Barbara Stanwyck is “Stella Dallas”

Stella Dallas (1937) is an American drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, and Anne Shirley. Other members of the cast include Barbara O’Neil, Alan Hale, Marjorie Main, and Tim Holt. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty.

Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, young Stella Martin (Stanwyck) manages to catch the eye of Stephen Dallas (John Boles), a well-bred business executive. The two fall in love and marry. For a time they’re happy, but after the birth of their daughter, Laurel (Anne Shirley), the marriage begins to deteriorate. Stella wants to dance and rub elbows with the upper-class folks at the country club. Stephen expects his wife to be content to stay at home with their child, a much quieter existence than the life Stella desires. They eventually divorce, with Stella having the main custody of Laurel. Stella is determined to give her daughter the things she never had, but when Stephen begins a new relationship, Stella feels her closeness with Laurel slipping away. Always putting her daughter’s happiness above her own, Stella faces a choice no mother should have to make.

Stanwyck received the first of her four Best Actress Oscar nominations for her role as Stella. Stanwyck was so determined to get the part that she submitted to a screen test—something unheard of for a star of her caliber. She convinced the director (King Vidor) and the producer (Samuel Goldwyn) that she could be convincing as a mother, especially as the character ages into midlife.

Anne Shirley, who turned 18 during the filming of Stella Dallas had this to say about Stanwyck: “She was prepared to the very top of her ability. Dialogue learned perfectly. Hair, clothes, energy ready.”

King Vidor (1894 - 1982) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter whose career successfully spanned the silent and sound era. His most famous and successful film from the silent era was The Big Parade (1925) starring John Gilbert. In the sound era, he directed Northwest Passage (1940), Comrade X (1940), and Duel in the Sun (1946). Considered an actor’s director, Wallace Berry, Robert Donat, Barbara Stanwyck, Jennifer Jones, Anne Shirley, and Lillian Gish all received Academy Award nominations under Vidor’s direction.

Barbara Stanwyck (1907 – 1990) was an American film star who got her acting start with a supporting role on Broadway in a play called The Noose (1926). The next year she had the lead in another Broadway production, Burlesque which was a huge hit. She eventually made it to Hollywood where her success was not immediate. Director Frank Capra saw something in Stanwyck and he educated her in filmmaking and film acting and the rest is history. Stanwyck was nominated four times for the Best Actress Oscar—Stella Dallas (1937), Ball of Fire (1941), Double Indemnity (1945), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)—and remains one of the most beloved movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age.

John Boles (1895 – 1969) was an actor and singer and a star of both silent and sound films. Boles is probably best known for playing Victor Moritz in Frankenstein (1931). Once sound pictures emerged, he starred in several popular musicals. He starred opposite Irene Dunne in Back Street (1932) and The Age of Innocence (1934). He starred with Shirley Temple in Curly Top and The Littlest Rebel both released in 1935. Once his film career ended, Boles went into the oil business.

Anne Shirley, John Boles, and Barbara Stanwyck

Anne Shirley (1993) began acting in silent movies when she was only four years old. She started out as Dawn O’Day, but when she portrayed Lucy Maud Montgomery’s heroine Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables, she took that name for her own. Shirley progressed from child star to adult roles; she was one of many actresses who tested for the role of Melanie Hamilton in Gone With The Wind, eventually losing out to Olivia de Havilland. Her last starring role was in Murder, My Sweet (1944). After completing that film, she retired from acting at the age of 26. Shirley was married three times. Her first husband was the actor John Payne.

Stella Dallas trivia

• The movie’s popularity spanned a radio series that lasted for 18 years.
• For her role, Stanwyck bleached her hair and wore padding to appear heavier later in the film.
• Samuel Goldwyn wanted Ruth Chatterton to play Stella, but she turned it down.
• Barbara O’Neil made her screen debut in the film and received encouragement from Stanwyck. O’Neil said Stanwyck was “a marvelous, warm-hearted person…”

Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube

Click HERE for to join the online discussion on July 8, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. Was Stanwyck convincing in the role of Stella? Was she worthy of the Best Actress nomination?
2. Did the mother-daughter relationship between Stella and Laurel ring true?
3. What did you think of John Boles?  Could he have been more understanding of  his young wife?
4. Anne Shirley was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Did she give an Oscar-worthy performance?
5. The Best Actress Academy Award competition was pretty stiff the year Stanwyck was nominated. The other actresses in contention were Greta Garbo in Camille (co-starring Robert Taylor who was married to Stanwyck), Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth, Janet Gaynor in A Star is Born, the winner was Luise Rainer in The Good Earth. Did the Academy get it right?

