Stella Dallas (1937)
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Director: King Vidor
Very few things in the world are more powerful than the love a mother
has for her child. Samuel Goldwyn’s 1937 feature film Stella Dallas is an adaption of a story that captures the pain and
drama that encapsulates that very notion of a mother that sacrifices everything
for her daughter. It is an emotional tale that led to both lead and supporting
actresses who played the mother and her daughter to receive nominations for
Academy Awards. The film would reach to the cores of many audience members both
parents and children as the story dives deep into the complicated love between
a mother and and her dear child.
Stella Dallas is a drama
about a woman who sacrifices her own happiness for the sake of her daughter.
Stella (Barbara Stanwyck) was an unrefined woman who marries an
executive, Stephen Dallas (John Boles), and although she wishes to polish and
better herself socially she is still tempted by the more crude, fun-first ways
on living. After giving birth to their daughter, Laurel, Stella discovers a
heavy natural maternal instinct, but her attraction to the vulgar Ed Munn (Alan
Hale) leads to Stella and Stephan separating. As Laurel grows up (portrayed by
Anne Shirley) Stella attempts to supply her daughter with the finer things in
life, but her unrefined ways makes Stella stand out to the point of
embarrassment for Laurel. Wanting a better life of Laurel, Stella puts up a
careless, selfish façade that forces Laurel decide to continue on without her
mother in her life. This heartbreaking move by Stella sadly separates her from
her daughter, but leaves her joyful as Laurel is able to lead a more enriched
life. Our last image is of Stella with a tearful smile watching her daughter on
her wedding day through the window as she knows Laurel’s future is brighter by
sacrificing herself.
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| Stella is left watching her daughter's wedding through a window. |
The film is an emotional tale about a mother and her daughter and the
painful losses that come from the unconditional love of a mother for her child.
Most children remember a time where their mother was the cause of embarrassment
and can relate to Laurel, but the most emotional moments are the mothers who
care so much that they sacrifice so much of themselves for the sake of a better
life their children. Barbara Stanwyck and Anne Shiley’s performance become
Academy Award worthy because of a tale that reminds audiences of the pain of
real life, making Stella Dallas a
moving feature.
Directed by one of Hollywood’s longest working filmmakers in King
Vidor, who transcends the silent era into the talking picture age so seamlessly
because of his understand that it is the story that is the most vital to any
motion picture. The film is so simple, yet so raw with its characters and
storyline. The picture depicts the world surrounding Stella in many different
ways, first as a humble mill worker’s daughter dreaming of a better life, to an
uncompromising wife, then shifts gears to Stella as a very loving mother
juggling her own joys in life, to seeing Stella from the point of view of her
daughter as an embarrassment. It’s the unrestricted love between a mother and
daughter that tugs on the heart strings of the feature as the characters and
plot are grounded in real emotions within a realistic world in the place of the
grandiose spectacular Hollywood films usually manifested in their storytelling.
At the time of Stella Dallas Barbara
Stanwyck was one of the busiest and more versatile actresses in Hollywood. This
one time showgirl and member of the Ziegfeld Follies was known for playing
deeper roles and taking chances with her performances. Here Stanwyck plays a
woman out of place, attempting to fit in with the members of higher society,
but falls short as her own style clashes greatly with people that are more
polished than her. Her portrayal of a loving mother is dead on as her depiction
of Stella is most sympathetic as she dreams and provides for her child to the
very end when she decides what is best for Laurel is to not have her mother
holding her down. It is a truly heart wrenching performance and some of the
finest acting by Stanwyck as she received her first nomination for Best Actress
as the film’s title character.
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| Shirley plays Stanwyck's happy daughter as a youthful child. |
Playing Stella’s daughter Laurel is Anne Shirley who also heard her
name nominated at the Academy Awards, but for Best Supporting Actress. Born
Dawn Paris, Anne Shirley was her second stage name she took for herself after
appearing as the title character in Anne
of Green Gables. Shirley’s performance at many times is very over the top,
almost as if she was playing a fairytale princess with the enthusiastic
happiness she expresses, especially when depicting the 13 year-old version of
Laurel and an older teenager falling in love with the boy who would be her
future husband. This would play a stark contrast to the devastation as Laurel
becomes embarrassed by her visually and socially awkward mother. This contrast
builds to the moments when Stella intentionally makes herself unbearable as a
mother to Laurel, breaking the young lady’s heart as she is essentially losing
her loving mother in the process. It is in these precious scenes that Shirley
will be recognized and honored as an actress.
Despite his name being named so prominently, John Boles is rather
forgettable in the film as his performance could have been performed by a score
of other actors in Hollywood with just as good results. Bole’s fatherly gentleman demeanor allows him
to be a solid actor; just not a memorable one is such roles.
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| Alan Hale as Ed Munn |
As a contrast to boles there is Alan Hale who plays Ed Munn, the loud,
boisterous, and crude man that represents the world that pulls Stella away from
being the refined woman she originally sets out to when marrying Stephan. His
performance starts out as being merely a loud, fun loving gentleman, but
evolves into a drunkard as Stella realizes just how sad this kind of life is
for her daughter. A strong character actor, Hale provides the push this story
needs at the right times for Stella
Dallas.
Stella Dallas was a
well-received picture for its day, honoring its too actresses with Academy
Award nominations. The film was actually the second screen adaption to the
novel of the same name, the first released in 1925 also by Samuel Goldwyn and
starring Ronald Colman and Belle Bennett. The story was so well liked that it
spawned a radio drama that aired daily for eighteen years and is often credited
as the first soap opera. The story would continue to touch audiences for years
as a third film adaptation would emerge in 1990 starring Bette Midler, simply
entitled Stella.
This picture makes for one of those movies that make audiences reflect
about their own lives and ponder about one’s own mother or children and the sacrifices
and pain that comes with love and parenthood. Stella Dallas is a gem of a motion picture, transcending time as a
story that can touch many who view it.
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