A Star Is Born

Plot synopsis:
The opening scene takes place at a rock concert. The audience is getting restless, and even a child has got lost. Somebody throws some fireworks at other people and a fight breaks out. Finally, the star arrives on stage, but he is drunk. He sings one song and gets halfway through the second one when he forgets the lyrics of it completely. John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson) insults the audience, and then walks off the stage leaving behind only mayhem.His entourage gets frantic at him as they leave in the car. They, including Bobbie Ritchie (Gary Busey) are worried because John's attitude is horrible. Bobbie gives John some cocaine, as he does at several points during the movie. One of his band members offers him some adrenaline smuggled out of a hospital by somebody she knows. Another tries to convince him to sleep for a while, as the concert of the following day is really important. However, John insists on going out somewhere.He is taken to a bar where Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand) is singing her own songs. John has taken a bottle of whiskey with him but the bar is unlicensed and only tea, coffee or herbal tea is available to buy and the waitress tries to get John to give her the alcohol to look after until he leaves but John insists on keeping the bottle with him. Finally, Esther steps in the conversation and allows him to drink it as long as he doesn't make a scene while she is singing. John Howard gets mesmerized by Esther.Soon after, a couple of John's fans find him in the bar and intrude on him by sitting at his table uninvited. The male fan talks loudly over the singing even though John asks him not to. The fan, who is high on something, gets angry at John, asking if he thinks he's too good for them. The fan throws a punch and the two then end up in a fight. Esther and her backup singers take cover as the situation disintegrates. The bar owner manages to break up the fight, announces they are closing, and calls the police. Esther knows the publicity would be bad for John if he gets arrested, so she grabs John by the hand and helps him escape the crowd by ducking out of a back door and they get into John's car.They arrived at Esther's; he wants to come in but she says no and invites him to come back for breakfast, which he does. Over breakfast, he invites her to a concert that afternoon and she agrees to go. She travels there with him in his helicopter.At the concert, he starts singing and suddenly gets the idea of making her sing onstage. Esther runs backstage and John follows her. A male fan kisses John - who doesn't make a show out of it, but says that he doesn't like the fan, but his motorbike. The crazed fan gives him his motorbike. John jumps on the bike and starts riding around rather wildly, including going up on stage and doing 'donuts'. Unfortunately, he fails to realize he has snagged a cable, loses control of the bike and ends up going off the front of the stage taking a lot of speakers with him. The audience is getting mad at him and a riot begins. John is taken away by ambulance and all his entourage leave in the helicopter, everyone forgetting Esther and leaving her all on her own among the ruins.After a only slightly hurt John is released from hospital, he is resting at home by his pool. A radio DJ called Bebe Jesus (M.G. Kelly) intrudes on John's privacy by hovering over the swimming pool in a helicopter, dropping numerous advertising flyers all over John's yard and and loudly invites John to his studio over a lous speaker. John gets angry about the DJ's rudeness and shoots at he helicopter. Bebe Jesus then gets angry and threatens to not play any of John's songs in the future, and never to say his name again on his radio show.Days later, when John goes to the radio station with a case of expensive whiskey for Bebe Jesus to make peace with him. The radio disk jockey will not accept John's apology and insults John on air in front of his live audience calling John an alcoholic.By happenstance Esther is at the same radio station at the same time, taping a commericial, John is dismayed because Esther has not tried to get in touch with him. He asks one of his entourage if they tried her home and they say she wasn't home. When he does manage to find her, it turns out she tried calling him but three times the phone wasn't answered and the fourth time she heard a message saying the phone was disconnected. John thinks about it and tells her it would have been because his phone number is changed every six weeks to keep calls from fans in the middle of the night to a minimum because they keep finding out his number.John takes Esther to his mansion. He writes her name on the wall with a can of spray paint. There, they make love, have a bath together, and he listens to her ad-libbing on his piano. She thinks no one would be able to sing to the tune she has made up but he comes up with some lyrics on the spot and starts singing along to the music.Little by little, he starts to admire and encourage her. He even lends her his music band and studio time for her to record her own materials with her voice. One of the music producers complains that John hasn't recorded any new songs