By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Gregory La Cava
Starring: Adolphe Menjou | Andrea Leeds | Constance Collier | Gail Patrick | Ginger Rogers | Katharine Hepburn | Lucille Ball | Samuel S. Hinds
Country: united_states
Year: 1937
Running time: 92
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029604/reference
Philip says: “Edna Ferber’s adaptation of the stage play she wrote with George S. Kaufman won Best Picture from the NY Film Critics Circle and was nominated for four Oscars. STAGE DOOR is the kind of old film (1937 is pretty old at this point in the game) that has you marvel over the dialogue. You somehow get it in your head that snappy dialogue was invented with your generation. Then you watch STAGE DOOR and can’t believe the string of one-liners that come out of the mouths of Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Anne Miller, and of course Eve Arden. This film is classic comfort food. I enjoy it more with each viewing. Perfect delivery. Things haven’t changed all that much in 85 years. Young people still come to New York to try to make it on Broadway. They still nearly starve to death hoping to strike it big. And some even imagine they can sleep their way to the top. It’s especially fun seeing Lucille Ball pre I Love Lucy as well as Eve Arden with a live white cat around her neck throughout the film. And of course watching Katherine Hepburn try to pretend she can’t act is just hysterical. All the girls are here and they are laugh out loud funny! 5 cats for this perennial classic. STAGE DOOR is a must-see. If you’ve never seen an old film or haven’t watched a classic in a while, treat yourself to STAGE DOOR.
“Review courtesy of Reel Charlie”
Michael says: “As a follow-up to MY MAN GODFREY, which I just recently watched and loved, how could I resist STAGE DOOR, featuring a veritable cornucopia of amazing actresses of the time including Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Gail Patrick Ann Miler and many more? A boarding house filled with women with dreams and aspirations of becoming stars of the stage, is fertile ground for humor and drama. The women playfully, and sometimes not-so-playfully hurl barbs at each other about their talent, their choices in men, and even their eating habits, but even as factions develop and rivalries fester, when the chips are down, the support is there. When Terry Randall shows up, a society beauty from a wealthy “wheat” family, to see if she can make her name on Broadway under her own terms, she gets a bit of a cold shoulder from the other girls. Gradually she gets her roommate, Jean, to warm up to her. Jean catches the attention of a powerful, married, producer even as he grows bored of her current mistress, one of Jean’s fellow boarders. When Terry’s father backs this producer’s new show, he expects Terry’s lack of talent will cause the show to flop, but an unexpected tragedy creates a situation no one would have expected.
“It’s a joy to see all these talented actresses dancing, heckling each other, and trading quips with the often clueless men around them. It’s also nice to see the old, finding-a-man trope isn’t really the point of this film, but rather female solidarity rises to the top of themes La Cava tackles… granted, the film is an adaptation of a play by Edna Ferber. Hepburn and Roger are terrific as the roommates from opposite sides of the tracks, and Lucille Ball is particularly funny as she suffers a series of ridiculous men as she looks for a husband. This one gets a gold star as an entertaining melodrama with laughs, some serious issues, and some admirable characters trying to make it through life. 4 1/2 cats“