Stella Dallas

Make no mistake: this is a soap opera, plain and simple. Normally, that turns me off but I didn't mind here because Barbara Stanwyck is just superb to watch. Playing the title role, she dominates the film, and that's fine with me. I usually find her an interesting woman who makes her characters come alive.

This is a powerful story, especially so, I would presume, if you are the mother of a teenage girl. Here, Anne Shirley plays Stanwyck's daughter. What "Stella" (Stanwyck) does at the end of the film makes for a great story but I doubt, frankly, if any mother could do that. The story is guaranteed to make some impact your emotions! I don't want to say more to spoil anything.

I enjoyed John Boles role in here and really, really liked Barbara O'Neil's character, "Helen Morrison Dallas." Personally, I couldn't watch this many times but if I think it has so much to offer that I readily understand those who would watch this over and over. It has a lot going for it.

My mother used to tell me about the great old movies, especially the tearjerkers--Stella Dallas was one of her favorites. I was skeptical (and let my mom know it) but sat down and watched a videotape of Stella Dallas with my mom shortly after VCRs came out. Well, not only did I cry during the movie, I bawled, sobbed, and had to stop the movie several times so I could stop crying long enough to breathe. Mom just sat there enjoying the movie and laughing at her skeptical, sobbing daughter. I haven't watched it since!

In 1919, the ambitious Stella Martin (Barbara Stanwyck) lives with her working-class family and her father and her brother are workers in a mill in Massachusetts. Stella is decided to climb to the upper-class to party and she chases the mill executive Stephen Dallas (John Boles) to marry him. Soon her dream comes true and they have a daughter, Laurel. Stella has a vulgar behavior when she meets the horse gambler Ed Munn (Alan Hale) in a night-club bothering Stephen. When he is transferred to a better position in New York, she decides to stay in Massachusetts with her daughter.

Years later, Laurel (Anne Shirley) is a lovely teenager and Stella Dallas is a dedicated mother. When Stephen stumbles with his former fiancée Helen Morrison (Barbara O'Neil) is a department store, he asks Stella for a divorce to marry Helen but she refuses. Stella decides to travel with Laurel to an expensive resort and Laurel befriends wealthy teenagers. When the tacky Stella seeks out Laurel in the facility, the youngsters notes her vulgarity and Laurel decides to leave the resort without telling the truth to her mother. However she overhears the cruel comments about her in the train. Now Stella takes the ultimate sacrifice for the wellbeing of her beloved daughter.

"Stella Dallas" is a movie with melodramatic class warfare and top-notch performance of Barbara Stanwyck that was nominated to the Oscar of Best Actress in a Leading Role and Anne Shirley was nominated to the Oscar of Best Actress in a Supporting Role. This version is a remake of "Stella Dallas" (1925). In 2013, the story is totally dated and corny, but in 1937, the values of the society were so different from the present days that the movie was very popular and became a radio show from 1937 to 1955. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Stella Dallas, Mãe Redentora" ("Stella Dallas, Redemptive Mother")

Stella Dallas is probably one of the most complex roles in a soap opera for any female actress to play. She's loud, brassy, and vulgar. She also knows that she desperately wants some kind of class. Her problem is that she thinks she can marry it and her problems are solved.

For Barbara Stanwyck as Stella Martin that was only the beginning when she married Stephen Dallas played by John Boles. They come from different worlds, Stanwyck and Boles, and even with the birth of a daughter it doesn't bring them together.

Samuel Goldwyn had great success with the silent version of Stella Dallas, it was his biggest moneymaker as a silent film. Goldwyn waited until he found the right actress for Stella before doing it again.

Though he wanted Ruth Chatterton to play Stella, he was more than pleased with Barbara Stanwyck's Oscar nominated performance. Stanwyck hits Stella on every level just right, especially when she realizes after overhearing some women on a train talking about how vulgar she is and realizing what harm she was doing to her now grown up daughter played by Anne Shirley. Stanwyck makes the ultimate sacrifice for a mother and tears at the audience's hearts.

Two other performances I liked in Stella Dallas. One was Barbara O'Neil as Mrs. Morrison the widow who became John Boles's second wife. Her scene with Stanwyck as Stanwyck tells her to take Shirley off her hands is a classic. Barbara O'Neil was gracious and charming, and exhibits a discerning heart. This would have been her career role had she not also played Scarlett O'Hara's mother in Gone With the Wind.

The other performance is from that scene stealer Alan Hale as the good time salesman who Stanwyck takes up with. He's as vulgar as she is, but he also is not a bad person, just not anyone's ideal husband. Still they're as suited for each other as Boles and Stanwyck were not.

I guess the moral of the Stella Dallas story is that romance is not like water, it does not seek its own level. Maybe it should however.

In the '30s, musicals glorifying rich people dominated Hollywood; "Stella Dallas" turned that genre on its head. Stella Martin (Barbara Stanwyck) comes from the working class and is as unrefined as can be. She decides to get out of that life by marrying very wealthy Stephen Dallas (John Boles). They have a daughter, Laurel (Anne Shirley), but then Stella and Stephen begin to drift apart from each other. As Stella refuses to adapt to the rich lifestyle, she decides to sacrifice everything so that Laurel may live a better life.

Watching the movie, I can see why producer Samuel Goldwyn cried when he saw it. The top-notch acting from all the cast members, and the excellent use of cinematography, make this a movie meriting all forms of accolades. It is a perfect movie in every way, shape and form. Above all, it shows what a great actress Barbara Stanwyck was. Few movies have ever been as great as "Stella Dallas".