Star Dust

This is such a charming film. It concerns young hopefuls who want to get into Hollywood. The lead is played by Linda Darnell, and the script was written based upon what really happened to her only the year before. Both in real life and in this film's story, Linda was discovered by a travelling Hollywood talent scout (in reality she came from Dallas, in the film from the fictitious small town of Rockville, Arkansas). She then went to Hollywood, took a screen test, but was sent back home because she was discovered to be only 15 (but returned anyway). In the film, she is sent back home because she was 16 going on 17, precisely the age she really was when she made this film. I have already had occasion to praise Darnell's brilliant film debut (when she was 15 going on 16) the previous year, in HOTEL FOR WOMAN (1939, see my review). Darnell met with a terrible fate, however. In 1965, aged 41, she was sitting and watching this very film on television when a fire broke out in the house and she died of burns. The young male lead in the film is John Payne, aged 28. Payne was a very fine fellow, as I discovered the only time I met him. He and my mother had known each other in Virginia, though he was a few years older. She and I went to see him backstage at a play, where we had a jolly chat. He came from a wealthy background and had the easy and confident manner of someone who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But he did not choke on the spoon, and instead became an excellent movie actor. I have always thought that he should have been in better films, but he was mostly a star of B pictures. By the time this film was made, he had already appeared in ten films in only four years. In this one he sings as well as acts. He and Darnell are summoned to Hollywood for screen tests at the same time and meet on the train. The other lead actors in the film are Roland Young, who plays the talent scout, and Charlotte Greenwood who plays his colleague. They are both superb, being the old pros that they were. I note that Darnell's biography on IMDb wrongly names her character in this film as Carolyn Ayres, whereas the correct name is Carolyn Sayres. The film was directed by Walter Lang, who is best known for WITH A SONG IN MY HEART (1952, about Jane Froman), CALL ME MADAM (1953), THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (1954), and THE KING AND I (1956), all of which were smash hits. The 1950s were truly the glory days of Walter Lang, who retired in 1961 after having directed 66 films. Donald Meek plays a supporting role in this film and it is a serious part, unlike his usual whimsical ones. The film is romantic and full of youthful zest and hope. It makes a great change from gloom and doom, of which we have so much these days. One little touch amused me, namely that in order to demonstrate his small-town naivete upon arriving in Hollywood, John Payne pronounces the name of Charles Laughton as 'Charles 'Laffton'. Perhaps that was an in joke, since one thing Charles Laughton in person certainly was not was someone who could be described as a laugh a minute. He could be quite horrid. This film is very much a breath of fresh air, though very much an early forties film with all the manners and mores of those days, which seem so innocent today. How strange to think that only a year after this film was released, the world would be plunged into war and joie de vivre would dry up. This film was thus one of the last gasps of cheerfulness in the cinema before life became grim.

Linda Darnell wants to be discovered by a talent scout. Well, luck falls in her lap, when Roland Young, ex-silent screen star and now movie studio talent scout, enters her diner near a college campus looking for some fresh faces. Costarring John Payne and Charlotte Greenwood with a young George Montgomery and young Robert Lowery in bit parts and other recognizeable faces, this is a pretty enjoyable film with some upbeat songs near the beginning. If I have any major problems with it, it's that it's not funny enough or involving enough in the second half to really captivate the viewer's interest. But on the whole, it should please most viewers.

There are also two other things I wanted to comment on:

(1) This movie mirrors Linda Darnell's own career. And, maybe it was the inspiration for penning this movie. When Miss Darnell was first discovered, she was under age and the Fox executives were reluctant to put her under contract. That's all I really know. But, that happens to her character here, too. (Also, this was only her third film, her second being "Day-Time Wife," which I have also reviewed.)

(2) And, on a sad note, one night while visiting a friend, Miss Darnell was badly burned, when the house caught on fire and she never recovered. She had just watched "Star Dust" on TV that night.

"Star Dust" is the film that Linda Darnell watched on the night she was caught in the fire that would take her life the next day.

Darnell plays Carolyn Sayres, a young girl determined to get her chance in Hollywood when a studio agent (Roland Young) comes along looking for new talent. He rejects her because she's too young, but Carolyn forges a letter to the studio head and wins a screen test. On the train to Los Angeles, she meets a handsome football player (John Payne) who is also a fresh discovery. Once in Hollywood, they meet the third winner of a screen test, a talented singer (Mary Healy).

Little do any of them know that studio politics interfere with their chances, but the drama coach (Charlotte Greenwood) believes in Carolyn and finds a way to get her test before the head of the studio.

This film, the basic plot anyway, was remade years later as the awful "Dancing in the Dark," a musical starring Betsy Drake. "Star Dust" is much better, featuring the beautiful Darnell, handsome Payne and the magical singing of Mary Healy. It also has shots of Graumann's Chinese Theatre as Payne and Darnell see how their feet match up to stars' feet in cement.

Linda Darnell got a very early start in Hollywood. She was 15 when Fox wanted to sign her, but when they learned her age, they sent her home. When they found out that she'd won a contest with the first prize a contract at Universal, they brought her back out. She started out great guns, and then she got married. Zanuck, unable to promote her as a virginal ingénue, lost interest. Darnell returned a little later as sultry and sexy and played some of her best roles.

Sitting in her old secretary's house in Illinois at the age of 41, trying to do her taxes, and watching this film must have been an odd experience for Darnell, who by then had alcohol and money problems and was trying to make a comeback. It wasn't to be; she died in the hospital the next day. A sad end for the beautiful young woman of "Star Dust."

Really cute flick of young girl determined to make it as an actress in that wicked town of Hollywood.The sleaziness of the business is glossed over to make it into a more Cinderella type story.Charlotte Greenwood is fun as the motherly dramatic coach,Roland Young is amusing as the talent scout.Mary Healy sings the title song with gusto,and John Payne is fun as an aspiring actor.George Montgomery has nice bit as a failed actor.This was in the sweet phase of Darnell's career before she morphed into more adult,sultry roles.Linda was a real beauty,no nose bobs,implants or capped teeth for her.She was a sad case of the Hollywood system failing her.After Darryl Zanuck lost interest in promoting her,her career never got back on track.All this despite her fine comedic talent she displayed in later films.

The story of a hopeful young woman who wants to become a movie star is given rather clichéd treatment but still manages to be enjoyable fluff thanks to an excellent cast, all doing their best to make the film look better than it really is.

LINDA DARNELL is at her most beautiful as a young aspiring actress who has to wait awhile before she gets the big break that turns her into a movie star. JOHN PAYNE is her love interest, also an actor hoping to make it in Hollywood. Unfortunately, his role also is assigned some comic relief about a broken nose which becomes a running gag throughout the story. Nevertheless, Payne performs his chores in easy style.

The good supporting cast includes ROLAND YOUNG, CHARLOTTE GREENWOOD, DONALD MEEK,WILLIAM GARGAN--and in a bit part GEORGE MONTGOMERY.

Starts out realistically enough but soon becomes mired in a predictable script with too many Hollywood clichés thrown into the mix. But if you're a fan of Linda Darnell, don't miss this one. She's stunning.