Search - Stella on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity, Substance Abuse Movie Release: 1989 DVD Release: 04/08/2003 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 49 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Members Wishing: 11 Genres: Drama, Family Drama

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

Bette Midler - Stella Claire
John Goodman - Ed Munn
Trini Alvarado - Jenny Claire
Stephen Collins - Dr. Stephen Dallas
Marsha Mason - Janice Morrison

Bette Midler stars in this remake of the classic tearjerker Stella Dallas, which has been given a streamlined release on DVD. Stella has been given a letterboxed transfer to disc in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which has been enhanced for anamorphic playback on 16 x 9 monitors. The original English-language audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Surround, while an alternate track dubbed in French appears in Dolby Digital Stereo. The feature has also been closed captioned in English. No additional bonus materials appear on this edition. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide