Gaynor's first job after leaving Fox was this estimable David O. Selznick production, a gimlet-eyed melodrama about the Hollywood movie colony. A Star Is Born traces the rise of an aspiring actress (Gaynor) to the heights of fame and fortune, while also charting the obverse trajectory of her matinee-idol husband (Fredric March). William A. Wellman developed the story with a clutch of quality writers, and the Oscar-winning script crackles with wit and finely observed details of behind-the-scenes life in Tinseltown. Nominated for numerous Academy Awards-including one for Gaynor's subtle, sympathetic lead performance-A Star Is Born became the biggest box-office hit of the year and provided Gaynor with her most famous line, and one of the most famous last lines in Hollywood history: “This is Mrs. Norman Maine.” The picture was especially praised for W. Howard Greene's color cinematography, which vividly evoked the glamorous modern filmmaking milieu and proved that Technicolor technology “need not, should not, be restricted to the gaudy costume drama” (New York Times).