for a long time. The producer tells him that the musicians are good, but they don't fit Esther's music, style or voice. John disagrees but Esther steps in and changes some of the music to make it her own.John's manager Brian (Paul Mazursky) has signed him for a charity concert in favor of the American Indians. John doesn't want to do it but he is finally convinced as he needs to satisfy his public just this once, a concert which is supposed to go smoothly for once. When the day of the concert arrives, there is a huge crowd as usual. On the concert, John stops singing, stops the musicians, and tells the audience about a discovery of his.John has secretly arranged for Esther's backup singers to be there. Esther is forced to sing a song. Although the audience boos when she starts to sing she quickly wins them over and they wildly cheer for her afterwards.Realizing Esther's talent, John's manager wants to sign her. The media presents wants to interview and photograph her.John and Esther excape the frenzy in his flashy car. John tells her that she's succeeded. Esther tells John she wants them to get married. John tells her that he's no good for her but she persists. They get married in a rushed civil union.John takes Esther to a plot of land he has out west, but there is no home on it. They start working on the site and build a simple but lovely house. She wants to have a tour co-starring with him, but he thinks that she should do the tour on her own. She feels insecure and again asks him to go with her. He gets angry, because he doesn't want to go with her. Since John won't tour with her she stays home with him,being only a wife. Outside the house John creates more mayhem on his motorbikes. He jumps from some plank-boards and lands on the ground... without the motorbike. He pretends to be unconcious and Esther runs to take care of him, only to find out her's not hurt, just teasing her. She jokes that they won't be able to have children because he'll hurt himself doing crazy stunts. She teases him back, saying she doesn't like men with beards, so he tries to cut his off, but Esther won't let him.Brian arrives with a photographer (Sally Kirkland). Brian thinks that the bad publicity surrounding John would taint Esther's tour and that John should stay at home while she goes on tour. Brian tells John and John tells Esther while a photographer takes pictures of her.John finally accompanies her, but his idea of creating a new music band with his studio musicians called Freeway, but the idea seems to fall apart. Esther career takes off and stays up high.One evening John goes to the studio with intentions of buckling down and restarting his career. His band is there and are already recording when John walks in.One of them (Stephen Bruton) tells John that the group is now called Speedway, that they have gone on without him and are having quite a success. After all, they had to do something while John was frolicking with Esther. John is hurt and dismayed, but pretends not to be. To cover his disappointment and embarrassment John makes up a story and says that he has different plans: to go on a tour on his own, with only two musicians he found in a town bar.At home alone John is sad but begins to sing with his guitar, writing a new song, recording this on a tape recorder. He is interrupted by the phone. He picks it up: the voice is asking for Esther, wants to talk to her and asks him whether he is his secretary. John doesn't pick the phone anymore. John tells Esther - when she arrives after another successful gig - that many people are looking for her. She asks him what happened to his idea of going on tour with his old band, but John doesn't want to talk about it, and goes to drink some more.The Grammy Awards: John supposed to be there and Esther keeps looking around for him. When John doesn't show up Esther wants to leave, but Brian and Freddie Lowenstine (Joanne Linville) stops her. Esther wins the award for Best Female Singer. While she is giving her acceptance speech, John arrives completely drunk and makes a scene, going up on stage with Esther. Esther thanks two people for her success - one of them is John. John knows he's disappointed her by his behavior since they have been married, so he says that Esther doesn't owe anything anybody and goes on to insult the audience and the whole music industryEsther and John try to leave, practically running away. The journalists run after them. In their blind rush to escape the couple falls down, John landing on Esther. One of the journalists asks John if he has resorted to violence with his wife. John punches the guy, making a bad situation even worse. Esther is outraged at the paparazzi and tries to stop them. When she finds they won't stop,she helps John up and leaves with him.Esther's success goes on. She goes on tour, this time on her own. Brian is her manager as well. Once, while she is being hurried on by the light technicians and there are problems with the synch of singing and the descent of some stairs, she tries to talk to Brian. John is writing songs again, many of them, but in a different way. Brian finally agrees to give John a last chance. After all, and although he doesn't want to admit it, he appreciates him. Brian