclaimed films like 1968's Funny Girl, 1969's Hello, Dolly!, and 1972's What's Up Doc. Not only was she acclaimed for her acting and singing skills, but so too was Kris Kristofferson, who appeared alongside her in this 1976 take on A Star Is Born. Given their successful music careers and bankable star power, it's undeniable that the casting was on point for this iteration of the classic showbiz tragedy, given they're both required to do a great deal of singing in this film.
Streisand's the up-and-coming singer with big dreams, and Kristofferson's a rock-and-roll star past his prime, with the music of its time perhaps being the thing that makes it stand out the most compared to the other versions of A Star Is Born. It was a huge hit upon release, earning considerably more than its budget – grossing $80 million from a budget of only $6 million – but when watched today, it probably feels like the weakest take on the story. Not that it's bad by any means, with some excellent songs and an almost epic feel, given its 139-minute runtime and large-scale concert scenes, but it can also feel a bit overstuffed; though Streisand and Kristofferson can each sing amazingly well, their romantic chemistry feels a little unconvincing. With an IMDb rating of 6.1 stars, the third adaptation of A Star is Born falls short of its counterparts.
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1937 saw the release of the very first A Star Is Born movie, though a film called What Price Hollywood? was released in 1932, and has some similarities to the narrative told in A Star Is Born – the latter's production studio even threatened a plagiarism lawsuit, though this was dropped. Nevertheless, the title is what's important here, so the saga of stars being born can be seen as being born here, in 1937. And is this a case where the original is the best?
No, not quite. The original take on A Star Is Born is very good in many ways, and holds up better than a great many movies released in the 1930s. It's shot in distinctive-looking technicolor, and also stands out for being the only version of A Star Is Born that focuses on an aspiring actress becoming involved with a washed-up actor, rather than centering on singers. Janet Gaynor and Fredric March are both great in the lead roles, and it is interesting to see a depiction of this narrative without the music element, which also serves to make it the shortest A Star Is Born by a considerable margin. It's a well-made classic Hollywood film, and surprisingly biting for its time. The film earned nearly twice it's budget at the box office – $2.37 million – with an IMDb rating of 7.3 stars.
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It's natural and understandable that the most well-known version of A Star Is Born nowadays is the most recent one, which starred Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, the serving of whom directed the film. It's the only take on the story so far to be set in the 21st century, and its 2018 release also made it the version of the film with the longest gap of A Star Is Born-less years before it, considering it came out 42 years after the previous 1976 version.
It's centered around the country music scene this time around, and though Cooper's contributions to the soundtrack are solid, it's Lady Gaga who inevitably and unsurprisingly steals the show when it comes to the music side of things. Appropriately enough, A Star Is Born made Lady Gaga a star within the world of film a considerable number of years after she'd already achieved stardom within the music industry. Since her Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role here, she's gone on to give a memorable performance in 2021's House of Gucci, and is also slated to have a starring role in 2024's Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux. This modern take on the classic tale was a stepping stone for both actors, serving as Cooper's directorial debut and Lady Gaga's first starring role in a feature film.
A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
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1954 was a remarkable year for movies, but the second version of A Star Is Born — released that year — still managed to stand out. It's the longest of all the A Star Is Born movies, with a truly epic runtime of 176 minutes, and is the first version of the story to focus on musicians; one trying to break into the industry, and one struggling to stay within it. It's also home to two towering lead performances: Judy Garland as the young singer with big aspirations, and James Mason as her troubled partner whose glory days are behind him.
Garland and Mason give the two best performances from any A Star Is Born movie, and the film represents both legendary Hollywood stars at the peak of their powers. Yes, the movie is long, and some may find it melodramatic by today's standards, but it also has the most to offer out of any film with this narrative, and is bolstered considerably by the phenomenal acting on offer here. If, for whatever reason, you can only watch a single A Star Is Born movie, the 1954 version is honestly the one to pick, without a doubt. This adaptation earned numerous accolades in the 70 years it's been released, including a spot on AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals and the United States National Film Registry.
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Jeremy is an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet. He’ll gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU… well, maybe not the Disney+ shows.
His favorite directors include Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, John Woo, Bob Fosse, Fritz Lang, Guillermo del Toro, and Yoji Yamada. He’s also very proud of the fact that he’s seen every single Nicolas Cage movie released before 2022, even though doing so often felt like a tremendous waste of time. He’s plagued by the question of whether or not The Room is genuinely terrible or some kind of accidental masterpiece, and has been for more than 12 years (and a similar number of viewings).
When he’s not writing lists – and the occasional feature article – for Collider, he also likes to upload film reviews to his Letterboxd profile (username: Jeremy Urquhart) and Instagram account.
