Stella Dallas
by King Vidor
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alan Hale, Anne Shirley, Barbara O'Neil, Barbara Stanwyck, John BolesDirector: King Vidor
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Producer: Merritt Hulburd
Writer: Gertrude Purcell
Writer: Harry Wagstaff Gribble
Writer: Joe Bigelow
Writer: Olive Higgins Prouty
Writer: Sarah Y. Mason
Writer: Victor Heerman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Stella Dallas
Movie Review: A Sentimental Sacrifice
Summary: 5 Stars
It is quite telling that Frank Borzage and King Vidor, two film pioneers who both began in the silent art form of film, were quite successful in the transition to sound. And perhaps because of their origins, brought a sensitivity to sentimental dramas better than anyone else in Hollywood. In other hands, Stella Dallas might have been a maudlin soaper, but with Vidor at the helm, and Barbara Stanwyck in front of Rudolph Mate's camera lens, Stella Dallas is a memorable drama of a mother's love for her daughter.
Samuel Goldwyn had a long association with King Vidor and this is one of their finest collaborations as producer and director. The novel by Olive Higgins Prouty and adaptation by Sarah Y Mason and Victor Heerman had sudser written all over it. Yet sensitive direction, a wonderful score by Alfred E. Newman, and sparkling performances from Stanwyck and Anne Shirley turn this into a screen classic; albeit a dated one. There is more to this film than just Stanwyck and Shirley, however, and the story within the story sometimes gets lost when this film is talked about.
Stella (Barbara Stanwyck) is young and full of ambition to rise above her mill worker life. It is 1919 as her story begins to unfold, Stella pining for Stephen Dallas (John Boles), who missed his chance at happiness with a society girl when his father went broke. Stella is sweet, and keeps herself in front of him until he notices. It isn't long before they are married, and Stella gets a taste of the nicer life and respectability she desires. Her other side of the tracks upbringing, however, keeps getting in the way. Vidor does a wonderful job of straddling the fence as regards Stella; showing her as both garish and sweet. But she is a clay her husband wants to mold into something she is not, rather than loving her for what she is. Vidor shows that as much as Stella's behavior can be blamed for the couple's problems, so can Stephen's refusal to loosen up and be proud of his wife.
Not long after a beautiful baby enters their lives, Stella finds a pal in Ed (Alan Hale), whose good heart but lurid behavior at least doesn't make her feel ashamed of herself. Both Vidor and Stanwyck make no excuses for Stella's behavior, yet in doing so, show the deeper truth that had Stephen loved her for who she was, things might have been different. Separated and raising her Laurel (Anne Shirley) alone while Stephen falls in love all over again with Helen Morrison (Barbara O'Neil), and sees the life he actually wanted, Stella stays married, perhaps hoping that one day he will come back and love her for who she is. Stanwyck is marvelous in a scene where he comes to visit Laurel at Christmas and for a moment her hope burns bright, then fades like fingers putting out the flame from a candle.
After the inevitable divorce occurs, Stella makes every sacrifice for her daughter, trying to give her refined Laurel all the society trappings she deserves. But a moment on a train where Stella overhears Laurel's friends talking, sets in motion a heartbreaking sacrifice for both Stella and Laurel. Barbara O'Neil is quite marvelous in what could have been an unsympathetic role. She makes Helen a kind woman who Laurel cares for and is good for Stephen. And she is also kind and understanding in regards to Stella. She is no home-wrecker, only a woman caught in a terribly difficult situation. Stanwyck is stellar here, making you dislike her one moment, and love her the next. The love she has for her daughter is shown in all the dresses she makes for her by hand; all copies of society fashions.
Often lost in the hoopla over the subject matter and Stanwyck's performance is the equally tremendous job turned in by Anne Shirley in the role of Lolly (Laurel). She is radiant as a young woman full of refinement and happiness but basking in her mother's devotion to her. Her romantic moments with Richard (Tim Holt) and heartbreak which follows show the contrast between the world Stella wants for her and where she belongs, and the reality of being Stella's daughter among the blue bloods. Laurel knows her mother needs her, however, just as she needed her mother growing up, so Stella's first attempt at sacrifice fails. What follows is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and a rich and mature look at what it is to be a parent and let go at the right time.
This film rises above a mere soaper, giving a rich and even mature look at how imperfect people can create something wonderful, even at their own expense. A sentimental film classic.
Summary of Stella Dallas
True heroines don't always save lives. Sometimes they're simply mothers, with an everlasting devotion to their children. Such is the case in Stella Dallas. Starring Barbara Stanwyck in an Academy Award?(r)-nominated* performance that's "as courageous as it is fine" (The New York Times), this enduring classic is a "vivid and authentic cross-section of American life [full of] deeply moving emotional power" (The Hollywood Reporter)! Even after her marriage to well-bred Stephen Dallas (John Boles) ends, irrepressible Stella (Stanwyck) is determined to give their daughter (Anne Shirley) the life she never had. And when it comes down to her child's happiness versus her own, Stella's sacrifice is truly the epitome of bravery. *1937: ActressBarbara Stanwyck gave one of her inimitable and wonderfully enigmatic performances as a mill worker who marries her way into high society and soon experiences layers of frustration. Channeling her restlessness, she soon makes a positive though highly self-sacrificial decision on her daughter's behalf, and endures the agony of being replaced in her husband's life by an old, blue-blooded flame. King Vidor (The Crowd) directs with a fascinating sense of duality about Stanwyck's character: is her lower-caste vulgarity something to sneer at or something to applaud for the contrast she presents to the mannered upper classes? Stanwyck plays the riddle brilliantly, right down to the final moment of her character's weird self-satisfaction at being ostracized from her daughter's honeyed life. --Tom Keogh
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