A Star is Born (1976)

 

Famous but self-destructive rock star John Norman Howard bails early on a concert and heads off to a bar to get even more drunk than he already is.

There, he meets the talented younger singer Esther Hoffman.  John immediately recognises her potential to be a star.  There's also an instant attraction between the two, though the romance is not exactly a smooth one: John's frequently selfish and inebriated behaviour sees to that.

Nonetheless, the passion burns through the problems.  They marry, and Esther proves every bit the star John believed her to be.  In fact, her career quickly rockets her toward fame and fortune that eclipses John's own.

While his faith in Esther has been vindicated, John struggles with the decline of his own career.  The fact that this is in large part a result of his own  behaviour is not lost on him, and if anything makes the decline harder to bear.

Is Esther's love enough to sustain John, or will his self-destructive tendencies spiral out of control?

I very much enjoyed the 2018 version of A Star Is Born.  While I enjoyed this version too, it was definitely not to the same extent.  A big factor in this was the music.  While Barbra Streisand is a great singer, the songs simply aren't up to the same standard.  There's nothing here that is anywhere near as memorable as 'Shallow'.  To my mind, in a film so heavily focused on the music industry, this lack is a major weakness. 

John Norman Howard is also a much less likeable character than the more recent film's Jackson Maine.  His behaviour is more obviously and directly harmful to those around him, not just to himself.  Also, these actions seem to be driven more by anger and resentment, rather than weakness.  I can understand why someone would fall in love with Jackson Maine, despite his obvious problems; I have a harder time understanding Esther's fierce commitment to John in the face of his poor treatment of her.

Now obviously there are plenty of people who fall in love with toxic partners in the real world; but fiction generally has a higher 'believability' bar to clear than real life.  I didn't feel that this script ever quite cleared that bar.  Esther's "love" felt more like infatuation with John's stardom and gratitude for the help he gave her in her own career.

 

The basic plotline remains a compelling one, however; there's a reason Hollywood has made four different versions of this film; and the cast are all good.  If you simply can't get enough of A Star Is Born formula, but have already watched the 2018 one a dozen times, this one is worth a look.