Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

moonspinner55 On-the-skids melodrama with Bette Davis as fallen movie celebrity Margaret Elliot, watching as all her belongings go up on the auction block ("one dollar!" someone calls out); her motto from this point seems to be "Going, going, gone." The picture, enjoyable and perhaps cathartic for both Davis and her fans at the time, is both campy and ferocious, with claws out; a look at how celebrity changes perceptions and, when that celebrity fades, how difficult it is for once-famous people to get their lives back on track. There are slow stretches involving Davis with potential suitor Sterling Hayden; however, her early downward spiral and subsequent struggle to find work is absorbing--in a masochistic, gaudy way. A last-act tease, wherein Margaret is approached for a humiliating role in a new movie project, deliciously appears to parallel Bette Davis in "The Star"! Her grit and determination makes the picture a satisfying wallow. **1/2 from ****

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . that Barbara Lawrence, one of its top-billed players, doesn't make her brief cameo appearance until there's less than five minutes left in the story. THE STAR is so oddly prophetic that it has Natalie Wood down as a nimble sailor, in no danger of drowning at sea, no matter how many love triangles are weighing her down. In the same vein, THE STAR convinces Bette Davis that she's only fit to play WHATEVER HAPPENED TO-- roles in her future, with an occasional break to dismember Bruce Dern for what he did to MARNIE. THE STAR answers the burning question of who would win the Wooden Acting Showdown between Robert Mitchum and Ms. Davis' co-star here, Sterling Hayden: Sterling gets the gold medal by a landslide. Gloria Swanson may have landed on SUNSET BOULEVARD, but Ms. Davis' "You don't seem to know WHO I AM!!" rant to the police in THE STAR clearly is still enticing for those of today's Reese Witherspoon ilk slumming on Skid Row.

wes-connors Desperate for money, fading movie queen Bette Davis (as Margaret "Maggie" Elliot) reluctantly auctions off some of her possessions. What she really wants is one good picture; but, Ms. Davis is thought too old for the kind of films audiences attend. When her fresh-faced daughter Natalie Wood (as Gretchen) asks if she's "washed up," mother Davis says she's making a movie in a few weeks. But, there is no film deal. Sadly, Davis picks up her Academy Award and says, "C'mon Oscar, let's you and me get drunk!" "You don't seem to know why I am!" screams a drunken Davis, after reckless driving lands her in jail. She is bailed out by hunky ex-actor Sterling Hayden (as Jim Johannson), an actor she once helped get a movie role. He tries to get Davis back on her feat, and encourages her to take a job as a saleslady in a department store. The two go sailing with little Natalie and look like they are forming a nice family of three. But, Davis wants to make a comeback, and reestablish herself as "The Star" of Hollywood.This film was purportedly prepared for Joan Crawford, who would seem more suited to this particular character. In real life, Davis would have embraced the "older sister" part addressed in the storyline; and, Crawford would have done to the role exactly what Davis' character does. Both actresses knew their routines. There is nothing revelatory here - but Davis, who had the role in her back pocket, is excellent. Her typically fine, and entertaining, work resulted in another "Academy Award" nomination.******* The Star (12/11/52) Stuart Heisler ~ Bette Davis, Sterling Hayden, Natalie Wood, Warner Anderson

DKosty123 Compared to other films, this film is not really demanding of Davis talent. The base story has to do with an aging actress having trouble getting roles. She is broke due to a combination of bad investments and sponge relatives & is even tossed out of her apartment.She has an wonderful daughter (played by 14 year old Natalie Wood) who is living with her ex husband due to her difficult circumstances. When she takes her Oscar statue out & does some drunk driving, she winds up in jail. She is bailed out by a man (Sterling Hayden) who loves her & stops her descent into hitting bottom.This is actually a thinly veiled story making fun of one of Davis' foes , IE. Joan Crawford. What it lacks is balance in the casting & script which is why it is not a Sunset Boulevard. The male characters have no teeth, unlike the Holden role in that movie. At least the story is told pretty much straight forwards.While this is not a movie to go out of the way for, if you like Davis it is a pleasant diversion for those times where there is nothing else to watch.