‘What Price Hollywood’: The 1932 Film That Gave Birth To ‘A Star Is Born’

The box office success of the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga led A Star Is Born has ignited interest in all the various versions of A Star Is Borns that came before it. We previously went all the way back to the beginning, reviewing the 1937 version, which stands quite tall on its own, and as a time capsule to the golden era of Hollywood we all still pine for. What we also learned is that the original A Star Is Born is not exactly all that original, either; it borrowed heavily from a film that was released five years earlier (from the same very producer, no less!) called What Price Hollywood?

So, then … What Price Hollywood?

What a great question, and a great film title. You can tell that something will go wrong, and it’s going to be Hollywood’s fault! Damn you, Hollywood!!!

The original title to the 1932 pre-code film was going to be The Truth About Hollywood, but to tell you the truth, that title isn’t so priceless.

So how does What Price‘s storyline connect to all the other A Star Is Borns?

Well, this is where it all began. The story, which was Academy Award nominated in the Best Writing, Original Story category, was co-penned by Adela Rogers St. Johns, and she based a lot of the story on her dear friend, silent screen legend Colleen Moore, and what became of her turbulent marriage to the alcoholic producer John McCormick.

In What Price, there’s an established male star, and an unknown girl ready to become one (stop me if you’ve heard this one before… TIMES FOUR!). But unlike the four Borns that followed, George Cukor‘s first go has two male leads taking our heroine to the promised land, but in different directions (BUT AT WHAT PRICE???!!). Our gal is Mary Evans (Constance Bennett, perhaps the most beautiful AND sassy of all birthed ladies), a Brown Derby waitress looking to catch a break anyway she can. And wouldn’t you know it… she catches one when she catches the eye of the perma-sauced film director Maximillan Carey (Lowell Sherman, whose own real life alcoholism also inspired the character he played). Soon Mary goes from serving food to serving entertainment to a star-struck nation.

Then comes along a dashing actor (Neil Hamilton, who you may know best as 1960s TV Batman‘s Commissioner Gordon), driving a big ol’ wedge between the drunky director and his tartlet starlet. But the director and the studio aren’t letting her go that easily, and try to drive their own wedge between Mary and her man. Melodrama ensues, on the set AND off of it, and eventually the director becomes persona non grata, and goes down and out in Hollywood. Then things get REALLY dark (with a super intense suicide scene, with a literal killer montage of the victim’s life flashing right before them), before finally wrapping up with a nice big smile. The End. Oh Hollywood!! BUT WHAT PRICE???

Is What Price Hollywood? worth the price of your time? Somehow at 88 minutes, the film crawls at a bit of a snail’s pace, but if you want to see where A Star Is Born was truly born, you now know what the price you have to pay is.

Michael Palan is a New York based writer and multimedia producer. He got an A+ in bowling at a midwestern university, and once handed Kurt Vonnegut his coat. In his free time he enjoys Edward Hopper paintings and eating fried chicken.

Watch What Price Hollywood? on FilmStruck