Stella (1990 film)
Encyclopedia
Stella is a 1990 American
drama film
produced by The Samuel Goldwyn Company
and released by Touchstone Pictures
. The screenplay
by Robert Getchell
is the third feature film
adaptation of the 1920 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty
.
The title character is a vulgar and unfashionable single mother who, determined to give her daughter Jenny all the opportunities she never had, ultimately makes a selfless sacrifice to ensure her happiness. This film version differs from earlier versions in that Stella never marries the father of her child, and in fact, declines his proposal early in the film.
John Erman
directed a cast that included Bette Midler
as Stella and Trini Alvarado
as Jenny, with John Goodman
, Stephen Collins, Marsha Mason
, Eileen Brennan
, Linda Hart
, Ben Stiller
, and William McNamara
in supporting roles.
In her New York Times review, Janet Maslin
said, "Bette Midler, too old for the film's opening and too smart for its resolution, isn't exactly the right actress, but she's a lot closer than might have been expected. Ms. Midler manages to gloss over the story's inconsistencies, play up its charming aspects, and generally bluster her way through . . . her exuberance is most helpful in overshadowing the inconvenient aspects of this story."
Razzie Award nominations went to Midler for Worst Actress and Jay Gruska and Paul Gordon for Worst Original Song ("One More Cheer").
Total US gross for the film was $20,062,347. It has been released on VHS
and DVD
.
on April 8, 2003. The film was presented in Widescreen format, no special features were included.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
produced by The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...
and released by Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Robert Getchell
Robert Getchell
Robert Getchell is an American screenwriter. He is probably best known for writing Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and creating the Sitcom Alice.-Filmography:* Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore * Bound for Glory...
is the third feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
adaptation of the 1920 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty
Olive Higgins Prouty
Olive Higgins Prouty was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now, Voyager Olive Higgins Prouty (10 January 1882 – 24 March 1974) was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now,...
.
The title character is a vulgar and unfashionable single mother who, determined to give her daughter Jenny all the opportunities she never had, ultimately makes a selfless sacrifice to ensure her happiness. This film version differs from earlier versions in that Stella never marries the father of her child, and in fact, declines his proposal early in the film.
John Erman
John Erman
John Erman is an American television and film director, actor and producer.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Erman spent the early years of his career, after a few small roles in films such as The Cosmic Man , directing episodes of such primetime series as Peyton Place, The Fugitive, The Outer Limits,...
directed a cast that included Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
as Stella and Trini Alvarado
Trini Alvarado
Trinidad "Trini" Alvarado is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror film The Frighteners...
as Jenny, with John Goodman
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
, Stephen Collins, Marsha Mason
Marsha Mason
Marsha Mason is an American actress and television director.She received four Academy Award nominations as Best Actress for her performances in Cinderella Liberty, The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two, and Only When I Laugh. She is also known for starring in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge.-Life:Mason was...
, Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan is an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in the TV adaption and won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy...
, Linda Hart
Linda Hart
Linda Hart is an American singer, musician, and actress, mainly appearing in musical theatre.- Biography :As a child, Hart sang in her church choir; at age seven, she joined her father and the rest of the family in The Harts, a weekly gospel television series. Hart attended Los Angeles City...
, Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
, and William McNamara
William McNamara
William West McNamara is an American actor.-Early life:Born in Dallas, Texas, McNamara is the son of a professional race car driver for the Ford Motor Company and an interior designer. He attended Columbia University and studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute...
in supporting roles.
In her New York Times review, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
said, "Bette Midler, too old for the film's opening and too smart for its resolution, isn't exactly the right actress, but she's a lot closer than might have been expected. Ms. Midler manages to gloss over the story's inconsistencies, play up its charming aspects, and generally bluster her way through . . . her exuberance is most helpful in overshadowing the inconvenient aspects of this story."
Razzie Award nominations went to Midler for Worst Actress and Jay Gruska and Paul Gordon for Worst Original Song ("One More Cheer").
Total US gross for the film was $20,062,347. It has been released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
Cast
- Bette MidlerBette MidlerBette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
- Stella Claire - John GoodmanJohn GoodmanJohn Stephen Goodman is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is best known for his role as Dan Conner on the television series Roseanne for which he won a Best Actor Golden Globe Award in 1993, and for appearances in the films of the Coen brothers, with prominent roles in Raising...
- Ed Munn - Trini AlvaradoTrini AlvaradoTrinidad "Trini" Alvarado is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror film The Frighteners...
- Jenny Claire - Stephen Collins - Stephen Dallas
- Marsha MasonMarsha MasonMarsha Mason is an American actress and television director.She received four Academy Award nominations as Best Actress for her performances in Cinderella Liberty, The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two, and Only When I Laugh. She is also known for starring in the 1986 film Heartbreak Ridge.-Life:Mason was...
