AFI FILM FEST: A WINDOW ON SOME FAR SHORES : THURSDAY

“A Star Is Born” (U.S.A., 1937, 7:30 p.m., Wadsworth Auditorium). Although not as stunning or subtle as the 1954 George Cukor remake, the 1937 William Wellman three-strip Technicolor version is nevertheless still a potent, myth-making entertainment and a time-capsule film, thanks to its generous use of Hollywood locales. Janet Gaynor is a sweet Esther Blodgett turned star Vicki Lester, and Fredric March is timelessly splendid as the doomed Norman Maine; the Dorothy Parker-Alan Campbell dialogue has plenty of sparkle. Yet another noble restoration by UCLA Film Archives’ Robert Gitt to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a Hollywood classic about Hollywood. Recommended.