feels that he can't save John no matter what he does. Brian calls on John and listens to the songs, and does like them. Brian tells him that these songs are different to what he used to do, but that he would like to have them recorded anyway, but suggests John release some of his old hits along with the new stuff, in case the public won't accept his new image. However, John's wants to go with the new stufff only, so he turns down the offer, saying that he is going to record the new songs with other musicians and producers.John leaves for his LA mansion, all on his own. However, he finds a "squatter". Quentin (Marta Heflin) is swimming half-naked on his swimming-pool. Quentin seeming high on something. John is rude to Quentin. He wants her to go away. She writes for Rolling Stone and other magazines. She says she would do anything to get an exclusive interview... with Esther! When Esther arrives soon after, she finds them in bed together. Quentin begins to interview Esther nonchalantly, as thought it's no big deal that Esther has caught her in bed with John. Esther is in shock and remains motionless and speechless. John tells Quentin to get the hell out, and she does so in anger, on the way telling Esther nothing really happened because John couldn't get an erection.Esther leaves the bedroom and smashes some vases and all the bottles of alcohol of John. She slaps him but John doesn't defend himself. She tells him he is not going to destroy her life like he has destroyed his own.In spite of her anger, Esther finds she still loves John and can't leave him. They go to their small home out west in the middle of nowhere.One day, John goes alone to the airport to pick someone up and bring them back. He takes his flashy sports car, puts on some of Esther's songs and purposefully drives recklessly and much too fast, ignoring the traffic signs on the road.A helicopter in the middle of nowhere. The red sports car has had an accident. John is dead. Esther runs to him but it's useless. Esther asks for a blanket. She cries in silence. She wonders what she would do without him. He is taken away in an ambulance.Back at that huge mansion John had bought, Esther is alone, staring at the wall, still struggling to accept that John is dead. She runs downstairs when she hears John's voice. John is calling out, demanding someone else answer the phone. A mover comes from another part of the house asking if she knows how to turn off the tape recorder that's playing that old song writing session John's taped, during which the phone had started ringing.The next shot is of John's funeral procession going slowly down the freeway. The DJ who wouldn't accept John's apology, is heard on the radio saying that John was one of his closest friends and that John was one of the greats.At Esther's next concert, as she steps up to the microphone and the lights are dimmed, the entire audience quietly raises candles as tribute to her lost husband. Touched, Esther softly begins singing one of John's trademark songs that his group performed early in the film, but as a ballad rather than a rock song. It gradually leads into more powerful singing, all of it focusing on their love, the impact he had on her life and the effect on her of his loss.

Tags: tragedy, romantic

Review:
There are dated scenes in 2019 but it is still a great movie with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson showing excellent chemistry.
Thirty years after its initial release, the third version of "A Star Is Born" finally comes to DVD in a package that should please the most devoted fans of Barbra Streisand.
Easy to dismiss, the movie's career-polarizing story is such a sturdy pile of Hollywood-style clichés that variations of it exist in other films including Streisand's own "Funny Girl".
This time reset to the then-contemporary music scene, the timeworn plot follows self-destructive rock star John Norman Howard on his deep-dive career descent just as he meets club singer Esther Hoffman who is awaiting her big break.Troubles dog their courtship from the outset, as John Norman (both names please) responds to grasping fans and bloodless DJs with random acts of violence (from which he inexplicably escapes prosecution).
It still has a certain emotional resonance despite its numerous flaws.Although Streisand in her prime seems like the ideal choice to play a rising singing star, her screen persona is simply too strong and predefined to play Esther credibly.
This is capped off by an uninterrupted eight-minute close-up of her memorial performance - great except when she regrettably mimics John Norman's style toward the end.Kristofferson, on the other hand, gives a superb performance throughout, managing a level of honesty that grounds the film and makes palpable his concurrent feelings of love, pride and resentment toward Esther.
A big seller in its day, the soundtrack is a hodgepodge of different styles from the 1970's - some songs still quite good ("Everything", "Woman in the Moon", "Watch Closely Now"), some that have moved to kitsch ("Queen Bee", Kenny Loggins' "I Believe in Love") and of course, the inescapable "Evergreen".The print transfer on the 2006 DVD is clean and the sound gratefully crisp thanks to digital remastering.