- Janice Morrison - Eileen BrennanEileen BrennanEileen Brennan is an American actress of film, television, and theater. Brennan is best known for her role as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised the role in the TV adaption and won a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy...
- Mrs. Wilkerson - Ben StillerBen StillerBenjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
- Jim Uptegrove - Linda HartLinda HartLinda Hart is an American singer, musician, and actress, mainly appearing in musical theatre.- Biography :As a child, Hart sang in her church choir; at age seven, she joined her father and the rest of the family in The Harts, a weekly gospel television series. Hart attended Los Angeles City...
- Debbie Whitman - William McNamaraWilliam McNamaraWilliam West McNamara is an American actor.-Early life:Born in Dallas, Texas, McNamara is the son of a professional race car driver for the Ford Motor Company and an interior designer. He attended Columbia University and studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute...
- Pat Robbins - John BellJohn Bell- Law and politics :* John Bell , English barrister* John Bell , professor of law and Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge* John Bell , Member of Parliament from Thirsk...
- Bob Morrison - Ashley PeldonAshley PeldonAshley Peldon is an American television and film actress.-Early life and career:Peldon was born in New York City, New York. Along with her sister Courtney, she worked as a child actor....
- Jenny (age 3) - Alisan PorterAlisan PorterAlisan Porter is an American actress, singer and dancer.-Life and career:Porter was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Porter is Jewish. Her maternal grandmother, whose father Joseph Klein was a prominent Worcester rabbi, ran the Charlotte Klein Dance Center in Worcester...
- Jenny (age 8) - Kenneth KimminsKenneth KimminsKenneth Kimmins is an American actor, best known for his roles as Doctor Klein on Lois and Clark and Howard Burleigh, the Athletic Director of Minnesota State University on the hit TV show, Coach.Kimmins was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Charlotte and Edward F...
- Security Guard - Bob Gerchen - Bartender
- Willie RosarioWillie RosarioWillie Rosario a.k.a. "Mr. Afinque" is a musician, composer and bandleader of salsa music.-Early years:Rosario was born and raised in Coamo, Puerto Rico into a poor, but hard working family. His parents realized that as a child Willie was musically inclined and had him take guitar lessons at the...
- Dancing Waiter - Rex Robbins - Minister
- Ron WhiteRon WhiteRonald "Ron" White is an American stand up comedian and satirist who has had two Grammy Award-nominations, and is RIAA certified 10x Platinum for CD and DVD sales of over 10 million units...
- Tony De Banza - Matthew CowlesMatthew Cowles-Personal life:The son of actor and theatre producer Chandler Cowles, he was born in New York City.Since 1983 he has been married to actress Christine Baranski with whom he has two daughters, Isabel and Lily...
- Sid - Louis Ferreira - Cocaine Dealer
- Peter MacNeillPeter MacNeillPeter MacNeill is a Canadian film and television actor who has starred in several TV shows and movies.His film credits have included The Hanging Garden , Geraldine's Fortune, Giant Mine, Lives of Girls and Women, The Events Leading Up to My Death, Dog Park, Something Beneath and A...
- Bobby - Michael Hogan - Billy
- George BuzaGeorge BuzaGeorge Buza is an American-born Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast in the X-Men Animated Series.-Biography:Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Canada as a young man and became a Canadian citizen in 1998. He appeared as Chief Jake McKenna multiple times in the TV series Honey, I...
- George - Eric KeenleysideEric KeenleysideEric Keenleyside is a Canadian actor.He lives in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife, Peg, and their two children. He was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick and grew up in London, Ontario, and spent time in Brisbane, Australia...
- Wendell - Catherine Robbin - Leider Singer
- Rob McClure - Steven's Friend
- Sam Malkin - Man in Theatre
- Jayne EastwoodJayne EastwoodJayne Eastwood , also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress most famous for appearing in the 2002 film Chicago. She was one of the original cast members of the Toronto branch of The Second City, and was a semi-regular on SCTV...
- Nurse - Charles W. Gray - PTA Parent
- John Kozak - Mr. Wilkerson
- Terrence Langevin - Bingo Announcer
- Elva Mai Hoover - Mrs. Hough
- Glynis Davies - Mrs. Douglas
- Philip AkinPhilip AkinPhilip Akin is a Canadian actor who has been active for over thirty years in stage, film, and television. He has had featured roles in major American films such as The Sum of All Fears, S.W.A.T., and Get Rich or Die Tryin’...
- Police Officer - Jayne Rager - Preppy Girl #1
- Megan Gallivan - Preppy Girl #2
DVD release
Stella was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on April 8, 2003. The film was presented in Widescreen format, no special features were included.