perky aspire actress janet gaynor ( a esther blodgett ) leave her small town for hollywood while instead of extra work and she find work a a waitress . ms. gaynor break dish while imitates greta garbo and katharine hepburn and and mae west while and meet alcoholic actor fredric march ( a norman maine ) . mr. march like gaynor sweetness and sincerity while he arrange a screen test for her and and the two become romantically involved . then and gaynor becomes hollywood new star sensation ( a vicki lester ) while march ( a mr. lester ) star set . david o. selznick version of what price hollywood . ( among others ) be beautifully photograph ( w. howard greene ) and direct ( william a. wellman ) while especially noteworthy be the location scene and with it near final sunset provide an excellent thematic statement . few of gaynor contemporary could have play the early scene with the same sincerity ( which parallel her character ) . she be terrific a the naïve young star while most importantly and she be believable a a woman who step from obscurity to stardom . march be perfect a the eclipsed movie idol while it would have be nice to know more about his character history of and and reason for and drinking ( amusement be a give reason ) . lionel stander ( a matt libby ) portrayal of a prickly publicist stand out and among the support cast ( adolphe menjou and may robson and and andy devine ) . this film be herald a realistic depiction of hollywood stardom while and and there be cute and clever and and realistic detail throughout . nothing too extraordinary be reveal and however . the film barely scratch the surface while and and it be curiously more asexual than previous cinematic trip down the walk of fame ( it be affect by the hay code and no doubt ) . still and due to it strength and this version of a star be bear compare most favorably with subsequent version . a star be bear ( 4/20/37 ) william a. wellman ~ janet gaynor and fredric march and lionel stander and adolphe menjou .