Stella Dallas (1937)

Stella Dallas
Directed by King Vidor
Written by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman based on the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty
1937/USA
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
First viewing
#114 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Stella Martin ‘Stell’ Dallas: I’ve always been known to have a stack of style![/box]

1937 was quite the year for tearjerkers.  First, Make Way for Tomorrow and now this.  It was impossible for me not to melt into a puddle at this story of mother love.

Stella Martin (Barbara Stanwyck) is the daughter of a mill hand but dreams of joining high society.  She looks set to fulfill her ambition when she meets and marries Stephen Dallas.(John Boles). They soon have a daughter, who is the light of both their lives.  But Stella is gregarious and her tastes are vulgar and she is incompatible with the conservative Stephen.  So they separate, and Stella raises her daughter Laurel alone.  Laurel (Anne Shirley) takes after her father but loves her mother sincerely.  The day comes when Stella’s flamboyance becomes an embarrassment.  With Marjorie Main as Stella’s mother and Alan Hale as Stella’s crass pal.

I don’t know why I thought this would have a plot similar to Mildred Pierce, where the daughter betrays the mother.  I was so wrong.  The devoted daughter angle makes the story even more heartbreaking.  All the performances, save John Boles who is a bit of a stick, are fabulous.  This is probably Alan Hale’s career achievement.  He is just wonderful as the over-the-top clueless drunk.  Stanwyck never lets me down and here she is by turns hard-boiled and tender.  Vidor manages to make us really feel for people who are deemed ridiculous for being who they are.  Highly recommended.

Barbara Stanwyck was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar and Anne Shirley was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  As much as I love Irene Dunne, it would have been hard to me not to vote for Stanwyck.  Instead, Luise Ranier won her second straight Best Actress Oscar for unconvincingly playing a Chinese peasant.

The film is currently available to rent on Amazon Watch Instant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE58pA2aydw

Clip – Barbara Stanwyck and Alan Hale