Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: A STAR IS BORN is the story of an innocent young woman who rises to fame in Hollywood. Her movie star husband helps her get started in her career while he is already on the skids because of his alcoholic behavior. Besides telling a great yarn the film also provides a candid expose of the movie industry before World War II. Janet Gaynor and Fredric March are superb in the leading roles. The strong supporting cast includes Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine and Lionel Stander.Janet Gayner actually retired not too long after this movie and did only occasional acting later in life. She had been very active in Hollywood during the 1920's and 1930's. Director William Wellman directed many other good films including PUBLIC ENEMY. It is difficult for to choose between this movie and the 1954 version starring Judy Garland and James Mason. They are both wonderful. A STAR IS BORN received Oscars in 1937 for Best Original Story and Color Cinematography. Its numerous Academy Award nominations were for Best Picture, Director (William Wellman), Actor (Fredric March), Actress ( Janet Gaynor), Screenplay and Assistant Director (Eric Stacey).
Rating: 
Summary: Beware
Review: Buyers should beware of this video since it is of very poor quality being taken from a less than perfect 16mm. print. We are accustomed to much better prints these days and this one is being sold under false pretence.
Rating:
Summary: Best Print Yet
Review: Having been in public domain for so long now, it seems everyone has put out a print of this movie on video. They are consistently poor quality issues. This DVD issue is not perfect by any means, but it far exceeds any others I've seen. If ever a film was in need of a full restoration this is it. A great movie about that land of hopes and dreams called Hollywood. Honest, realistic, touching, and tragic. Although Judy Garland's version is excellent this is the version that truly delivers. I won't even mention the Streisand remake.
Rating: 
Summary: The Originals Are Always the Best!
Review: I don't understand why anyone would prefer the later remakes to this version, which is so far superior as to be incomparable to the later attempts. Who could be better than Fredric March? Of course it was a bit bizarre for him to play a fading star when in reality he was in the Hollywood limelight. I felt this version had so much more depth and story to it, without the multitudinous songs or the shallow world of musicals to interfere. I'm not sure really what to say about this except that it's very very good and I think you and everyone should see it at least once. My favourite moments... in the cafe where Fred drinks raw egg while Janet impersonates various movie stars at another table. And at the preview of their first film together, they kiss for a LONG time, and Janet shrinks down blushing into her chair. There are others, just can't remember them at the moment. And the last part is very touching of course. Loved how Grandma couldn't take the bright lights. I liked the producer better in this one than the Garland version as well. He seemed to have more character and wasn't so goony looking. The colour quality of the video is admittedly terrible, but I have heard that the DVD version is a restored one and much better and easier to watch. I have not seen it myself to compare for certain. Well, I've said my piece. This is the version to see. Don't bother with the other ones - they can't hold a candle to this one.
Rating:
Summary: The Original
Review: I haven't seen the remakes of this film to be able to compare them, but I do know that the basic story of this film has been used over and over in movie history, and that's because it's a good one. The plot follows the rise of a young actress and the fall of her actor-husband. Fredric March is excellent as the husband who turns to the bottle for comfort when his career flounders and his star dims. Janet Gaynor, as the star that is born, plays her role expressively, no doubt influenced by her days in silent films, but it works and anchors the film. Lionel Stander is great as a cynical studio man. There are a number of terrific scenes, including several surrounding the new actress' makeover (name and looks) which gives the viewer an idea of how the studio system must have worked in the Golden Age. The final scene is also a classic. A Star is Born is well scripted and acted, and it opens the door into Hollywood of the Thirties.
Rating:
Summary: This KINO print is excellent!
Review: I went ahead and bought this VHS edition from KINO, and I must say it is THE BEST print of this film to be found. I discovered Fredric March in 2002, and in one year collected over 54 of his films. During this time, I bought 2 other VHS versions of A STAR IS BORN; the first one was horrible...scratchy sound, the mouths didn't match with the words, blurry and washed out color. The second one was a bit better, color not so good, but at least the movement of their mouths was in step with the soundtrack. I really enjoy this film, and wanted to find a better print. This KINO print will not disappoint! It is superb...while the color is not like what you will see today, it is very very good. I was so impressed; what a pleasure it is to see a film almost as it looked originally in 1937. I mainly wanted to share the news that this is an excellent VHS (I called KINO, and they said they don't know that they will ever put it on DVD...too bad, but I think I have seen bootleg DVD's taken from this KINO print on ebay.) This video is well worth the money due to the wonderful quality. Many have already stated their opinion on this film. I greatly admire Fredric March and he did such a good job portraying Norman Maine. I liked Janet Gaynor's performance as well. It is fun to see some of the famous Hollywood locations in these early days. It is a good story...nice to see a wife sticking by her man through the good times and bad. Nice to see how she honors his name and memory at the end of the film. Nice to see that she didn't sit and have a pity party about how horrible a husband Norman was. She was of beautiful character...you especially see this when at the Academy Awards, and he accidently slaps her face, she just takes his hand and calmly walks with him back to the table. Later that evening, at home, Norman (March) is passed out drunk in a chair, and we see Esther(Gaynor) kneeling before him, still in her gown, with her Oscar lying on the floor beside her, taking off his shoes. What love and devotion and lack of selfishness is portrayed in that one simple scene... We know her heart was hurting; none of this was easy for her. I know many people just adore the Judy Garland version. I have seen it, and my main problem was I thought there was too much singing ( I am not fond of musicals), and I also felt Judy looked too old and weary for the part. You could see this in her eyes. She lacked the youthful innocence Gaynor had. Now if Judy had done it when she was younger...but this is only my opinion. I prefer this 1937 version, and if you do as well, this KINO print is THE ONE to watch and to own.
