Stella Dallas itself-sentimental without question, building to an act of heartbreaking selflessness-earns the copious tears it jerks, embodying the "weepie" in every respect, yet more complicated and more flush with genuine emotion.

It's a melodrama that boasts a splendid performance by Barbara Stanwyck, but unfortunately it doesn't shake off a contrived plot that often undermines the inconsistencies of its social issue about class, motherhood and divorce. [Full review in Spanish]

Barbara Stanwyck flings her voice around like a lasso.

The mother of all sacrificial mother movies, "Stella Dallas," should have earned an Oscar for Barbara Stanwyck in 1937 for what is arguably her finest performance.