On-the-skids melodrama with Bette Davis as fallen movie celebrity Margaret Elliot, watching as all her belongings go up on the auction block ("one dollar!" someone calls out); her motto from this point seems to be "Going, going, gone." The picture, enjoyable and perhaps cathartic for both Davis and her fans at the time, is both campy and ferocious, with claws out; a look at how celebrity changes perceptions and, when that celebrity fades, how difficult it is for once-famous people to get their lives back on track. There are slow stretches involving Davis with potential suitor Sterling Hayden; however, her early downward spiral and subsequent struggle to find work is absorbing--in a masochistic, gaudy way. A last-act tease, wherein Margaret is approached for a humiliating role in a new movie project, deliciously appears to parallel Bette Davis in "The Star"! Her grit and determination makes the picture a satisfying wallow. **1/2 from ****

To compare "The Star" to "Sunset Boulevard" and "All About Eve" is to do an injustice to those films. They are classics because at their helm were Billy Wilder and Jospeh Mankiewicz, directors of great intelligence and above all great style – qualities blatantly missing in "The Star"."The Star" has no style whatsoever. All it has is a big star, Bette Davis. Ironically her character boasts having directed more than one director and that's exactly what seems to be happening here. Hers was a talent that needed to be harnessed by a strong director. Stuart Heisler clearly leaves Davis to her own devices and what results is an over the top, campy, mannered performance. Of course her fans will eat it up. But this is not good acting. Its acting that weakens what from the start is not a strongly scripted film."The Star" should have been memorable as a film about ageing in Hollywood, an ever pertinent subject, rather than being memorable as Bette Davis camp fest.

In some ways, this story seems like a SUNSET BOULEVARD knockoff. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but THE STAR does come two years later and the similarities do seem obvious. In both pictures, we have a fading actress whose public may no longer want her and whose colleagues no longer seem willing to hire her. This is because they do not look at her as being vital or as young as she still regards herself. There are other borrowed elements, too.One of those borrowed elements is the presence of a hunky and somewhat younger man that she now finds herself living with. In SUNSET BOULEVARD the hunk was William Holden; and in THE STAR it is Sterling Hayden. Another element these movies share is the comeback attempt that the actress obsesses over, and the hunk supports her emotionally through this process. Of course, she must fail and realize that screen test or not, she's finished in the picture- making business.While Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson) has a tragic climax, Margaret (played by Bette Davis) gets a much happier, and perhaps sappier, ending. And though Norma's time on top seems to have occurred much earlier-- back to the silent days in Hollywood-- Margaret's story is more contemporary. Both characters, however, are rooted in the present day while desperately trying to cling to the past. I won't say which one is more outrageous, or which one chews more scenery. I will leave that up to you to decide.

Bette Davis had a triumphant comeback in 1950 with "All About Eve" just a year after leaving Warner Brothers. That great role, however, did not result in an avalanche of great scripts to come her way. After all, she was well past the age of 40, and considered difficult to work with by many Hollywood moguls. "The Star" released in 1952, is respectable, although not quite of the caliber of Margo Channing. Davis plays Margaret Elliot, a big Hollywood star on the way down. Not only does she find herself replaced by younger actresses on the screen, she's also out of money. Yes, this could have been Davis' life story at the time. To deal with her problems, Margaret finds herself turning to drink -- she is picked up for drunk driving while touring the Hollywood celebrities homes (with her Oscar propped up on the dashboard!). Enter Jim, played by Sterling Hayden, who bails her out of jail and begins a relationship with this difficult and temperamental actress. Just why he seems to take to her strains credibility a bit -- apparently Margaret gave him a part in a movie, but barely remembers him. After all, Jim is a handsome, rugged boat-builder; and she is a spoiled actress. The differences between them escalate, and Margaret sinks all her hope in a movie role given her. In typical vain Hollywood fashion, she fails to listen to the director, and tries to turn a middle-aged frump role into a ridiculous sexy one. This, of course, results in disaster for Margaret. This is not a perfect film, and there are holes n the script, and the ending feels tacked on. But what set Bette apart from other actresses of her genre was her ability to take a mundane script and run with it -- she runs the gamut of emotions in this part, and has at least several breakdowns and tantrums that are always a joy to watch her perform. I don't feel Bette and Sterling Hayden had much chemistry on screen, although Hayden does a respectable job with his role. A young Natalie Wood is also on hand as Davis' daughter; she has little to do here except look cute, but the future would tell a different tale.