Rating:
Summary: Mrs. Parker, we're needed
Review: I'll confess: I saw this movie on 16mm when I used to run the projector at an art film house back in college. I can't comment on the quality of the film being sold here; I begin with the caveat that my comments are on the content of the film only. First, I am compelled to add the historical note that Janet Gaynor is the first winner of the Oscar for Best Actress in the history of the Academy Awards (1927, mainly for her work in Sunrise). Next, I want to say that screenwriter Dorothy Parker's sarcasm is sometimes so thick, that one must watch the film several times, in order to see through it, layer by layer, before one begins to see her subtle wit. With repeated viewings, the film is funny, then tragic, then funny again. I have not seen the other versions of this film on purpose. This film is so gloriously complex, and made up of so many tiny parts, but with not a seam showing, that I am afraid seeing one of the others would only spoil the original for me. (One of the great regrets in my life is seeing Mel Brooks' To Be or Not To Be.) This film belongs among the immortals-- or at least among the pantheon of the truly stupendous-- the films that are difficult to describe because one lacks the vocabulary, because ground-breaking, wonderous, magnificent, and all the superlatives have been over-applied to the slightly superior. I wish these words had been reserved for this film. This one, and the rare others that actually teach us about the world, and ourselves-- that send us from the theatre with new eyes: Citizen Kane, Metropolis, Tristana, I Heard the Mermaids Singing, Rashomon, Baghdad Cafe, Children of Paradise....
Rating:
Summary: Hello.........This is.....Mrs Norman Maine
Review: Janet Gaynor is great as the aspiring young actress Esther Blodgett,and Fredric March shows his star power as the pathetic Norman Maine,and this,the first of what was to be 3 different versions,is a great look into the makings of the Hollywood we know today. The old Technicolor toning makes it look marvellous,and the supporting performances of Alma Kruger and Adolphe Menjou are superlative.
Rating:
Summary: Another "Rolls-Royce" from Selznick
Review: Much has been written about this 1937 film in regard to its story, characters etc. The word "classic" tends to be over-used but it IS a true "classic": the drama and the comedy haven't dated one bit. My main interest in this particular movie however is that it was the first Hollywood film with a contemporary plot to be filmed in the relatively new three-strip Technicolor process. Producer David Selznick's business partner Jock Whitney, a millionaire from New York who was interested in motion pictures, had a stake in the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation. This film was used as part of a showcase for the stunning new process. It is a Technicolor Timecapsule of 1930s Hollywood. Before I purchased this DVD copy of the film (King Video/Image Entertainment), every other version I'd seen (on VHS) was from a positively awful old print, with faded colour and no sharpness or contrast. I am pleased to say the DVD quality is very good, with pleasant colour. The source used was a 35 mm print from Selznick Properties Ltd which, while a little scratched in one or two places, is far superior to any other version of this motion picture that has been available for purchase. If this version had been mastered from the original camera negatives (as are many movies when transferred to DVD), I would have given it the full five stars. I believe the rights to this film have changed hands many times since 1937 so maybe the camera negatives and soundtrack are lost, deteriorated beyond salvation, or destroyed. If that was the case it is a great tragedy that we cannot enjoy this movie in its full Glorious Technicolor. But, as I have indicated, this DVD is the best copy of the 1937 "A Star Is Born" I have seen to date and it may be the best we will ever see it now. I have not viewed other available DVD releases of this motion picture.
Rating:
Summary: If You Pick Out 1 Version Over the Other, You Miss Out!
Review: People have a tendency to state which version of a "Star is Born" is BETTER than the other and which version you should buy, the one with Janet Gaynor or the one with Judy Garland. I have both dvd versions of "A Star is Born" and would not part with either. They are both different, both classics and belong in all your collections for you to have a "rounded-out" collection of the classics. The version with Janet Gaynor has more "cute" moments and the ending is very heartwarming when the grandmother shows up. The version with Judy Garland tugs at your heart-strings forever.
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