The rest of the film's supporting parts are very undefined which makes this version weaker than the others.But for those who are interested in hearing Barbra sing, A Star Is Born will more than satisfy you.
The film got an Oscar for the song Evergreen which Kristofferson and Streisand duet and it became one of her best selling records.
Judy Garland was similarly served in her version with The Man That Got Away although that song was nominated and did not win.A Star Is Born is an enduring tale and I don't think we've seen the last of it.
This third version (actually fourth, if you include 1932's "What Price Hollywood" starring Constance Bennett and Lowell Sherman) stalls early in the game by transposing the dramatic setting of Hollywood movie-making to the brash, uncouth pop/rock music scene...
Possessing arguably the finest vocal instrument known to man, she weaves absolute magic in her singing scenes, notably "Woman in the Moon" and especially her heart-breaking finale number, "Are You Watching Me Now."  Here, and only here, does she seize an emotional connection to Esther that evaded her throughout the film.Alas, it is not enough to save this film dud.
That just might be some sort of cinematic record.Or think about this: The plot of this musical revolves around a love affair between two musical superstars, yet, while Streisand's songs are performed in their entirety -- including the interminable finale -- her costar Kris Kristofferson isn't allowed to complete even one single song he performs.
Even though this was one of Streisand's greatest box office hits, it is arguably her worst film and contains her worst performance.Anyway, moving the melodrama from Hollywood to the world of sex-drugs-and-rock'n'roll, Streisand plays Esther Hoffman, a pop singer on the road to stardom, who shares the fast lane for a while with Kristofferson's John Norman Howard, a hard rocker heading for the off ramp to Has-beenville.
A rocky update of the story is a decent idea and in fact lends itself well to the story-line and if the execution is a bit clunky and now dated, that's both pardonable and understandable.Things I liked - well let's start with Kris Kristofferson who, with the more difficult part, certainly convinces as a hell-raising rock star, fuelled by drugs and alcohol, aware of tastes and fashions passing him by but with enough perception to see Streisand's Esther as the future.
It's fun trying to pick out rock prototypes for his John Norman Howard character - I'm between Jim Morrison and Leon Russell myself, the latter married at the time ironically to sultry singer Rita Coolidge who herself gets a brief cameo appearance, while Howard's behaviour at Streisand's little night club where he "discovers" her recalls an infamous out of control episode in the "lost weekend" period in John Lennon's life, if memory serves.
I'm no fan of La Diva Streisand's singing or indeed acting but at least in her vocals she exercises some restraint and delivers a surprising variety of material demonstrating at least some versatility on her part, from the title-theme ballad "Evergreen", (the gorgeous music to which was, surprisingly enough written by her), light Labelle-type funk of "I Believe in Love" and the big torch ballad "The Woman in the Moon" which while beneath Judy's "The Man That Got Away", covers the same territory in a still acceptable way.Things not to like - Streisand herself does a reasonable job and initially tones down her trademark "kooky" and "sensitive" personae a bit but you never really believe in her as a real person.
Unfortunately as the film progresses so does her profile and we get embarrassingly lame scenes with the couple coo-ing at each other in various locations including a candle-surrounded bath scene, Streisand overacting furiously as she argues with a cassette-tape of Howard's voice after he's done his James Dean-type exit from the planet and worst of all that single long shot of her singing the finale medley, which is when you appreciate that yes, it's just another Barbie vanity exercise after all (especially when you see her name down as executive producer).The dialogue is pretty rock-star cliché throughout and some of the situations come across very second-hand too (Howard snorting up before every show, his assaults on a critical dee-jay, Streisand's MOR music somehow wowing a crowd of rock 'n' rollers at a benefit gig) and of course the familiarity with the story reduces the surprise element of some of the plot developments.All told though, long as it was, there were far worse films than this made in the 70's.
Being raised in the 70's , I was so in love with Kris Kristoffersons look and demeanor,of course I am no movie critic,but for the time era,I think it was very good.
The two main actors are giving us such great performances, that at the end, it is really heart breaking to know what finally happened to their characters.The alchemy between Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson is marvelous, and the song are just great the way they are.
