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Stella Dallas (1937)

 Stella Dallas (1937)
type
TVTItem
 Stella Dallas (1937)
label
Stella Dallas (1937)
 Stella Dallas (1937)
page
StellaDallas1937
 Stella Dallas (1937)
comment
Stella Dallas is a 1937 Melodrama starring Barbara Stanwyck, directed by King Vidor. Stella Martin is a young woman in a mill town in 1919. She deliberately attracts the attention of Stephen Dallas, a supervisor at the mill. They hit it off and get married. They have a baby, Laurel, but soon figure out that they have nothing in common—Stella is loud, brassy, and fun, while Stephen is a boring, drippy, narrow-minded scold. Eventually they separate.Years go by and Laurel grows to be a teenager, living with her mother, seeing her father only occasionally. Stephen strikes up a renewed relationship with Helen Morrison, his old girlfriend, who married another man but is now a widow. Stella for her part pals around with Ed Munn, her alcoholic neighbor, but has no interest in a new relationship, focusing on her daughter. Stephen wants Laurel to live with him and the Morrisons in a mansion, but Stella refuses to give him a divorce. Stella tries to give Laurel the high-society life that Stephen is offering her, but her own tacky brashness embarrasses her daughter.Depending on where one falls on the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism, one may find this movie either a tender story of motherly love and self-sacrifice, or one may find it emotionally manipulative. It was based on a novel, had been made before as a 1925 silent feature, and was made again in 1990 with Bette Midler as Stella. Stanwyck, who never won an Academy Award, received one of her four Best Actress nominations for this movie, and Anne Shirley (teenaged Laurel) got a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
 Stella Dallas (1937)
fetched
2024-05-04T08:43:35Z
 Stella Dallas (1937)
parsed
2024-05-04T08:43:35Z
 Stella Dallas (1937)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_1434e55c
type
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_1434e55c
comment
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Played for tragedy. Stella's outrageous outfits and pancake makeup and general brassy demeanor make her the laughingstock of the fancy resort she took Laurel to, embarrassing Laurel and leading Stella to decide to give her daughter to Stephen and Helen.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_1434e55c
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1.0
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_1434e55c
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Stella Dallas (1937) / int_1434e55c
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_19cc20f3
type
One-Person Birthday Party
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_19cc20f3
comment
One-Person Birthday Party: Well, not quite, since Stella and the maid are there. But Laurel is crushed when neither her teacher nor any of her friends will come to her birthday party, because they don't approve of Stella.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_19cc20f3
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1.0
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_19cc20f3
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Stella Dallas (1937) / int_19cc20f3
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_40cc0c7e
type
Bittersweet Ending
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_40cc0c7e
comment
Bittersweet Ending: Stella has given up her daughter. Laurel gets married to her boyfriend in the parlor of the Dallas/Morrison home while Stella stands outside, in the rain, not wanting to spoil things. But the smile on her face as she walks away indicates that she's content with her choices.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_40cc0c7e
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Stella Dallas (1937) / int_40cc0c7e
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_4f995f60
type
Train-Station Goodbye
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_4f995f60
comment
Train-Station Goodbye: Played straight when Laurel leaves Stella to go visit Stephen and Helen.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_4f995f60
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1.0
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_4f995f60
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Stella Dallas (1937) / int_4f995f60
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_56725578
type
Driving a Desk
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_56725578
comment
Driving a Desk: Super-obvious when Stephen and Laurel are riding around.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_56725578
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_56725578
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_5fcb9ad1
type
Time Skip
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_5fcb9ad1
comment
Time Skip: Over a decade as toddler Laurel goes to teenaged Laurel.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_5fcb9ad1
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_77bc8a56
type
Unable to Support a Wife
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_77bc8a56
comment
Unable to Support a Wife: Stephen didn't marry Helen Morrison in the backstory because his father killed himself after losing the family fortune.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_77bc8a56
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_7eebe99c
type
The Alcoholic
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_7eebe99c
comment
The Alcoholic: Ed's always wanting a drink when he pops in to Stella's apartment. By the end of the movie he's a drunken wreck.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_7eebe99c
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_94e4c8ab
type
Betty and Veronica
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_94e4c8ab
comment
Betty and Veronica: Unusually, Stella is the Veronica (a lower-class Hard-Drinking Party Girl) despite being Stephen's first wife. Stephen's refined, wealthy First Love, Helen, is his second wife and the Betty.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_94e4c8ab
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Stella Dallas (1937) / int_94e4c8ab
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_977ab629
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Let's Just Be Friends
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_977ab629
comment
Let's Just Be Friends: Stella says this to Ed. His slide into alcoholism proves it to be a good decision, but her reluctance to cut Ed out of her life completely makes her look bad in the eyes of both her ex-husband and her daughter.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_977ab629
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Stella Dallas (1937) / int_977ab629
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_a8982539
type
Gray Rain of Depression
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_a8982539
comment
Gray Rain of Depression: Stella's stuck outside, watching her daughter get married. How to make this even sadder? Make it be raining.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_a8982539
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_a8982539
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Stella Dallas (1937) / int_a8982539
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_b5dded87
type
Gossipy Hens
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_b5dded87
comment
Gossipy Hens: All the snooty old mothers in the town snipe about Stella. After they see her acting all goofy with Ed on the train, none of them will let their kids come to poor Laurel's birthday party.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_b5dded87
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c23525d4
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Character Title
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c23525d4
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Character Title
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c23525d4
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c3286b8e
type
Uptown Girl
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c3286b8e
comment
Uptown Girl: The class conflict between Stephen and Stella unravels their marriage, as he wants to turn her into a proper society lady, and she doesn't particularly want to be one.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c3286b8e
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c4500946
type
Break His Heart to Save Him
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c4500946
comment
Break His Heart to Save Him: Stella decided that Laurel should live with Stephen and Helen, because they are fancy society folks—and because for some reason Stella is unable to do basic things like stop dressing like a hooker. But she knows that Laurel will never leave her mother. So she pretends that she doesn't care about Laurel and tells Laurel that she's tired of being a mother and is going to marry Ed and have good times. Stella breaks down crying after a distraught Laurel leaves for good.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c4500946
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c960dde7
type
Melodrama
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c960dde7
comment
Melodrama: You know it's a melodrama when things like Laurel getting embarrassed at a country resort are elevated to the level of Greek tragedy.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_c960dde7
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 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_ebc64704
type
Chick Flick
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_ebc64704
comment
Chick Flick: Self-sacrificing mother gives up everything for the good of her daughter.
 Stella Dallas (1937) / int_ebc64704
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Stella Dallas (1937)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Amazingly Embarrassing Parents
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Stella Dallas (1937)
 Break His Heart to Save Him
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Stella Dallas (1937)
 Chick Flick
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Stella Dallas (1937)
 Films of the 1930s
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Stella Dallas (1937)
 One-Person Birthday Party
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Stella Dallas (1937)
 Stellar Name
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Stella Dallas (1937)