FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

marcslope Tawdry, B-ish melodrama independently made but released by 20th Century Fox, this 1952 potboiler presents itself as a searing look at a movie star in free-fall, and seems to relish the parallels between Margaret Elliott and star Bette Davis. Margaret's phenomenally self-centered, self-pitying, and self-deceiving, and she's headed for a breakdown, what with a darling daughter she can't care for (Natalie Wood), no money and no career prospects, and clawing relatives who can't understand where their meal ticket's gone. But, and here the credibility really snaps, she does have an ace in the hole: Sterling Hayden, who made one movie with her and gave up acting to run a shipyard, loves her. I kept wondering why this solid, handsome gentleman would keep picking up the pieces as this self-indulgent disaster of a woman keeps falling apart, and the movie never answered that. There are some enjoyable melodramatic moments and some odd real-Hollywood touches, such as Bette name-dropping her actual director of photography on many films, Ernest Laszlo, and Margaret professing a huge dislike for the rising starlet Barbara Lawrence, who actually was a rising (though not very far) starlet, and who is made out to be a shallow temporary celebrity. It's ultimately rabidly anti-feminist-'50s, with Margaret electing (after kidnapping her daughter, which the movie has no problem with) to run off with Sterling Hayden and be a darling little wifey, and while the implication is they all live happily ever after, I give it a week.

GeoPierpont Mind you this was no semblance of a PSA. However, one might tone down the impunity of various devious deeds. To wit, the carefree attitude of a drunken whirlwind tour of the rich and famous, the stealing of perfume, the abduction of a child, the insult of being asked to hand over a wrench. Dealing with aging for a once beautiful, talented woman is no small feat and demands a modicum of sympathy. I felt none.Once you see "All About Eve" just 2 years prior, all bets are off for the aging star desperate for a revival. The script was banal and mostly painful. I certainly saw a pointed hint of the "Baby Jane" character during the screen test scene, creepy.I always thought Sterling Hayden a fine actor but phoning in a performance was never more personified in this effort. At least Davis delivered a zany, wild eyed yearning and cunning nature that showed no signs of aging.Perhaps the redeeming feature of this film is the many references to Joan Crawford's life story and that in itself is curious entertainment. However, I cannot recommend this film save for completing the entire Davis works and a young Natalie Wood.

williwaw Bette Davis deservedly won world wide fame at Warner Bros with a string of hits for the record books: Oscars for Jezebel, Dangerous, and to me her two greatest at Warners that Davis should have won Oscars : Now Voyager and The Letter. Bette Davis lucked out as she would be the first to admit when Bette Davis inherited from Claudette Colbert another great role starring in 20th's "All About Eve". The Star is another 20th film and this film may be one of her finest performances yet the film is overlooked when one discusses the gallery of great Bette Davis performances. Bette Davis takes role said to be based on Joan Crawford and runs with it. I like the desperation Bette's Margaret Elliot feels and one sees a true artist at work. Bette Davis scored her 9th Oscar nomination.PS Joan Crawford also thought that this film was based on her and played a cruel trick on the films authors who were estranged from their daughter at the time. Crawford planned the Young Lady's elopement and wedding at her Mansion and then called the parents to advise them of the wedding and saying she had a piece of wedding cake for them.

bkoganbing Although Bette Davis received one of her ten Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in The Star, the thing that struck me about this film is how Sterling Hayden managed to land a part that was so much about himself in real life.Hayden had a great love of the sea and sailing and in this film he played a character akin to himself in real life. He was a one film wonder who Bette Davis made a leading man on a whim and who proves to be her salvation. As for Davis she is in the title role of a film star whose day has come and gone.Davis's character of Margaret Elliott is obsessed with her stardom, not her craft as an actress, but with film stardom. She's a has been who just refuses to accept that she's growing older. Had she been an actress first she would have considered transitioning to character roles. There are some similarities to Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond. But unlike Desmond, Bette's money has dried up and instead of living in splendid and aloof isolation in her Beverly Hills mansion, she's having all kinds of problems both with bad behavior and the fact she can't get work. Margaret Elliott in The Star is a great role for Bette Davis. The film is contrived and the ending quite artificial, but it allows Davis to chew the scenery and make it work because it's a part of her character. The part was originally offered to Joan Crawford who turned it down and I think the film may have it a little too close to home for Joan. One reason I think Davis did the part was that she also recognized that it hit home for Crawford and she may have used Joan as a model of someone who was a movie star first and an actress second.The film is an absolute must for Davis fans.