I thought the 2018 version was very good, but after seeing Streisand and Kristofferson the newer version is picture of the year Kristofferson looked like he was in pain every time they had to appear affectionate.
**SOME SPOILERS** Very likely the schmaltziest of the three or is it four versions of the movie "A Star is Born" has super rock star John Norman Howard, Kris Kristofferson, self destruct right before our eyes as his old lady or wife Esther, Barbara Streisand, rises to to top of the pop music world without as much as breaking into a sweat or note.
In fact John's death unlike the previous movies was more like and accident instead of a suicide which made it less, for what it's worth, tragic.A devastated Esther who had since made up with her drunk and philandering husband John came back out of hiding to belt out a song at a memorial for her late husband who's singing brought the roof down as well as caused her to suffer what seemed like a major emotional as well as psychical breakdown.
Back then though, probably was a different story.Audiences will be introduced to artist John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson), an entertainer who's stardom is beginning to die among his fans.
It's even more coincidental that a lot of the scenes displayed throughout the running time depict rather closely to what Kristofferson himself was going through at the time of his life.Barbra Streisand also puts in a good performance as the unknowing upcoming celebrity that is forced into the life of popularity and paparazzi.
A blockbuster at the time of it's original release (it was the second-highest grossing film of 1976), the third screen version of A STAR IS BORN has always divided critics and fans alike.
The rest of the film's original songs (mostly composed by Williams and Rupert Holmes) are pretty good as well, and Streisand sounds fantastic - her live solo numbers remain in the memory long after the rest of the movie has faded.
He played a drunk/druggie only the way someone who really had gone through it could - and he had - in '76 he finally got on the wagon, so it was all very real.The music is GREAT and even though in later years I thought Streisand was somewhat not the right person for him in a physical beauty sense, I think it's more a problem for male viewers than female.
Watching all the concert footage in the '76 version was so much like what I was living at the time.I am working my way through the commentary by Streisand, but she seems to only talk about herself and the songs, so far she has barely even mentioned Kris or details about scenes in the movie.
So, for the purpose of telling you my thoughts on the film, I won't compare it at all to the Judy Garland version.Kris Kristofferson might be the only person in the world who can pull off a bearded, '70s look while still coming across as hygienic.
If you like the Oscar-winning song "Evergreen", you'll love the scene in the movie when they sing it together.My advice is to either watch this version first or forget you've seen any other version when you rent it.
Yes, the critics were right about everything: Streisand's pop songs sound more like her usual, Broadway show-stoppers; Streisand's character's instant stardom is contrived, to say the least; Kris is an excellent songwriter, but he, uh, can't sing a note (yet he didn't write any of the songs in the film); and (getting a little mean here) even with a beard, Kristofferson is prettier than Babs.
I don't remember when I first learned of "A Star Is Born", but I eventually learned that the first version was the 1937 one starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, then there was the 1954 one starring Judy Garland and James Mason, and lastly there was the 1976 one starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.
The really interesting character is Kristofferson's burnt-out rock star who watches Streisand's nightclub singer overtake him.The previous versions were indictments of Hollywood's star system, while this one makes it look as though the problems are all of one's own making.
A viewer could be forgiven for believing that Kris Kristofferson & Barbara Streisand were a couple off screen as well as on, with their incredible displays of pure affection towards one another.The film has been described in the past as a 'Barbara Streisand concert on film, set to a soap opera storyline' however for anyone that enjoys watching a film that takes you beyond the living room into a world where the characters seem truly alive - A Star is Born is well worth the hiring price.With its incredible soundtrack, flawless acting and touching reality in regards to human emotions and the true frailty of life; A Star is Born is a film that draws you into the world of Esther Hoffman & the love of her life John Norman Howard.A film for anyone that sees the beauty in real love - the kind that keeps you devoted to a person even as they break your heart....
I found it hard to like John Norman Howard (Kristofferson), he was such a jerk and therefore did not buy into Esther Hoffman's (Streisand) love for the man.
