A Star is Born (1976 film)

Out of the four versions of A Star is Born, the 1976 version starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson seems to unanimously be considered the weakest. While the 1954 Judy Garland film is held in classical status in spite of its issues, the 2018 Lady Gaga version showed that modern audiences were still somewhat interested in this story if it provided fresh updates, and the 1937 Janet Gaynor film isn’t even on anyone’s radar, the third attempt of this strangely long-surviving musical tragedy, was met with hostile responses from critics who found the film lacked chemistry between its leads, felt laboriously long, and featured uninspired musical numbers. This bad press, however, didn’t stop it from becoming the second highest-grossing film of the year (earning a total of $80 million against a $6 million budget), which probably stemmed from casual audiences who (while still not loving it), seemed more willing to go along for the ride.

Famous rock star celebrity, John Norman Howard (played by the late Kris Kristofferson) is a self-destructive alcoholic who continually botches any concert he performs at and spends most of his time flaunting his privilege and wealth, further damaging his reputation and causing stress for those that work alongside him. During one of his misadventures, he comes across Esther Hoffman (played by Barbara Streisand) performing in a bar, and after tailing her home, convinces her to join him at one of his concerts. After spending more time together, John believes that Esther has the talent to be something great, pushing her on stages (sometimes literally) to boost her public awareness and in doing so, propelling her into a full-blown musical sensation known for topping charts and earning awards. In doing so however, he realizes that his own career is firmly in the dirt and with nothing to do besides watch Esther eclipse him, what is his purpose in their relationship?

This 1976 rendition doesn’t feel mean-spirited and has some solid ideas with how it restructures the original story in a way that matches the current environment and taps on appropriate rock music stereotypes, but as a whole, fails to materialize.

The story of a failing music star helping an up-in-comer reach their full potential must have a real magnetic pull because even after almost a full century later, it’s still being revisited and will probably continue to do so in the future, and one of the reasons is probably because they keep upgraded with each passing generation to match the current entertainment zeitgeist. The first two films have the same structure and plot points but are more about the problems of Hollywood and the toxic ways they treat their talent at the highest and lowest points of their career. While they delivered these messages in a functional sense, they were definitely Hollywood pictures, with predictable Hollywood performances, visuals, and scripts, which is probably what convinced this film’s screenwriters, John Gregory-Dunne and Joan Didion, to readjust the glamorous formula and place the story in the world of unfiltered reality. Instead of being about Hollywood, the focus is on the music industry, and instead of the glossy, fanciful appeal of the theatrical environment, the rose-tinted glasses are taken off for something much more frantic, frenzied and unclean, really feeling like it wanted to act as the antithesis of the original story, not hiding behind a gentile and distinguish demeanor and dive headfirst into the crazed hysteria of the 70s rock music space, which is a pretty great idea.

The components of the story still work in this new framework and even opens the door for other points to be addressed, especially in regard to how rock musicians can be praised for their wild and irresponsible behaviour and how that adoration impacts their personal life, proving the updates were a smart decision and paid off in the end. However, the execution is where things start to fall apart, as it feels like the movie is more interested in presenting an attitude rather than the story, as it rushes through familiar scenes without attempting to build a connection with its audience. It means things thankfully go at a good pace, but the directing by Frank Pierson (who also helped write the film) fails to suck people into what should be a simple but tragic set of circumstances, and spends more time delivering song sequences in a pretty uninteresting manner, blandly leading the actors in a way that feels more in line with their own identities rather than a scripted part, and highlighting the changes without elaborated on why some need to be included or what they even add (he cheats on her and it means absolutely nothing). It isn’t a terrible sit, and it’s at least interesting seeing how it shifted tones and would inspire the next adaptation, but it’s hard to call it well organized.

In keeping with the heavier focus on 70s rock stars rather than Hollywood stars, the decision to pick singers who also dabble in acting for the leads was also a pretty good idea, as it could provide a believable window into the industry while still functioning as a proper film. Sadly, much like everything else in this movie, while good in concept, the results are not as effective, as even though Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson seem like solid choices, their acting abilities are not good enough to work with this material. Kristofferson is given a little bit of a pass due to this being one of his first acting gigs, and he wasn’t even the first choice as Neil Diamond, Marlon Brando and even Elvis were big contenders, but it’s hard to ignore how flat and uninterested he sounds throughout the whole movie, and because the role is written so callously and without any understanding of why he acts the way he does, he comes across as seriously unlikeable and undeserving of any sympathy. This was a problem the previous films also struggled with, but qualities like the time period are a factor to consider, and if anything, this film’s stance on portraying him as less refined and more openly antagonistic makes him even harder to relate to.

