Since its release in October 2018, Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut, A Star Is Born, has received a slew of accolades and award nominations.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, you might be wondering what all the excitement is about ahead of the Academy Awards when it is nominated for eight Oscars and stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
In the months following its debut, Cooper’s musical drama, which he also directed and co-wrote, has become a pop-cultural phenomenon due to its uniqueness and indelible soundtrack. In advance of Sunday’s Academy Awards, here’s all you need to know about the film’s origins.
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What Is the Number of Times This Film Has Been Produced?
Officially, the Cooper/Gaga version of A Star Is Born will be the fourth, yet the story’s basic framework — a young starlet and an aging professional falling in love when one is on the rise and the other is on the decline — has been a popular one in Hollywood.
From Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer in Up Close and Personal to Dreamgirls and Crazy Heart, there are traces of it in everything. However, the following are the three previous official versions:
- Janet Gaynor as Esther Blodgett and Frederic March as Norman Maines star in David O. Selznick’s A Star Is Born (1937).
- Judy Garland as Esther Blodgett and James Mason as Norman Maines star in George Cukor’s 1954 film A Star Is Born. This is the definitive version, the one that is most well-known and admired, with Garland giving one of her trademark performances.
- Barbra Streisand plays Esther Hoffman and Kris Kristofferson plays John Norman Howard in Frank Pierson’s 1976 film A Star Is Born.
Clint Eastwood was said to have sought to recreate the film with Beyoncé in the starring role at one point earlier this decade, but Blue Ivy got in the way when she was born.
Is the Movie “a Star Is Born” Based on True Events?
Legendary producer David O. Selznick produced the first A Star Is Born, which was released in 1937. Selznick was almost sued by RKO for resemblance to a prior picture, What Price, Hollywood? at the time.
Though What Price Hollywood was said to be based on the experiences of actress Colleen Moore and director Tom Forman when A Star Is Born was released, rumors circulated that the true story was the failed marriage of screen star Barbara Stanwyck (who was about to receive the first of her four Best Actress Oscar nominations, for Stella Dallas) and her husband Frank Fay.
Is This a Genuine Contender for an Award?
It would be the first time in the series if it wasn’t. The 1937 version was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Outstanding Production (the antecedent to Best Picture), but it lost to Emile Zola’s The Life.
The 1954 version was nominated for six Academy Awards, but lost them all, including the Best Actress prize, which many film academics (and any homosexual over 50) believe should have gone to Judy Garland.
The 1976 Barbra Streisand version was a little more polarizing, but the film still received four nominations, with Streisand’s original song “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)” winning Best Original Song.
As a result, the early hype surrounding A Star Is Born 2018 is not unprecedented. There’s also the fact that Bradley Cooper has previously been nominated for three Academy Awards, and Hollywood has a history of awarding Oscars to A-List actors who direct films (Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, and Ben Affleck all have Best Picture statues on their mantles).
Is Lady Gaga the Inspiration for Ally?
The pop sensation has already stated that her character was influenced in part by her own personal experiences in the music industry.
“I told Bradley a lot about my life, and they included a small bit of it in the film, but in a unique way.” “For that, I will be eternally thankful to him,” she remarked of the movie.
“I was advised to get a nose job before my debut song was out, but I declined. She went on to say, “I adore my Italian nose.” “I’d be the polar opposite of a sexpot if people wanted me to appear like one.
“I would always flip it on its head and do it my way if they said ‘Try dancing and looking this way.'” Ally also encounters elitism for her bubblegum pop tracks, something Gaga has experienced in juxtaposition to her more stripped-back work.
Conclusion
Bradley Cooper produced and directed the film A Star Is Born, a musical romantic drama film. Cooper, Lady Gaga, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Dice Clay, and Sam Elliott are among the cast members of the film.
The movie is a remake of the 1937 picture, which was also released in 1954 and 1976. Aashiqui 2, the 2013 popular Bollywood musical, was inspired by the original 1937 film. A hard-drinking pianist falls in love with a teenage singer in this film.
The movie was a box office and critical triumph. It was nominated for a number of awards and garnered a number of nominations. The movie has a 7.6 out of ten IMDb rating.