Screening of "Stella Dallas" at Daystar Center March 11

“Stanwyck on State Street” Film Series: Stella Dallas (1937)
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street, Chicago, IL
When: March 11, 2017
Time: 6:45 p.m.
Hosted by Stephen Reginald


Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, young Stella Martin (Stanwyck) manages to catch the eye of Stephen Dallas (John Boles), a well-bred business executive. The two fall in love and marry. For a time they’re happy, but after the birth of their daughter, Laurel (Anne Shirley), the marriage begins to deteriorate. Stella wants to go out dancing and rub elbows with the upper-class folks at the country club. Stephen expects his wife to be content to stay at home with their child, a much quieter existence than the life Stella desires. They eventually divorce, with Stella having the main custody of Laurel. Stella is determined to give her daughter the things she never had, but when Stephen begins a new relationship, Stella feels her closeness with Laurel slipping away. Always putting her daughter’s happiness above her own, Stella faces a choice no mother should have to make.

Barbara Stanwyck and Marjorie Main in Stella Dallas

Stanwyck received the first of her four Best Actress Oscar nominations for her role as Stella. Stanwyck was so determined to get the part that she submitted to a screen test—something unheard of for a star of her caliber. She convinced the director (King Vidor) and the producer (Samuel Goldwyn) that she could be convincing as a mother, especially as the character ages into midlife. The supporting cast includes Marjorie Main, Barbara O’Neil, and a very young Tim Holt.

Anne Shirley, who turned 18 during the filming of Stella Dallas had this to say about Stanwyck: “She was prepared to the very top of her ability. Dialogue learned perfectly. Hair, clothes, energy ready.”

This film is part of the “Stanwyck on State Street” series.

Check out the introduction to Stella Dallas by Robert Osborne and Drew Barrymore.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!

You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats. General Admission: $5 Students and Senior Citizens: $3.

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion

Twice a month we screen classic films and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill’s The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts “Chicago Film Club,” a monthly movie event held in the South Loop, for the past two years. Reginald has also taught several adult education film classes at Facets Film School, Chicago.

Looking for more "Stanwyck on State Street?" Look for The Mad Miss Manton to screen on April 1. This screwball comedy paired Stanwyck and Henry Fonda for the first time. They made a total of three movies together: The Mad Miss Manton (1938), The Lady Eve, and You Were Meant for Me (both 1942).

10 Things You May Not Know About Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck (1907 – 1990) was one of the greatest movie stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age. She starred in many classic films, including the Pre-Code Baby Face (1933), Stella Dallas (1937), The Lady Eve (1941), and Double Indemnity (1944) to name a few. She became a major TV star portraying Victoria Barkley on the hit series The Big Valley (1965 – 1969). Find out how much you know or don’t know about this legendary actress.

1. Stanwyck (born Ruby Stevens) was orphaned at the age of four. She and her older brother Byron spent their childhood in and out of foster homes.

2. She was a dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies during the 1922 and 1923 seasons.

3. Her big break came on Broadway playing a chorus girl in The Noose (1926); this is when she became Barbara Stanwyck.

4. The next year, Stanwyck was the toast of Broadway for her starring role in Burlesque (1927).

5. Oscar Levant introduced Stanwyck to her first husband, Frank Fay.

Stanwyck, director Mitchell Leisen, and Fred MacMurray on the set of  Remember the Night (1940)

6. As Stanwyck’s star rose, Fay’s fell. Many believe their disintegrating marriage was the inspiration for the original film version of A Star Is Born (1937).

7. Zeppo Marx was Stanwyck’s manager and he along with Stanwyck and his first wife, Marion Benda, owned a thoroughbred horse farm called Marwyck.

8. In 1944 she was the highest paid woman in the United States.

9. She was nominated four times as Best Actress, but never won a competitive Oscar; she was awarded a special Academy Award in 1982.

10. Producer Earl Hamner Jr. originally wanted Stanwyck to play Angela Channing in the hit TV series Falcon Crest.

Looking for more information on this screen legend, check out A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel True 1907- 1940 by Victoria Wilson.

Classic Movies for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, so I thought I’d suggest five classic films with mothers as the main characters. Several of the movies listed will be familiar to most, but there may be a few you haven’t seen. These films are hardly an exhaustive list and I know I’ve left out some beloved films, but these are all great movies starring true Hollywood legends. Let me know what you think and feel free to offer up your personal Mother’s Day favorites.

