A STAR IS BORN (1937)
WILLIAM WELLMAN, JR. IN PERSON
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21 • 4:15
Click image to view trailer
In anticipation of the following week’s Academy Awards, author William Wellman, Jr. will present a rare archival 35mm screening of the 1937 classic A Star Is Born, directed by his father, subject of his recently published biography Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel. Bill Wellman (1896-1975) was one of Hollywood’s greatest directors, known for Wings (the first “Best Picture” Oscar) and other exemplary work through decades and a wide range of genres.
Produced in early Technicolor by David O. Selznick, A Star Is Born is the first version of this title and one of the best films Hollywood made about itself. Aspiring actress Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor), renamed Vicki Lester, receives a career boost from alcoholic movie star Norman Maine (Fredric March), but her fame gradually overshadows his. This early Technicolor romance earned Wellman his only personal Oscar, for Original Story. (US 1937) 111 min. plus discussion.
Following the screening, William Wellman, Jr. will sign his book, Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel, available for sale at the Rafael.
The 35mm film print of A Star Is Born is on loan from the UCLA Film & Television Archive, which preserved the film from the original Technicolor three-strip negatives.
Special thanks to co-presenter San Francisco Silent Film Festival
ADMISSION FOR THIS EVENT: $12. GENERAL | $8. CFI MEMBERS
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