Star Dust

"Star Dust" is a highly fictionalized story about two* young people who want to make it in moving pictures. One is a 17 year-old who has a LOT of ambition and gumption (Linda Darnell) and the other is a college football player with a lovely tenor voice (John Payne). They are spotted by a talent scout (Roland Young) and at first he's interested in Darnell...though it turns out he knew and was in love with her mother long ago, and he's afraid she'll get hurt. Regardless, they arrive in Hollywood where their biggest obstacle is another talent scout (Donald Meek) who is determined to sink these prospects. Can they somehow STILL make it?

I think the biggest reason for this film was to highlight the very young Darnell...who really was 17 and just signed to a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox. And, while the studio in the film is called Amalgumated, it's really Twentieth Century-Fox...and the studio head (William Gargan) plays the Daryle Zanuck sort of role.

Overall, this is a nice, fun film and although Darnell's big scene that impressed everyone at the end seemed overacted, it works well. In many ways, it's like "A Star is Born"...though not quite on the level of this classic film.

*There is a third Hollywood hopeful (Mary Beth Hughes), though he part is VERY small in comparison to the other two.

"Star Dust" is the film that Linda Darnell watched on the night she was caught in the fire that would take her life the next day.

Darnell plays Carolyn Sayres, a young girl determined to get her chance in Hollywood when a studio agent (Roland Young) comes along looking for new talent. He rejects her because she's too young, but Carolyn forges a letter to the studio head and wins a screen test. On the train to Los Angeles, she meets a handsome football player (John Payne) who is also a fresh discovery. Once in Hollywood, they meet the third winner of a screen test, a talented singer (Mary Healy).

Little do any of them know that studio politics interfere with their chances, but the drama coach (Charlotte Greenwood) believes in Carolyn and finds a way to get her test before the head of the studio.

This film, the basic plot anyway, was remade years later as the awful "Dancing in the Dark," a musical starring Betsy Drake. "Star Dust" is much better, featuring the beautiful Darnell, handsome Payne and the magical singing of Mary Healy. It also has shots of Graumann's Chinese Theatre as Payne and Darnell see how their feet match up to stars' feet in cement.

Linda Darnell got a very early start in Hollywood. She was 15 when Fox wanted to sign her, but when they learned her age, they sent her home. When they found out that she'd won a contest with the first prize a contract at Universal, they brought her back out. She started out great guns, and then she got married. Zanuck, unable to promote her as a virginal ingénue, lost interest. Darnell returned a little later as sultry and sexy and played some of her best roles.

Sitting in her old secretary's house in Illinois at the age of 41, trying to do her taxes, and watching this film must have been an odd experience for Darnell, who by then had alcohol and money problems and was trying to make a comeback. It wasn't to be; she died in the hospital the next day. A sad end for the beautiful young woman of "Star Dust."

Linda Darnell wants to be discovered by a talent scout. Well, luck falls in her lap, when Roland Young, ex-silent screen star and now movie studio talent scout, enters her diner near a college campus looking for some fresh faces. Costarring John Payne and Charlotte Greenwood with a young George Montgomery and young Robert Lowery in bit parts and other recognizeable faces, this is a pretty enjoyable film with some upbeat songs near the beginning. If I have any major problems with it, it's that it's not funny enough or involving enough in the second half to really captivate the viewer's interest. But on the whole, it should please most viewers.

There are also two other things I wanted to comment on:

(1) This movie mirrors Linda Darnell's own career. And, maybe it was the inspiration for penning this movie. When Miss Darnell was first discovered, she was under age and the Fox executives were reluctant to put her under contract. That's all I really know. But, that happens to her character here, too. (Also, this was only her third film, her second being "Day-Time Wife," which I have also reviewed.)

(2) And, on a sad note, one night while visiting a friend, Miss Darnell was badly burned, when the house caught on fire and she never recovered. She had just watched "Star Dust" on TV that night.

Really cute flick of young girl determined to make it as an actress in that wicked town of Hollywood.The sleaziness of the business is glossed over to make it into a more Cinderella type story.Charlotte Greenwood is fun as the motherly dramatic coach,Roland Young is amusing as the talent scout.Mary Healy sings the title song with gusto,and John Payne is fun as an aspiring actor.George Montgomery has nice bit as a failed actor.This was in the sweet phase of Darnell's career before she morphed into more adult,sultry roles.Linda was a real beauty,no nose bobs,implants or capped teeth for her.She was a sad case of the Hollywood system failing her.After Darryl Zanuck lost interest in promoting her,her career never got back on track.All this despite her fine comedic talent she displayed in later films.

The story of a hopeful young woman who wants to become a movie star is given rather clichéd treatment but still manages to be enjoyable fluff thanks to an excellent cast, all doing their best to make the film look better than it really is.

LINDA DARNELL is at her most beautiful as a young aspiring actress who has to wait awhile before she gets the big break that turns her into a movie star. JOHN PAYNE is her love interest, also an actor hoping to make it in Hollywood. Unfortunately, his role also is assigned some comic relief about a broken nose which becomes a running gag throughout the story. Nevertheless, Payne performs his chores in easy style.

The good supporting cast includes ROLAND YOUNG, CHARLOTTE GREENWOOD, DONALD MEEK,WILLIAM GARGAN--and in a bit part GEORGE MONTGOMERY.

Starts out realistically enough but soon becomes mired in a predictable script with too many Hollywood clichés thrown into the mix. But if you're a fan of Linda Darnell, don't miss this one. She's stunning.