When a film gets remade multiple times, usually the first version remains the most famous. However, in the case of A Star Is Born, the original remains the most obscure.

Circa 2022, I won’t debate which of the three remakes acts as the most prominent. Of course, due to chronological proximity, the 2018 Lady Gaga Star Is Born maintains the biggest audience right now, but 30 years from now, it may be no better remembered than the 1954 Judy Garland version or the 1976 Barbra Streisand edition.

One thing I suspect will stay true: the 1937 Janet Gaynor Star Is Born will remain least known. Unsurprisingly, it acts as the last of the four I saw, as this 2022 Blu-ray delivers my initial screening of the original.

Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) leaves North Dakota to come to Hollywood in pursuit of cinematic fame. This doesn’t go well, as Esther finds no work in movies.

When her aspiring director pal Danny McGuire (Andy Devine) gets her a gig as a server at a tinseltown party, Esther meets declining alcoholic movie star Norman Maine (Frederic March), and the actor finds himself immediately smitten. He promises to help Esther achieve her dream.

With this foot in the door, Esther starts on her path to stardom. Renamed “Vicki Lester”, Esther works her way up the ladder until she becomes a star – a bigger star than her beau Norman, a fact that creates drama.

Whereas all four versions of Born offer the same basic story, the 1937 and 1954 editions most strongly echo each other. Some of that occurs because 1937/1954 focus on Hollywood, whereas 1976/2018 concentrate on the music business.

Of the four, 1937 offers the biggest deviation from the rest due to the way it introduces the characters. While the later three films start with Norman and introduce Esther later, 1937 gives us ample backstory for our leading lady and doesn’t even bring Norman into the narrative until around the 20-minute mark.

Because I saw the other three versions before I finally checked out 1937, these alterations feel intriguing. However, they don’t make it a particularly compelling movie.

In addition to the greater focus on Esther’s side, 1937 also comes with a more comedic vibe than its remakes. Not that those lack mirth, but much of this one’s first half concentrates on laughs and light romance.

The Star Is Born narrative offers one of cinema’s great tragic weepies, and 1937 eventually gets there. Once Esther’s career starts to take off, the movie goes more with drama.

It does better in these elements, though the first half’s emphasis on Esther makes the shift to Norman seem somewhat jarring. The later movies get this right, as they allow Norman to act as a main role the whole time, so we invest in his downfall more.

Because 1937 concentrates on Esther from the start, it feels off that she disappears for so much of the movie’s second half. Esther gets the short shrift in the others as well, but at least those handle the Norman/Esther balance better since they emphasize Norman in their first act.

This means Norman’s sad fate feels less impactful, as we just don’t connect to him as well as we do in the subsequent versions. 1937 also doesn’t “stick the landing” especially well, mainly because the finale seems scattered.

Once Norman dies, 1937 briefly opts for a cynical look at showbiz that seems surprising and refreshing. However, it then abandons that tone for schmaltz.

1937 doesn’t appear to know how it wants to wrap up matters, so the ending lacks clarity and impact. Sappy as the finales for the other three might be, at least they maintain consistency and dramatic feel, whereas 1937 seems all over the place.

I’m not sure where I’d rank 1937, largely because 2018 offers the only version of Star Is Born I genuinely like. 1954 works as a drama, but it packs in so many superfluous musical numbers that it really drags.

Essentially Barbra Streisand’s love letter to herself, 1976 offers a nearly complete disaster. Unquestionably, it becomes the worst of the four.

So this leaves a competition between 1937 and 1954 for second place, and I’d probably nod toward 1954. While I really don’t like all those song/dance scenes, the rest works quite well.

On the other hand, 1937 mainly feels meh. It lacks consistency in terms of tone, narrative and character orientation, so while it comes with some positives, it nonetheless ends up as a somewhat forgettable tale.

A Star Is Born appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie delivered yet another Warner Archives winner.

Sharpness consistently appeared positive. Little to no softness marred the movie, so the majority of the movie demonstrated good clarity.

I noticed no issues with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. With a nice layer of grain, digital noise reduction wasn’t a concern, and the picture lacked edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to appear in this clean transfer.

Colors were strong. These looked lush and vivid in fine Technicolor fashion.

Blacks seemed deep and dense without too much heaviness. Shadow detail worked similarly well, as dimly-lit shots were appropriately clear and thick. I found little about which to complain here and thought the Blu-ray brought the movie to life in a positive manner.

I thought the DTS-HD MA monaural audio of Born was perfectly adequate for its age. It didn’t exceed expectations for a mix of its era, but the audio was more than acceptable.

Speech lacked edginess. The lines weren’t exactly natural, but they seemed distinctive and without problems.

Effects were a little flat, but they showed no distortion and displayed acceptable definition. Music was pretty lively given its age, as the score sounded reasonably bright and concise.

No background noise was noticeable. All together, I found the soundtrack aged pretty well.

As we shift to extras, the big attraction comes from two separate Lux Radio Theater Broadcasts. We find an adaptation from September 13, 1937 (1:00:38) as well as another from December 28, 1942 (58:27).

The 1937 version allows Janet Gaynor to reprise her role as Esther, with Robert Montgomery as Norman. For the 1942 take, Judy Garland plays Esther – and presages her part in the 1954 film – while Walter Pidgeon portrays Norman.

Usually when a movie comes with two radio adaptations, they work from different scripts. Although I didn’t compare to see if the 1937 and 1942 broadcasts offered identical texts, they sure seemed very, very close.

That made the impact of the actors more obvious, and I favored Garland even though Gaynor originated the part. Gaynor’s chirpy little voice gets annoying, and Garland shows greater dramatic range.

Usually these radio versions cut stories to the bone, but some of the omissions here work, mainly because the programs bring Norman into the tale earlier. They also lose much of Esther’s less than compelling backstory. Whichever you prefer, both radio shows become nice additions to this set.

In addition to the film’s trailer, four short films appear as well. We get a 1938 cartoon called A Star Is Hatched (8:08) as well as three live-action reels from 1937: Mal Hallett and His Orchestra (9:23), Taking the Count (21:40) and Alibi Mark (13:20).

Hatched spoofs movie stars via a chicken who aspires to fame. It has its moments. With Hallett, we get a collection of narrative-free musical performances that seem utterly uncompelling.

Count provides a boxing-related romantic comedy potentially notable for the presence of pre-Three Stooges Shemp Howard. It lacks any real amusement value.

Finally, Alibi gives a Depression-era tale of young man who travels as a hobo and becomes accused of a murder he didn't commit. It seems mediocre at best.

With the 1937 A Star Is Born, we get the original version of an often remade tale. While not the worst of the bunch, it seems unfocused and not as impactful as it should be. The Blu-ray comes with excellent visuals, appropriate audio and a collection of bonus materials highlighted by two radio broadcasts. Though the movie does little for me, Warner makes this a fine release.