‘A Star Without A Star’ is an Ode to an Unsung Hollywood Heroine

I was a little kid when 1959’s Imitation of Life was released on VHS in 1992. By some stroke of luck, a copy of it landed on my family’s living room shelf. It stood out among our small but eclectic collection of VHS tapes—some combination of Disney movies, 80’s Bette Midler classics, and a well-worn copy of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Classic movies weren’t really a thing in my house but the cover of the VHS intrigued me. I don’t remember exactly when I watched Imitation of Life for the first time, but I do remember that Juanita Moore’s face was imprinted in my memory for a long time after. 

I know I’m not the only one.

If you’ve ever stayed up past the midnight hour and caught an old movie on TV, you’ve likely seen that face. There was such warmth in it that you couldn’t look away. Whether you’ve consciously absorbed her visage or not, Juanita Moore left a mark on American cinema that has far exceeded any acknowledgment she ever received for her work. 

We still see vestiges of her drive, tenacity, elegance, and grace today. Every time Viola Davis or Octavia Spencer or Kerry Washington or Tracee Ellis Ross pops up on your screen or social feed, it’s because Juanita Moore blazed a trail for them. Sadly but not unsurprisingly, Moore seldom gets the recognition for her contributions to cinema she deserves. And Hollywood’s disregard of her is exactly what A Star Without A Star: The Untold Story of Juanita Moore hopes to remedy. 

Written and directed by Kirk E. Kelleykahn, Moore’s own grandson, A Star Without A Star is a true labor of love. The documentary provides a thorough examination of Moore’s journey from dancer and singer at the famed Cotton Club to Oscar-nominated performer in Hollywood. The film interweaves key pieces of Black film history and all the ways in which the deeply racist Hollywood establishment halted the rise of Black talent.

Over the course of her career, Moore appeared in over 70 films and was credited for roughly half of them. Not only did she go uncredited for her work, but she was almost always cast in stereotypical roles—most often as a maid, sometimes as an “exotic foreigner,” always as subservient to her white on-screen counterparts. 

As Sydney Poitier points out throughout the documentary, many Black performers of the era were just grateful to be working in spite of the roles they played. Like Hattie McDaniel, Butterfly McQueen, and so many other Black actresses of her time, Moore grew tired of the degrading roles Hollywood reserved for her. 

“I didn’t want to carry the trays anymore,” Moore says in archival interview footage. “And I knew that was the only kind of job I was going to get.”

Archival footage throughout the documentary demonstrates Moore’s keen eye for the balance and fine line between progress and stagnation. She notes several times how much has changed but just how much is still the same. At the start of the film, a narrator puts it all into striking perspective: “There are over three thousand stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” the narrator states. “Only five percent of the stars belong to Black talent.”

To some, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame may seem insignificant. But Hollywood is and has always been a microcosm of society at large. If this level of inequity exists in a structure as superfluous as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, imagine what lingers just one layer beneath the surface. And beyond that? The stories we see on screen, both past and present, are greenlit by a small and exclusive set of elites in Hollywood. With streaming platforms beaming these select stories onto our devices 24/7, those elites have the power to shape how Americans see, define, and understand themselves. What’s that Winston Churchill quote again? Ah, yes… 

“History is written by the victors.” 

Though her story may be new to some, Juanita Moore proved a thousand times over that she was a victor. But Hollywood wouldn’t have you think so. 

At its core, A Star Without A Star is both an ode to a woman who overcame the monumental to solidify her place in film history and a call to action for Hollywood to take accountability for the ills it perpetuates. It’s also a warning to us all to pay attention, to give credit where it’s due, and to honor the people who move and shape us while we still have them. 

Watch the trailer: