Figure 1.--Stella comes from a working-class family and marries Stephen Dallas, a wealthy man from a socially connected family. Her husband lives in New York and is separated by distance from Stella, suddenly comes home to find his wife in the company of another man--the drunkard Ed Munn. There are some interesting shots of children's clothes in the film. We see Stella's daughter Laurel as a little girl of about 2 years of age. The little girl wears a white dress with white long stockings and supporters the fasteners of which you can see in the film. Long stockings were very commonly worn by American children, but are rarely deoicted by Hollywood.

'Stella Dallas' was one of the most important films of 1937 with Barbara Stanwyck at her height. She received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her performance. The film is based upon a popular novel by Olive Higgins Prouty and was the second and by far the best film version. It was directed by King Vidor and stars John Boles as Stephen Dallas, the upper-class man whom Stella from a working-class family marries. There are some interesting shots of children's clothes in the film. In the first shot, we see Stella's daughter Laurel as a little girl of about 2 yeatrs of age being held by one of Stella's lower-class friends--(Ed Munn, a drunkard, played by Alan Hale. The little girl's father, who lives in New York and is separated by distance from Stella (played by John Boles), suddenly comes home to find his wife Stella in the company of another man--Ed. We also see boys at a party wearing short pants suits--an upper class style in the 1930s. Most school age American boys at the time wore either knickers or long pants suits. The boys wear ankle siocks rather than knee socks, a fashion we see in America during the inter-War era. The costume designers have chosen rather curious cap styles for the boys.

Filmology

'Stella Dallas' was one of the most important films of 1937 with Barbara Stanwyck at her height. She received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her performance. The film is based upon a popular novel by Olive Higgins Prouty and was the second and by far the best film version. It was directed by King Vidor.

Cast

The film was a vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck, one of the leading film actresses of the 1930s. She plays the title role. It also stars John Boles as Stephen Dallas. Ed Munn, a drunkard, is played by Alan Hale. A teenage Tim Holt plays the youth who meets Laurel, Stella's daughter, and eventually marries her. We are not yet sure who played the children in the film.

Plot

Stella comes from a working-class family and marries Stephen Dallas, a wealthy man from a socially connected family. Her husband lives in New York and is separated by distance from Stella, suddenly comes home to find his wife in the company of another man--Ed Munn. In the end, Stella sacrifices everything for her daughter. Stella takes a now grow up Laurel to a up-scale resort. Here a now teenage Laurel meets Richard Grosvenor III (Tim Holt) and they fall in love. Stella after recovering from an illness, meets the couple's friends for the first time. Lacking the expected sociak graces, she becomes the target of derision for her appartent vulgarity. She is not clued in enough to realize it. Laurel is embarrassed with her mother. Laurel insists they leave, but does not tell her mother why. On the return train trip, Stella accidentally learns what happened. Stella, whom Laurel's new upper-class friends consider vulgar, sacrifices herself by going out of Laurel's life.

Costuming

There are some interesting shots of children's clothes in the film. We see Stella's daughter Laurel as a little girl of about 2 yeatrs of age being held by one of Stella's lower-class friends--(Ed Munn, a drunkard, played by Alan Hale. The little girl wears a white dress with white long stockings and supporters the fasteners of which you can see in the film. A few years lter we see the two younger boys to whom Laurel is introduced when she visits an upper-class lady in Boston. These boys wear short trousers suits in the movie--an upper class style in the 1930s. Hollywood often costumed upper-class boys in short pnts suits. Most school age American boys at the time wore either knickers or long pants suits. The boys wear ankle socks rather than knee socks, a fashion we see in America during the inter-War era. Here we see the boys with their caps in a public location. The costume designers have chosen rather curious cap styles for the boys. We are not entirely sure why cap styles that were not very common were chosen.

Created: 2:35 AM 9/3/2011
Last updated: 2:35 AM 9/3/2011