The Academy Award for Best Original Story went to William A. Wellman for this epic tale of an actress' rise to the top. Janet Gaynor shines as the naive young actress helped to success by her famous actor husband, Norman Mayne (Fredric March), whose career fades even as hers ascends. Wellman's personal experience as an assistant director and actor when he was starting out sharpens the insider’s wit and insight that keep the melodrama from sliding into sentiment. Critics praised the use of Technicolor for serving story and mood, rather than working as a distraction.
Selznick International Pictures, Inc. Producer: David O Selznick. Director: William A. Wellman. Screenwriter: Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, Robert Carson. Cinematography: W. Howard Greene. Editor: James E. Newcorn, Anson Stevenson. Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine. 35mm, color, 111 min.
