You’d need a heart of stone not to be moved, says SANDRA HOWARD

Queuing up with my husband Michael to buy tickets for the late-night showing of A Star is Born, i was bemused to see huddles of women shuffling in the opposite direction. And they were all snuffling into hankies.

What on earth was going on? Two hours and 15 minutes later, i understood. i’m not ashamed to admit i had my hankie out, too. Stumbling out into the night, i felt like i’d been through an emotional wringer. The beautiful songs. The extraordinary acting. it was like being battered by a force-nine emotional gale.

You’d need a heart of stone not to be moved to tears by this timeless tale. A beautiful, talented couple fall in love, then find themselves torn apart as her star outshines his.

And timeless it is. This is the fourth version. While i’m a little young to have seen the first in 1937, starring Janet gaynor and Fredric March, i saw no 2 in 1954, with Judy garland and a spellbinding James Mason, and no 3 in 1976, with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson (right).

Kristofferson was too huge and hairy for me. But a delight of this new version is the delicious Bradley Cooper. in the immortal words of Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire, Bradley had me at hello. His lopsided grin, his blue eyes, his gravelly voice. What woman wouldn’t be putty in his hands?

Yet this film is about so much more than Bradley’s good looks. it’s the way he captures the extraordinary talent and the vulnerability of country rocker Jackson Maine.

We watch Jackson fall in love with waitress and wannabe singer Ally, guide her to stardom, then spiral to disaster under the pressure of her fame and his own waning powers.

Jackson’s got a good heart. We know that from the sweet way he interacts with everyone from his fans to the long-suffering driver who drops him off at the club where he meets Ally. He’s just looking for the next drink. instead, he finds Ally singing La Vie en Rose on her night off and is entranced.

Watching him fall in love with her is, for me, one of the film’s most enchanting moments. i defy any woman not to picture herself in that parking lot with Bradley nursing her bruised knuckles with a bag of frozen peas (did i forget to say there are some very funny moments?).

i found myself hurtling back in time to those first moments of falling in love myself.

As for Lady gaga, i admit she wasn’t in my frame of vision until now. But she is sensational as Ally Campana. She manages to appear both totally ordinary and absolutely zinging with star quality.

One of the most powerful moments comes when Ally tells Jackson she’s abandoned her dream because she knows she doesn’t have the looks to be a star. Her nose is too big. ‘i’m always told: “You sound great. But you don’t look so great,” ’ she sighs.

That’s when Jackson does what every woman wants her man to do. Covering her nose in kisses, he says it’s the most beautiful thing about her. it may seem corny, but the scene is so tender that my heart lurched.

We’ve all got hang-ups. Mine, as a young model, was that men thought i was an airhead. if a man showed interest in my opinions, i melted.

i love the modern spin on the tale. We learn Jackson’s mother died when he was born. Saddled not just with an elderly, alcoholic father, but also hearing problems, he ended up practically being raised by his elder brother. now, his talent is ebbing away and he’s suffering with tinnitus. i defy any woman not to long to mend his broken soul.

And, if that lost soul is as beautiful as Bradley, the lure is irresistible.

The movie manages to capture a couple in love without taking us through every cough and spit of ‘the deed’. For me, the fact there isn’t a sex scene makes it more romantic.

One pivotal moment comes after Jackson has shown how much he adores Ally by getting her to share the stage with him for the first time. On a high, they tumble back to his hotel room. it’s all perfect, until Ally emerges from the bathroom to find Jackson comatose on the bed.

His big brother/mentor Bobby (Sam elliott) is standing over him. ‘You think he drinks a bit much,’ he says. ‘Sweetie, you have no idea.’

no one could say she hasn’t been warned. But while there were plenty of times i wanted to beg Jackson to pull himself together, there wasn’t one when i felt like screaming at Ally to walk away.

For me, that’s what makes the film so successful. i was caught up in their love story, longing for them to live happily ever after with the delightful Charlie (a labradoodle).

it’s easy to pick holes. Would a shambolic drunk maintain that flawless physique? Would Ally really trust such a creepy manager?

But the emotions were so true, the acting so immaculate, i bought it all. The ending, when it comes, is devastating. For me, A Star is Born is an epic love story up there with weepies like Titanic. it’s romantic, moving and bang up-to-date.

What greater love can a man have than to be prepared to lay down his life for his wife’s career?