Main Cast: Bette Midler, John Goodman, Trini Alvarado, Stephen Collins, Marsha Mason
Release Year: 1989
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Bette Midler stars as Stella Claire, a working class, fun-loving barmaid in northern New York State. A brief affair with handsome Stephen Dallas (Stephen Collins) produces a daughter, Jenny (Trini Alvarado), who Stella insists upon raising alone, despite Dallas' marriage offer. As the years pass, Stella and Jenny are a happy pair. Stella gives up bartending to sell cosmetics, supported by her friend Ed (John Goodman), a bartender developing a crush on her and a problem with alcohol. Dallas has stayed involved with his beloved daughter from afar and is now a urologist in New York City, engaged to a book editor (Marsha Mason). As Jenny reaches adulthood, Stella becomes aware that life with her father would provide her daughter with opportunities that she'd never have otherwise, so she devises a painful, self-sacrificing scheme to drive Jenny from the nest. Although functional as a tearjerker, many of the themes in Stella simply don't make as much sense in a modern age of healthy, fractured families, muting the drama of the tale's earlier versions, specifically Stella Dallas (1937). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Eileen Brennan - Mrs. Wilkerson; Linda Hart - Debbie Whitman; Philip Akin - Police Officer; Philip Astor - Bar Customer; John Bell - Bob Morrison; George Buza - George; Matthew Cowles - Sid; Eve Crawford - Janice's Secretary; Glynis Davies - Mrs. Douglas; Tedd Dillon - Freddie; Jane Dingle - Bingo Winner; Jayne Eastwood - Nurse; Megan Gallivan - Preppy Girl; Bob Gerchen - Bartender; Charles Gray - Parent at PTA; Christian Hoover - Bar Customer; Elva Mai Hoover - Mrs. Hough; Eric Keenleyside - Wendell; Ken Kimmins - Security Guard; John Kozak - Mr. Wilkerson; Terrence Langevin - Bingo Announcer; Elizabeth Lennie - Airline Reservation Clerk; Justin Louis - Cocaine Dealer; Todd Louiso - Preppy Boy; Peter MacNeill - Bobby; Sam Malkin - Man in Theatre; Rob McClure - Stephen's Friend; William McNamara - Pat Robbins; Jeff Nichols - Preppy Boy; Ashley Peldon - Jenny, Age 3; Alisan Porter - Jenny, Age 8; Jayne Rager - Preppy Girl; Catherine Robbin - Leider Singer; Rex Robbins - Minister; Willie Rosario - Dancing Waiter; James Shannon - Teenage Heckler; Ron White - Tony De Banza; Dwayne McLean - Tom; Ben Stiller - Jim Uptegrove; Michael Hogan - Billy
Credit
Jeffrey S. Ginn - Art Director, Patricia Birch - Choreography, Bonnie Bruckheimer-Martell - Co-producer, Theadora Van Runkle - Costume Designer, John Erman - Director, Jerrold L. Ludwig - Editor, Bud Molin - Editor, John Morris - Composer (Music Score), Michelle Phillips - Songwriter, Michael Bernard - Songwriter, Rick Chadock - Songwriter, Calvin Lewis - Songwriter, Giorgio Moroder - Songwriter, John Phillips - Songwriter, David Rose - Songwriter, Bert Sommer - Songwriter, Donna Summer - Songwriter, Andrew Wright - Songwriter, Jeff Robert - Songwriter, Trevor - Songwriter, Suzanne Benoit - Makeup, Richard Blair - Makeup, Bob Mills - Makeup, James Hulsey - Production Designer, Billy Williams - Cinematographer, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. - Producer, David V. Picker - Producer, Steve Shewchuk - Set Designer, Doug Graham - Special Effects, Jack Gill - Stunts, Robert Getchell - Screenwriter, Olive Higgins Prouty - Book Author
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.
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 for Me!").
Total US gross for the film was $20,062,347 [1]. It has been released on VHS and DVD.
