''Star!'' (re-titled ''Those Were the Happy Times'' for its 1969 re-release) is a 1968 American
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...
directed by
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American filmmaker. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of Music'' (1965). He was als ...
and starring
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
. The screenplay by
William Fairchild is based on the life and career of British performer
Gertrude Lawrence.
Plot
In 1940, Gertrude "Gertie" Lawrence is in a screening room watching a
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
chronicling her life, then
flashes back to
Clapham
Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Ea ...
in 1915, when she leaves home to join her
vaudevillian
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatre, theatrical genre of variety show, variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comic ...
father in a dilapidated
Brixton
Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
. Eventually, she joins the chorus in
André Charlot
Eugène André Maurice Charlot (26 July 1882 – 20 May 1956) was a French-born impresario known primarily for the musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937. He later worked as a character actor in numerous American films.
Born in ...
's
West End revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...
. She reunites with close childhood friend
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
.
Charlot becomes annoyed with Gertie's efforts to stand out, literally, from the chorus. He threatens to fire her, but stage manager Jack Roper intercedes and gets her hired as a general understudy to the leads. She marries Jack, but it becomes clear she is more inclined to perform onstage than stay home and play wife. While pregnant, she insists on going on for an absent star, and captivates the audience with her own star-making performance of "
Burlington Bertie". Charlot and Roper witness the audience's warm approval, and both realize, Charlot grudgingly and Roper wistfully, that Gertie belongs on the stage.
After their daughter Pamela is born, Gertrude is angered when Roper takes the baby on a pub crawl, and leaves him. A subsequent courtship with Sir Anthony Spencer, an English nobleman, polishes Gertie's rough edges and transforms her into a lady. Caught at a chic supper club when she is supposed to be on a sick day, she is fired from the Charlot Revue. Squired by Spencer, she becomes a 'society darling'. Coward then convinces Charlot to feature her in his new production, and she is finally recognized as a star. When the revue opens in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, she dallies with an actor and a banker, bringing the number of her suitors to three.
Gertrude faces financial ruin after spending all her considerable earnings, but ultimately manages to pay back her creditors and retain her glamour. As her career soars, her long-distance relationship with her daughter deteriorates. When Pamela cancels an anticipated holiday with Gertie, she gets extremely drunk and insults a roomful of people at a surprise birthday party thrown by Coward. Among the people insulted at the party is American
theatre producer Richard Aldrich. When he returns to escort the hungover star home, he gives an honest appraisal of her. She is insulted, then intrigued by him, making an unannounced visit to his Cape Playhouse where she proposes to play the lead. They argue at rehearsal. He proposes marriage; she throws him out.
Back on Broadway, she has trouble getting a handle on a crucial "
The Saga of Jenny" number in ''
Lady in the Dark''. Aldrich turns up at a daunting rehearsal where he observes her frustration and takes her, with Coward, out to a nightclub. She protests, then realizes the kind of performance they are watching is the key to her dilemma in the show. Coward pronounces him "a very clever man". Gertie later gives a rousing performance of "Jenny". She marries Aldrich eight years before her triumph in ''
The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...
'' and untimely death from
liver cancer
Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...
at the age of 54.
Cast
*
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
as
Gertrude Lawrence
*
Richard Crenna as
Richard Aldrich
*
Michael Craig as Sir Anthony Spencer
*
Daniel Massey as
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
*
Robert Reed as Charles Fraser
*
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years.
Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
as Arthur Lawrence
*
Beryl Reid as Rose
*
John Collin as Jack Roper
*
Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s and has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s.
Early life
Oppenheimer was born in New York ...
as
André Charlot
Eugène André Maurice Charlot (26 July 1882 – 20 May 1956) was a French-born impresario known primarily for the musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937. He later worked as a character actor in numerous American films.
Born in ...
*
Richard Karlan
Richard Karlan (April 24, 1919 – September 10, 2004) was an American actor. He appeared in the films ''Snow Dog'', ''Union Station (film), Union Station'', ''Between Midnight and Dawn'', ''The Lemon Drop Kid'', ''Love Is Better Than Ever'', '' ...
as David Holtzmann, Gertrude's attorney
* Lynley Laurence as
Billie Carleton
*
Garrett Lewis as
Jack Buchanan
*
Anthony Eisley as Ben Mitchell
* Jock Livingston as
Alexander Woollcott
*
J. Pat O'Malley as Dan
*
Harvey Jason as Bert
* Matilda Calnan as Dorothy
* Peter Church as Narrator (voice only)
*
Jenny Agutter
Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', '' Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children'': the BBC's 1968 television seri ...
