Streisand’s A Star is Born rocks on Blu-ray

A Star is Born, as a movie, has been around since 1937 when Janet Gaynor first took on the role of diamond-in-the-rough Esther Blodgett who was discovered by star-on-the-wane Norman Maine (Frederic March). The story was remade in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason taking on the roles of the rising and falling stars, this time set to the tunes of Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin (with others contributing to the “Born in a Trunk” sequence). The 1954 version is an undisputed classic thanks to Garland’s heart-felt performance, and even with a star of her stature, you can still buy into the notion of her Esther Blodgett being a nobody who ascended to super-stardom under the guiding hand of her mentor/lover/husband Norman Maine.

Unfortunately, that concept is really stretched to its limits in the 1976 version of A Star is Born with Barbra Streisand in the Esther Blodgett (now Hoffman) role and Kris Kristofferson rechristened John Norman Howard. In 1976, Streisand was already a superstar and an Oscar winner, so it really takes a lot to divorce yourself from the fact that you are watching Streisand play a down-on-her-luck nightclub singer (part of a group with the now racially insensitive name The Oreos) who gets her big break, now in the music business, from Kris Kristofferson. While there is nothing really wrong with the stars’ performances, there is a problem with the script in that Esther’s rise to fame seems to happen without any struggle, and barely any real assistance from John. All he has to do is drag her on stage once, and she’s the new “It Girl” while he is unceremoniously pushed to the sidelines by even his own entourage. The whole story comes off as a bit trite and more of a vanity project for Streisand — although she didn’t originally want to do it because it was a remake — but the film does showcase her spectacularly in the musical numbers.

The new Blu-ray release looks nothing short of stunning.  The HD transfer looks sharp and film-like, accurately rendering the theatrical lighting Streisand demanded (pointing out several times in her audio commentary the stagey backlighting on her unfortunate curly perm). The movie has probably never looked better than it does now. The sound is also sharp and clear, enveloping you in the crowd during the concert scenes (this was the first film released in Dolby Surround, though the surround effects are used judiciously as most theaters in 1976 were not equipped for the process). The music, for the most part, is very catchy and stands the test of time. Streisand has several key songs, most notably the Oscar-winning “Evergreen,” and it’s interesting to note, especially after all the hoopla surrounding the live singing done on Les Misérables, that almost all of the songs were recorded live … and Streisand’s final song is done in a single take similar to Anne Hathaway’s “I Dreamed a Dream” number. Quite remarkable for a musical of its time.

The Blu-ray has several extra features, including twelve deleted scenes (best viewed with Streisand’s commentary), wardrobe tests with commentary, and trailers for all three versions of A Star is Born. The “highlight” of the bonus material is Streisand’s audio commentary (ported over from the 2006 DVD release). Well, it should have been the highlight, but it actually points out the necessity of having a moderator on hand to take control of the situation. Streisand does note some interesting facts: producer/lover Jon Peters had no idea the script he had was a remake, Streisand was responsible for any budgetary over-runs, her desire to have Broadway-style lighting, her wardrobe came from her own closet (famously ridiculed by the critics at the time because of that particular screen credit) simply because it saved on the film’s budget … and she has a habit of repeating these same things over and over again, rarely mentioning anything scene specific (although it’s clear she is watching the movie as she points out various people in a scene). It was widely known that director Frank Pierson was unhappy working with Streisand and Peters, and she clearly has no intention of addressing any of that turmoil, almost giving the impression that she directed the film herself (and apparently she re-shot some of the film behind Pierson’s back). As the film progresses, the gaps between Streisand’s commentary get longer and longer, but her final comments on the single take of her last song are interesting (she would have used more edits to give it a rock-and-roll feel).

A Star is Born was one of the biggest box office hits of 1976 and “Evergreen” became ubiquitous on the radio (Streisand also mentions, several times, that she was the first woman to win an Oscar for writing the music for a song instead of the lyrics), but seeing it today, it just doesn’t pack the emotion punch of Garland’s 1954 version. While the presentation of the Blu-ray is simply stunning, I couldn’t help but think another singer-actress could have probably pulled off the role to greater effect … and Bette Midler sort-of did, three years later in The Rose.