His singing isn’t even that good nor are any of the songs he’s singing, so the film feels more interested in banking on the fact that a popular good-looking musician is playing the part rather than developing a role with depth and nuance. On the other side of things, Barbara Streisand has had more experience as an actress and considering she was an executive producer on the film alongside her then-partner, Jon Peters, it feels pretty clear that she had investment in this project and in playing the role of Esther, which is why it’s sad that she just feels miscast. While no one can deny her incredible singing capabilities, her style is not the right fit with this grungier take on the narrative, and it feels very distracting while watching things unfold. Any sense of character is dropped the second she starts singing as her usual Broadway tricks and tropes take centre stage, which feel very off in what are supposed to be serious and dramatic moments, and while her acting isn’t terrible, it’s too flighty for a role that requires a harsh emotional core and believable rawness. The rest of the cast like Gary Busey, Paul Mazursky and Joanne Linville, barely feel like characters since the film spends so much time on the leads, meaning they don’t offer much to the story and therefore feel like padding.

The film works pretty nicely with its limited budget, as the lack of cinematic sparkle actually adds to its dirtier and crazier personality. Being a film that is on the tail end of the 70s and in the rock music space (which is known for its more rip-roarious and hyperactive attitude), it doesn’t require any large-scale budget, to the point that even when the film is presented in a sloppy fashion, it almost works in its favor. The concerts are displayed in a way that actually feels like you’re in the crowd, with tight claustrophobic shots that shake around like crazy, getting across the energy of the room and how this movie doesn’t want to cover up the unpleasantries of this space. The opening scene does this the best; the concert hall is crowded and boxed in, everybody (including the band members) are sweating profusely, the crowd gets easily rowdy and start a fight on a whim, a young child gets lost amongst the crowd with no one even passing a second glance as to who’s they could be, the lights are almost fluorescent in their saturated coloration to the point that it almost feels surreal and psychedelic, and in spite of the crazy shenanigans on display, there is a 50/50 chance of the audience either applauding like crazy, or booing like madmen.

It doesn’t go as heavily into this element as it probably should have (arguably the 2018 film would handle this personality better), but it did help shift the personality of this story in a new and arguably more beneficial direction. The music mostly handled by Streisand with help from other artists like Paul Williams, Kenny Ascher, Rupert Holmes, Leon Russell, etc, was popular enough that the film’s album held the number one spot on the US Billboard 200 chart for six weeks and sold a total of eight million copies worldwide, but as sequences in the movie, they are a little by-the-numbers. Some of them aren’t bad (mainly those sung by Streisand) and even her song, Evergreen, managed to get an Oscar, but they feel better suited for listening on the radio than numbers meant to get across character or story development. Also, their staging can be a little weird, with it either being too simple and blandly composed to be interesting, or too theatrical and showy to feel like it matches with the rock vibe the film is going for, it’s a bit of a mess.

A Star is Born has managed to stick around, and while everyone seems to have their preferred version, most seem to gravitate towards either the Judy Garland film or the Lady Gaga film, with the original 1930s film falling into obscurity (most people probably don’t even know it exists) and with this adaptation being the one most people view as their least favorite. It doesn’t have to be taken in an entirely cynical manner, as even though it’s weak in terms of character, actor chemistry, song sequences, and general storytelling, it isn’t painful to get through, it’s paced nice enough, the changes would’ve been great if executed correctly, and it’s interesting seeing the vibe of this movie and how it capture the essence of the time period through all the clothing, the music choices, the visual styles and even the personality of the people (there is a lot of  uncensored ‘’powder’’ sniffing in this movie). It’s hard to call it good as it has a lot of problems and only really works for people that are willing to shut their brain off and watch the good-looking man make out with the pretty sounding woman, but if that is your slice of cake, there’s no harm in savoring it.