as Pamela Roper (uncredited)
*
Don Crichton as 'Limehouse Blues' dance partner (uncredited)
*
Bernard Fox as Assistant to Lord Chamberlain (uncredited)
*
Paul Harris as Soldier (uncredited)
*
Anna Lee as Hostess (uncredited)
*
Tony Lo Bianco as New York reporter (uncredited)
* Damian London as Jerry Paul (uncredited)
*
Lester Matthews as Lord Chamberlain (uncredited)
*
Pamela Kosh as Guest on Bus (uncredited)
*
Marie Baker as Orphan (uncredited)
Musical numbers
# Overture (Medley: Star!/
Someone to Watch Over Me/Jenny/Dear Little Boy/
Limehouse Blues)
# Star!
# Piccadilly
# Oh, it's a Lovely War
# In My Garden of Joy
# Forbidden Fruit (not on LP, added to end of CD)
# N' Everything
# Burlington Bertie from Bow
# Parisian Pierrot
#
Limehouse Blues
#
Someone to Watch Over Me
# Dear Little Boy (Dear Little Girl)
# Entr'acte – Star! instrumental (not on LP soundtrack or CD)
#
Someday I'll Find You
# The Physician
# Do, Do, Do
# Has Anybody Seen our Ship?
#
My Ship
# The Saga of Jenny
# Main Title – Star! instrumental (not on LP soundtrack or CD)
* Star! – Extended Version – (originally released as a 45 rpm single; added to the end of the CD; used with director/producer's approval to underscore cast of characters roll for the VHS/Laserdisc release)
Production
According to extensive production details provided in the DVD release of the film, when
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
signed on to star in ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'', her contract with
20th Century-Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Com ...
was a two-picture deal. As ''The Sound of Music'' neared completion, director Robert Wise and producer Saul Chaplin had grown so fond of her that they wanted to make sure that their team would be the one to pick up the studio's option for the other picture "before anybody else got to her first".
Wise's story editor Max Lamb suggested a
biopic
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...
of Lawrence and, although Andrews previously had rejected offers to portray the entertainer, she was as keen to work with Wise and Chaplin again as they were to work with her, and she subsequently warmed to their approach to the story. She signed for $1 million against 10 percent of the gross plus 35 cents for each soundtrack album sold.
Theatrical release
The film had its world premiere on July 18, 1968 at the
Dominion Theatre in London, replacing ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
'', which had played for three years at the theatre.
At a time when the popularity of
roadshow theatrical release
A roadshow theatrical release or reserved-seat engagement is the practice of opening a film in a limited number of theaters in major cities for a specific period of time before the wide release of the film. Roadshows would generally mimic a live ...
s in general, and musicals in particular, was on the wane, the United States was one of the later countries in which the film was released. When the film was in production, 15,000 people responded to promotional ads placed by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
for advance ticket sales in New York City, but a year later, when the studio followed up by mailing them order forms, only a very small percentage bought tickets. Sales were higher for Wednesday matinees than for Saturday nights, indicating that a crucial component—young adults—would not be a large part of the picture's audience. The film opened in the U.S. with little advance sale and good-to-mediocre reviews.
''Star!'' was a commercial disappointment in its initial run, suffering about 20 minutes of studio-requested and director-approved cuts while still in its roadshow engagements. By September 1970 Fox estimated the film had lost the studio $15,091,000.
Critical reception
Renata Adler of ''The New York Times'' observed "A lot of the sets are lovely, Daniel Massey acts beautifully as a kind of warmed Nöel Coward, and the film, which gets richer and better as it goes along, has a nice scene from ''
Private Lives
''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetuall ...
''. People who like old-style musicals should get their money's worth. So should people who like Julie Andrews. But people who liked Gertrude Lawrence had better stick with their record collections and memories."
''Variety'' wrote "Julie Andrews' portrayal...occasionally sags between musical numbers but the cast and team of redoubtable technical contributors have helped to turn out a pleasing tribute to one of the theatre's most admired stars. It gives a fascinating coverage of Lawrence's spectacular rise to showbiz fame, and also a neatly observed background of an epoch now gone."
''Time Out London'' wrote "Wise's biopic hardly deserved the rough treatment it received from most critics and audiences, who had been led by the studio's advertising to expect another ''
Sound of Music''. This was a far more ambitious project; it backfired, but it backfired with a certain amount of honour. Daniel Massey's mincing portrayal of his godfather Noël Coward wins hands down over all the other impersonations."
''TV Guide'' thought "it deserved a better fate for its enormous score, top-flight production, excellent choreography, and fine acting".
Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' described the film as "stylish, sharp-edged, and underrated".
Awards and nominations
See also
*
List of American films of 1968
References
External links
*
*
''Star!'' at AllMovie*
*
{{Authority control
1968 musical films
1968 films
20th Century Fox films
American biographical films
American musical films
1960s English-language films
Films directed by Robert Wise
Films scored by Lennie Hayton
Films set in London
Films set in New York City
Films set in the 1910s
Films set in the 1940s
Musical films based on actual events
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance
Biographical films about actors
1960s American films
English-language musical films