Stella Dallas
Oh, Stella Dallas, you are such hard work. I just do not approve. This is a film about a selfish and unsympathetic woman who, through her utter devotion to her daughter, learns to think of others and be more than just selfish and shallow.
If you can't already tell, I wasn't on board with the title character of this film and that made this character analysis hard to sit through. Stella starts out as a girl just looking to improve herself who falls in love with a former millionaire playboy who now works at the mill where her father and brother work. Stella orchestrates a meeting and two scenes later they are married. A scene after that, they have a baby. While she loves being a mother, she is shortsighted and more impressed with the trappings of the hard-earned modest means of her husband. She's now a member of the club she's fantasized about her whole life and she gets to wear fancy clothes and meet people who would never have looked at her twice before her marriage. She stops with her own self improvements and when her husband's job takes him to New York City, she refuses to go. Stella Dallas never stops being the slightly uncouth mill worker's daughter, despite her rise in station through her marriage. All that being said, when Stella does grow up, it is heartbreaking and beautiful.
Barbara Stanwyck plays the hell out of Stella- from the dialect to her walk when she's trying to be fancy. And, her moment of triumph when her daughter has everything she could ever want is so subtle and elegant that it is amazing. Anne Shirley is also a treat as Lollie, a daughter who loves and implicitly trusts her mother. Their relationship is very touching. If you are interested in character studies, this is a Master Class by Stanwyck. But, if you're looking for cracking dialogue or a solid redemption story, take a pass. When it comes to redemption, this film is a lot o work for about fifteen seconds of pay off. Stanwyck gets an A. Stella gets a C. True Story.
