When the director Wellman received the Oscar for this film it is said that he put it front of producer David O.Selznick and said 'You deserve this more than I do'. The credits list eight writers including Selznick and Wellman, but the acid-sharp dialogue is generally attributed to renowned wit, Dorothy Parker. It was Selznick's third film as an independent producer and his first major success. The subject of the film was the darker, cynical side of the Hollywood star system and it has been remade twice; in 1954 with Judy Garland and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand. The story concerns a fading star, Norman Maine, who was once a big box office draw, but is now fading fast and all but he can see it. At a Hollywood party he gets drunk, as usual, and picks up a waitress, claiming he will make her into a star.
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