Film

The Star

Name: The Star
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 1952
Cast: Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood, Warner Anderson, Minor Watson

Other titles called The Star: the 2017 film.

Drama

A fading Hollywood actress clings to her fame while resisting every sensible exit offered to her. Bette Davis delivers a performance of raw, uncomfortable dignity—this is no gentle sunset but a woman battling denial, pride, and the brutal machinery of an industry that discards women her age. Uncomfortable, human, and absolutely gripping for anyone interested in how power and self-image corrode.

TMDb rating

3.6

If you liked this

All About Eve1950

Another Bette Davis masterpiece about theatre ambition, ego, and the ruthlessness required to stay relevant. Brilliantly written, perfectly acted, and it interrogates the same hunger for recognition from a different angle.

But It's been canonized to death, and some of the theatrical artifice can feel dated if you're not in the mood for 1950s melodrama.

Sunset Boulevard1950

The definitive film about Hollywood decay and delusion. Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond is the spiritual sister to Margaret Elliot—a woman whose relationship with her own myth has become more real than reality itself. Essential.

But It's bleak and occasionally grotesque. Some viewers find the tone relentlessly dark, and the ending doesn't offer comfort.

A Star Is Born1954

Judy Garland in a film about stardom's cruelty and the cost of ambition. Like The Star, it's unsentimental about show business and how it chews people up. The 1954 version is particularly powerful.

But It's long, emotionally exhausting, and Garland's performance is so raw it can feel like watching someone in real pain.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Star

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Demons1985

Both films are about people trapped by refusal to see the truth. Margaret denies her age and irrelevance; Demons' characters deny what's happening around them. The machinery grinds on regardless.

Lamberto Bava's demonic siege film—but stay with it. Like The Star, it's about people refusing to accept reality even as it becomes inescapable. The horror is partly external, but mostly about how denial destroys you. Gorgeous, lurid, and unexpectedly profound.

But It's a horror film with practical gore and Italian B-movie sensibilities. If you're looking for realism, this is operatic and sometimes camp.

The Marrying Kind1952

Cukor directing Holliday and Aldo Ray in a film about a marriage falling apart. It has the same DNA as The Star—domestic realism mixed with an unflinching look at how people self-destruct through stubbornness.

But It's quieter and less showy than The Star. If you want fireworks, this will feel understated and slow.

The Killers1946

Burt Lancaster's debut, with a script by Anthony Veiller. It's about pride, past mistakes, and how the past refuses to stay buried. The mood is noir, but the emotional core is the same: a person trapped by who they were.

But It's a different genre entirely—crime noir rather than human drama. The plot is fractured and can feel diffuse.

In a Lonely Place1950

Humphrey Bogart as a man whose temperament and reputation make it impossible for him to escape suspicion or build a normal life. It's about how identity becomes a prison you can't talk your way out of.

But Bogart's character is genuinely difficult to like, which some viewers interpret as the film itself being unpleasant rather than honest.

The Bad and the Beautiful1952

Kirk Douglas as a ruthless Hollywood producer. It explores ambition, betrayal, and the moral compromises required to stay powerful in an industry built on exploitation. The ensemble cast is superb.

But It's more of a Hollywood procedural than an intimate character study. If you want internal struggle, this prioritizes plot.

Johnny Guitar1954

Joan Crawford in a strange, fevered western directed by Nicholas Ray. Like The Star, it's about a woman in absolute control of her domain refusing to yield an inch, with Price's music adding to the fever dream quality.

But It's genuinely bizarre and doesn't always make conventional sense. If you want naturalism, this is aggressively stylized.

The Reckless Moment1949

Ophüls directing James Mason and Joan Bennett in a film about ordinary people making terrible decisions under pressure. It's tender and tragic and very much about how quickly dignity can erode.

But The plot involves a cover-up that some viewers find contrived, and the pacing is languid rather than dramatic.

Imitation of Life1959

Both films explore what happens when a woman refuses to step aside and let the next generation have their turn. The tragedy isn't that she tried—it's that she couldn't stop trying.

Douglas Sirk's melodrama about a woman building a business empire while her daughter rejects her. It has the same architecture as The Star—ambition, maternal love, and the impossibility of having both. Sirk's visual language is extraordinarily rich.

But Sirk's style is so heightened that some viewers mistake it for camp. The racial subplot is period-relevant but not always elegantly handled by modern standards.