Irene Dunne as Marta Hanson

I Remember Mama (1948)—Irene Dunne received her fifth Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in this film. The story is told through the eyes of daughter Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes). Katrin yearns to be a writer, but can’t seem to write anything worth publishing. That is until she writes about her mother. As Marta Hanson the matriarch of a clan of Norwegian Americans living in San Francisco during the early 1900s, Dunne gives a sensitive and multi-layered characterization. A simple story, simply told, it is both charming and poignant; you’ll find it hard to resist. Dunne was still a beautiful woman when filming began—she was 50, but looked decades younger—so she put on a fat suit, acquired a perfect Norwegian accent, and dressed in simple, worn-looking dresses. The amazing supporting cast includes Ellen Corby, Edgar Bergen, Philip Dorn, Florence Bates, Rudy Vallee, and Oscar Homolka. Directed with a steady hand by George Stevens, I Remember Mama holds up extraordinarily well and is a classic in every sense of the word. Hankie Alert: One, but it will be wringing wet!

Joan Crawford (left) and Ann Blyth play mother
and daughter in Mildred Pierce.

Mildred Pierce (1945)—Joan Crawford stars in the title role as a mother determined to be successful in the business world. After divorcing her husband Bert (Bruce Bennett), Mildred works hard to support her children as a waitress. She learns the restaurant business inside and out, eventually saving enough money to open Mildred’s, a restaurant of her own. Soon she has a small chain of restaurants and Mildred is riding high. But nothing can satisfy her spoiled eldest daughter Veda (Ann Blyth). Veda is a social-climbing snob who resents her mother’s middle-class roots. No matter what Mildred does for Veda, it just isn’t enough. As the self-sacrificing mother, Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Based on the novel by James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce is an engrossing film told from the woman’s point of view. Warner Brothers’s top director, Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), ably supported Crawford. A great supporting cast that includes Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, and Eve Arden, all doing great work here, only adds to the fun. Hankie Alert: One.

Barbara Stanwyck as Stella Dallas

Stella Dallas (1937)—Barbara Stanwyck in the title role, plays the ultimate self-sacrificing mother in this classic directed by King Vidor. As a poor girl who marries up only to find out that life at the top isn’t exactly what she thought it would be, Stanwyck is amazing. In the hands of a less talented actress, this film could have been one big hot, sentimental mess. When Stanwyck marries the richest guy in town, she is disillusioned with society life and finds it constraining. After she gives birth to a baby girl, her husband Stephen (John Boles) has society expectations that Stella rebels against. Divorced, Stella raises her daughter Laurel (Anne Shirley) on her own. When Stephen enters a relationship with an upper-class widow, Laurel is introduced to a world of refinement and beauty that are hard to resist. Although she loves her mother, the garish way she dresses and how Stella carries on with old family friend Ed Munn (Alan Hale) embarrass Laurel. Stella sees her daughter slowly drifting away and makes a decision that changes both of their lives forever. Hankie Alert: Three, at least.

Dunne and Alan Marshall share a moment
in The White Cliffs of Dover.

The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)—A huge hit when released in 1944, this film isn’t as well remembered today. However, M-G-M thought this film was good enough to be the studio’s 20th Anniversary release. The movie is based on the verse novel The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller. Irene Dunne plays Susan Dunn, a young American woman on vacation in England with her father (Frank Morgan). During her visit, she meets John Asherwood (Alan Marshall), a young British officer and titled gentleman. After a brief courtship, they marry. Shortly thereafter, World War I breaks out and John is off to war. Susan loses John just before the war ends, but gives birth to a son, John Jr. As John grows up and the shadow of another world war blankets Europe, Susan fears she will lose her son too. Susan learns that she cannot hold onto John Jr. just like she couldn’t hold onto his father. The film gives us a glimpse of the tragedy of war from a female perspective that is compelling and heartbreaking. Directed by Clarence Brown (National Velvet), the film features some great British actors in supporting roles, including C. Aubrey Smith, Dame May Whitty, Gladys Cooper, and Roddy McDowell. Van Johnson and an unbilled, and very young, Elizabeth Taylor, round out the cast. Hankie Alert: Two, maybe three.

Myrna Loy played the mother of 12 children
in Cheaper By the Dozen.

Cheaper By the Dozen (1950) This film is based on the real life story of efficiency expert Frank Bunker Gilbreth (Clifton Webb) and Lillian Moller Gilbreth (Myrna Loy) and their 12 children! Jeanne Crain plays eldest daughter Ann who narrates the film. Directed by Walter Lang and shot in beautiful Technicolor by the award-winning cinematographer, Leon Shamroy, it’s picture postcard perfect. As the mother of the Gilbreth brood, Loy radiates warmth and charm. One of the most popular films of 1950, Cheaper By the Dozen was followed up with Belles on Their Toes in 1952 starring Crain and Loy. Hankie Alert: Maybe half a hankie. You’ll mostly be smiling during this family classic.