A couple of music artists fall in love, the only trouble is that she is on the way up while he is on the way down.I don't know the number of times this movie has been made, but it goes beyond the official count because so many people have used this template (Breaking Glass is the punk rock version of it!) The plot is  actually nothing more than a gilded frame in which to put a star, and if they have star quality it will shine out.Judy Garland's version is hardly more than a variety show with bits of acting: and like this, has no real interest to those that have no appreciation of the central star.
Had to up my rating from a 1 because I think the production values were good, the movie wasn't choppy or hard to watch.Primarily the entire film is a vehicle for Barbra Streisand to show off her clothes.
It is not a disaster, Streisand sounds absolutely heavenly and sings with such control, the songs Evergreen and particularly With One More Look at You are beautiful and really moving(Woman in the Moon is also lovely but not quite with the other two's impact) and Gary Busey makes the most of his too-limited screen time, even though he's only on screen for about 15 minutes his character is one of the more interesting ones.
I don't think I've ever seen a film before where you didn't have special effects for these scenes.Finally I just have to comment on the 5:00+ minute still shot of Streisand singing at the end.
So I decided to give this film another look, and I was glad I did.Initially, I had hated this movie, and that had to be because I was too familiar with both stars' music and personas, and I, like a lot of others, distanced myself from the characters and the story, and could not give the film a chance.But something strange happened when I watched it again, with a distance of many years, and with the two stars having passed into legend status and not so ubiquitous or familiar now...I actually bought into the story ( for the most part - sorry, but no way a crowd waiting to see a beloved hard rock band is going to sit still for any lounge act shtick, much less cheer for it ), I believed the two admired each other's talents, I believed they worked together on music, I believed they loved each other ( yes, some of the love scenes are cringe-worthy, but now only because watching any couple being extra lovey-dovey is basically cringe-worthy ), I enjoyed looking at the hair and clothing ( although most of it was outdated even for that time period ), and I actually teared up at the end (!?, yep, I did ).So, due to the fact that this film is now just as dated as the other three, it is now just as enjoyable, and I advise giving it another chance..
I haven't seen the Lady Gaga version yet but it can't be worse than this soapy shlock, which is ironically more dated than the 1937 film (which I like by the way) and 1954 one.The decision to move the story from Hollywood to the world of rock music was the right choice for the time period and certainly gives lots of scope for John Normal Howard (the James Mason role, played by Kris Kristofferson) to indulge his addictions.
In the 1954 film Norman watching Esther sing The Man That Got Away after the club has closed for the night, you see him fall in love over the course of the song and Esther's unawareness of how good she really is.
If you like some pretty decent acting, some great concert scenes, and some pretty good music, then you will enjoy this third remake of "A Star is Born".
Streisand sings three really good numbers, "Evergreen," "The Woman In The Moon," and "Everything," but some numbers, such as "Queen Bee" and "I Believe In Love," fall flat.Even though I've payed more attention to the movie's shortcomings, it's not a bad film, though it could have been much better.
She changed the setting of the story from films to the world of music, making her Esther Hoffman a struggling singer who is discovered by an alcoholic, self-destructive rocker named John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson)who grooms her for stardom while his own career falls apart.
Rock star John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson) turns lounge singer Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand) into an overnight singing star.
The best thing about this movie is the music, especially the song, "Evergreen." Barbra Streisand sings well, but you can't take her seriously as an up-and-coming star, when she is *already* a star.
As I watched it for the first time I was expecting another romantic, tear-jerking Barbra Streisand film; Something like The Way We Were.
A Star Is Born 1976 is the 3rd remake from the same name as the 1956 and 1947 version and tells the story of an aging rocker named John Norman Howard (Kris Kristoffson) who falls in love with a young singer named Esther Hoffman(Barbara Streisland) who John helps out with her career.
A STAR IS BORN is the movie that lets you know what love is really like despite the obstacles John Norman (Kris Kristofferson) and Esther (Streisand) face.
Basically John Norman Howard (Golden Globe winning Kris Kristofferson) is a famous and self-destructive singer/songwriter rock star, one night he arrives late and drunk for a concert, he sings a couple of songs, and walks off stage.
Like the character Esther Hoffman who won a Grammy, Streisand went on to win both a Grammy and and Oscar for the song "Evergreen".