Stella Dallas

         The film Stella Dallas (1937) is a film based on the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty. There are many melodramatic elements of this film. To begin with, we will start with a synopsis.

          Stella Martin, the main character, grows up in a very poor family and shows her desire to reach a higher social level that is only possible marriage. Stella meets a wealthy man, Stephen Dallas, after reading about his misfortune in the newspaper and setting up a “chance encounter” with him when she goes to bring her brother lunch at work. Eventually Stephen and Stella marry and have a daughter, Laurel. Stephen takes a job in New York and asks Stella to move with him, but she refuses for fear of losing her recently achieved high status and friends such as Ed Mudd. Laurel stays with Stella and visits her father on occasion. Stephen then runs into his ex-fiancé, Helen Morrison, and her three boys at a local shop in New York. The two rekindle their romance and Stephen moves in with her. Stella realizes that she can never give Laurel the things she would need to achieve the status of young lady that Helen Morrison and Stephen Dallas can provide her. She decides to send Laurel to live with them, and when Laurel realizes this, she returns home only to find that Stella has decided to “move away with Ed Mudd- a man who has since turned into a poor drunk.” Laurel returns to her father and Helen’s and eventually marries a young gentleman. The film ends with Stella watching Laurel’s wedding through a window outside the house in the pouring rain. She walks away with a smile on her face.
            Some melodramatic themes that we see in this film are family relationships and conflicts, and the focus on wealth and social class. In terms of family relationships, Stella marries Stephen Dallas in order to achieve his social status. We see that Ed Munn, whom Stella believes can help her achieve an even higher level of social status, plays an important role in the film. At first, Ed seems as an instrument that Stella will be able to use to her advantage. Ultimately, Ed turns out to be a drunk who seems to hold Stella back from moving up in the modern society- something that she only seems to realize it is too late. We also see the importance of the mother daughter relationship that has often been used to create a connection with female audiences. Stella and Laurel have an innate relationship and love for one another- one that almost nothing can break through. This creates a lot of space for conflict. We also see the relationship between Stephen and Stella fall apart and the relationship between Stephen and Helen blossom. Helen is not portrayed as a villain, surprisingly, but rather as one of the only characters who can actually see through Stella's act. She is almost a comforting character, and we see even Stella turn to her in her time of need.

            From the beginning, the audience can see the importance that Stella places on wealth and social status. She seems obsessed with it. We see that this obsession eventually leads to the downfall of her marriage and life in general. For instance, when Stephen has a lawyer request a divorce from Stella, she concludes that it is about money and that she will give Laurel all of the fancy and expensive things that she wants. Stella goes over the top and does not see that the world’s version of high class has become far more modern and less in your face. She fails miserably at the new high class. We also see Helen Morrison as the perfect form of this new high class.

           Another important conflict that we see is the conflict between roles. Linda Williams refers to this conflict between roles in Stella Dallas as the conflict between “womanly desire and motherly duty” (Williams 1984). This conflict surrounds the majority of the plot. Stella dreams of being a good mother and tries her hardest to be one, however ultimately Stella’s desire to be part of the superior group in society is the downfall of her ability to also be a good mother. Stella seems to be using Laurel as a way to make up for her inferiority by giving Laurel everything that she would desire and that would make her a high-class young lady. Stella seems as though she sees Laurel as “her double” (Williams 1984). As Williams also points out in her chapter "Something Else Besides a Mother", “in these films it is quite remarkable how frequently the self-sacrificing mother must make her sacrifice that of the connection to her children- either for her or their own good.” Stella makes this sacrifice when she realizes that she cannot give Laurel what she needs. By asking Helen Morrison to have Laurel live with her and Stephen Dallas, Stella is doing what she feels is in the best interest of the child. Helen Morrison can provide Laurel everything that Stella wishes she could but has realized she cannot.

One interesting part is when Stella and Laurel are in bunk beds after the scene at the country club where Stella is dressed excessively and elaborately and all of Laurel’s friends make fun of her. Stella hears Laurel’s friends while they are laying in bed and knows that she is holding Laurel back. Laurel, who is on the top bunk, comes down to the bottom bunk where her mother is and climbs into bed with her. In a way, this could represent Stella holding Laurel at a certain lower level (the lower bunk) and Laurel always coming back to where Stella remains.

The ending of the film is especially dramatic, with Stella watching her daughter reach the status and marriage that she never had but always desired. From the outside of the house, Stella watches her only child get married, without Laurel's knowledge, and then walks away slowly in the rain, smiling, as if things in life have finally worked out for the one person she has always loved.