What scenes do all the stars have in common?

The four versions of A star is born follow the same rhythms: a big megaport meets the next generation, he marries her and forms her to glory, and her talent and her attraction end up eclipsing hers. Although the latest version, directed by Bradley Cooper, avoids the specific quotes that appear in every other movie, and at first glance it seems closer to the Streisand-Kristofferson version (two musicians of different genres collaborate and fall in love) it retains many details from the originals – and also pays tribute to new ways.

"There is a bit of" Where's Waldo? "In the movie," Cooper told FilmStruck (whose versions of 1937, 1954, and 1976 are available in streaming). "It was fun cinematically. [Gaga] sings the preamble of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as she climbed the ramp to get to work. It was a nod to Judy Garland. Even though it was not sung [in the previous films]oddly enough, it was the first song we had to learn at university. "

Although Cooper has taken the most liberties with the proven formula of history, each version of A star is born repeat at least five of the same scenes: the meet-cute bar, the "I just want to look at you again", the proposal and the wedding flash, the crash of the awards ceremony and the last look. Below, we examine how each iteration has addressed these classic scenes.

1937 Wannabe film star Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) first sees Norman Maine (Fredric March) in a Hollywood Bowl show. He is drunk and irascible, and has slapped paparazzi. The two do not meet until she works as a catering server at an industrial party. He puts his eyes on her as she serves caviar and abandons his appointment snobbish, madly in love.

1954: Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) performs with her band at an event where drunken Norman (Maine Mason) drunk stumbles upon the stage. She sees her intoxicated state and integrates it perfectly with the choreography. Later, he falls on his song "The Man That Got Away" with his group in front of a closed group.

1976: After a less than fantastic performance where he forgot his own words, rock star John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson) finds himself in a bar that does not even have a liquor license. The stage performances are "The Oreos" – Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand) and her two black singers. He quarrels loudly with a waitress when Esther plays and interrupts his performance to silence him. When John struggles with an unhappy fan, Esther rushes through a back door and the two escape into his limousine.

2018 Jackson Maine retreats in his SUV after a concert and pushes his driver to stop in a random bar. It's a bar where Ally sings "La Vie en Rose". Jackson is waiting for her as she removes her make-up, and then the two in another bar where Ally is arguing with an obnoxious Jackson fan.

1937 Norman asks the question when he and Esther – who was renamed Vicki Lester by the studio's publicist who works with Norman – attend a boxing match, but she refuses, "No thanks," she said. "Because you're not sure, you throw your money away and you drink so much." They marry in the suburbs of San Verdo, in a courthouse that also houses two prisoners in a prison.

1954: Esther – who was renamed Vicki Lester by the studio – is recording a song when Norman surprises her at the studio. While the orchestra plays, she and Norman are stealing time in a corner. He asks her to marry him and she says yes; without knowing it, they are recorded by sound engineers. The commitment is replicated for the entire studio on the speaker. "I was thinking of another type of arrangement," Norman says. "Do you want to marry me?" The two exiles in San Verdo marry under their real name and in the office of the justice of the peace, again before two men in prison.

1976: After the crowd that is unleashed for the first concert of Esther, John leads her home. In the car, she says that she wants to marry her. "Look, I never thought I'd marry again, you'd be lucky to get me," she said as he tried to dissuade her. They get married outside a courthouse, by a rather irritated black justice of the peace.

2018 Jackson disappears serenely one night after a show and ends in the garden of Noodles (Dave Chappelle). Ally is doing everything in her power to find it, telling her that it's not something she'll be used to. She eats with Noodles and her family when Jackson cuts a small piece of guitar string and shapes it into a ring. At dinner, he asks her to marry and they organize a wedding the same day: Noodles' wife helps Ally to dress in a dress, they gather all their friends and get married in a black church.

1937 Vicki gives her speech of thanks for the Academy Award for best actress at the eighth Academy Awards. Norman enters. "I want to be the first to congratulate you on this precious piece of junk," he says, launching a tirade on the fact that the price does not mean anything. "I want a statue that no one else can get. I want a statue for the worst performance of the year, "he concludes, predicting with some precision the Razzies. Vicki approaches him, trying to persuade him to come out of the scene when he accidentally slaps her face in front of the audience.

1954: Vicki has a complete table with her at the Oscars, with the exception of the seat right next to her. Norman's absence fills the frame. She won the best actress award and went on stage to accept the award when Norman came on stage. "Can I borrow the end of your speech to do it myself?", He asks. He asks the room to hire him for any job, since he lost all work as a studio manager. He paces the stage under the gaze of a silent room. To lighten the mood, he asks to be played, throwing his hands and accidentally striking Vicki in the face.

1976: Esther accepts a Grammy when John falls in the room. He is drunk and bellicose and complains that his table has no seat for him. Like Norman in the previous two versions, he asks for a prize for the worst performance: "Let me see the worst you have to offer," he says, "for the worst that I have to offer."

2018 Moments before Jackson sits next to Ally before winning the title of Best New Grammy Artist. He is lost and confused and tries to escort him on stage before sitting on the steps of the stage. While she thanks him, he comes on stage and marvels at the big-screen projection of her face behind her. Finally, he pee in front of the microphone and Ally pulls him off the stage.

1937Norman is arrested and goes to a sanatorium. Once home, he surprises Vicki talking to a studio director. The movie star "Vicki Lester" is dead, she says firmly to the boss, and she will devote her life to taking care of her husband. Norman surprises this in the next room and cries softly.

When the executive shares, Vicki and he talk about their plans for the future, but she does not mention her retirement. He looks out, through the French windows, the sunset over the ocean. While Vicki leaves for sandwiches, he barks the famous "Hey!" She turns around. "Does it bother you if I wear … just a last look?" Then he drowned quickly.

1954: Norman is arrested again and goes (again) to a sanatorium. He catches Vicki talking to a studio director. She says that she will put Vicki Lester out of the way for the moment to take care of Norman, and suggests that they may be able to work abroad a once he's sober for good. "Somewhere they do not know about him like they do here," she says.

Norman is in bed when he hears the conversation and cries. He arrives on Vicki, reflecting on his next move, and admires the setting sun on the waves of the ocean. He tells her that he is going to swim and calls him before leaving for the kitchen. "Hey," he said. "I just wanted to watch you again." He withdraws in the dark and is going to drown.

1976: John goes home to Arizona after a rehab. One morning, he wakes up early, waking Esther when he leaves. He traces the outline of his nose and wakes up. He's going to pick up his manager Brian at the airport, he says. He turns to her before leaving. (For the first time, Kris Kristofferson buttoned his shirt over his navel – a capital sin!) He looks at her for a long time. "What?" Esther asks.

John smiles. "Just watch, baby." He breaks a beer leaving his house and drives his Ferrari Daytona off the road and crashes.

2018 Ally's director, Rez, assists Jackson to tell him what's really going on in Ally's career: she demands that he come on tour with her, which the label will never allow. Instead, she cancels the European step to stay home and take care of him. Rez tells Jackson straight down that he is holding back Ally, a conclusion he thought but did not face.

When Ally returns from the rehearsal, she lies in bed with Jackson and lies to him, telling him that this night's show will be his last for some time. She invents an excuse: the label has canceled the European round to focus on her second album and she says she'll be at home all summer long. As she gets up to leave, he says that he only wants to look at her anymore. She smiles and traces the outline of her nose, as he did the first night they met. After his departure for the night, he hangs himself in the garage.