Stage Door

Stage Door

Stage Door

source: Stage Door

A film about struggling actresses in the 1930s living in a boarding house which despite some rapid fire lines looks a bit creaky now. Katherine Hepburn plays Terry, daughter of a wealthy father determined to make it big on her own but not knowing that her father is pulling some strings to get her a role in a new play. Terry is tough and self assured but at odds with the other actresses in the boarding house but willing to fight their corner if needed. Ginger Rogers plays Jean a struggling dancer always at odds with Terry especially when Terry bags a stage role that was coveted by their roommate Kay who is pushed over the edge by this latest setback. The film has a cynical but comedic look at show business, a producer who refuses to see the actresses who come each day to hopefully audition for him and who thinks they should be at home cooking. We have a lecherous casting agent who looks to take advantage of the ladies in exchange for advancing their careers.

In the aptly titled Stage Door, Katharine Hepburn plays a society girl with dreams of being a theatrical actress. She shuns financial support from her father and runs away from home, joining a boarding house full of other hopeful actresses and dancers. Determined to make it on her own, she learns the ins and outs of the theater. Ginger Rogers plays the most prominent roommate, and she and Kate have some interesting and influential dealings with producer Adolphe Menjou. While Kate gives some speeches that show her strength and willingness to help out her friends, she's not the most accessible character in the film. She's wealthy and can easily go back home to her parents if the going gets tough. The other girls are poor and struggling, so when less-than-honorable propositions are made, they don't feel they have the liberty to refuse. Ginger Rogers is given more one-liners than is realistic, so once again the audience doesn't really feel they can relate to her. Doesn't she have any characteristic besides cynicism? Ironically, my worst part of the film was the script. It felt like most of the exchanges between the roommates were ad-libbed, but that was actually director Gregory La Cava's intention! He told his actresses to ad-lib for two weeks, and wrote down much of what they said to add to the screenplay so that the dialogue would sound natural. If you don't mind an improvised script, you might enjoy Stage Door more than I did. There is one very famous line from this film. Katharine is onstage and remarks that the "calla lilies are in bloom". If you want to save yourself ninety minutes, you can just watch the famous clip and call it a day.

A very well acted classic drama with great characters that interact realistically when together, it is also supported by some fine acting. Katharine Hepburn is very strong and natural, and Ginger Rogers matches her, playing a witty and almost cynical character very well. Gail Patrick is great too, yet Andrea Leeds was the only cast member to go on to receive an Academy Award nomination, however she is the best of the bunch, giving life to a frail and emotionally unstable aspiring actress. It is a bit overly talkative, and it has at least one too many subplots going on, however the film presents such an interesting insight into the lives of wannabee actresses that these points hardly matter. It is indeed a little difficult to distinguish each of the supporting characters as individuals, and perhaps they could done with further development, but yet this factor is very much like how all the aspiring actresses in the world are: indistinguishable, until you get to know them - and how actresses get ahead in the world is a lot of what this film is about. The final few minutes of the film could have been chopped out; otherwise this is good viewing all the way through.

I did not like this film. But maybe I would've liked it more if I could understand what's going on. Problem is, the sound of this 1937 "gem" makes it very hard to understand what's being said. Also, there are maybe 30 female characters with different personalities and I can't tell one from the next. I caught a few lines. It's about a bunch of women who do plays. I think someone dies. There's probably a romance. Mind you, I'm not the kind of guy who only likes movies in which at least 27 objects explode. Nor am I prejudiced against older movies. I might've liked this movie more if the cinematography was of a better quality. Then again, maybe not - I was forced to see the play and I was also confused. Everyone talked too fast, and there were still very many women - I couldn't distinguish one from the next. Maybe if you have more patience for this movie, you'll like it more than me. But I doubt that all the other glowing reviews are appropriate. There are better movies out there - better sophisticated comedies, better movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood, better movies staring Katharine Hepburn. Hell, there are better sophisticated comedies from the Golden Age of Hollywood starring Katherine Hepburn (try The Philadelphia Story).

"Stage Door" (1937) treads the familiar backstage yarn of heartache and dismissal with unfamiliar panache and a killer cast. Wealthy socialite, Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn) wants desperately to break into Broadway theater only she wants to do it on her own. So Terry decides to go slumming, secretly checking into a theatrical boarding house populated by sharp shooter, Judy Canfield (Lucille Ball), wise girl, Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers), and Eve (Eve Arden) and Annie (Ann Miller), a couple of stage struck kids...almost. What Terry discovers is that life upon the wicked stage might be the nearest thing to heaven, if only she could manage to get closer to the stage itself. Very quickly, however, Terry learns that her fate, and that of the other hopefuls is plagued by ever-present disappointments. A big break of sorts comes by way of Jean's new affiliation with a powerful producer, Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou), only he wants Jean for more than just a role. Enter Terry's father, set to help his daughter's career but in a production in which she is almost surely to fail. Director Gregory La Cava's astute perceptions about stage folk and their ragged existence beyond the footlights provides deeper insight and juicier vignettes than one might expect. There's an intense immediacy to the drama and a biting edge to the comedy that is generally uncharacteristic of comedies from this vintage. Hence, "Stage Door" comes across as a unique Hollywood classic - frought with exciting performances, wonderful cameos and the opportunity to see budding new talent at the very beginning of their careers. Great good fun and hearty entertainment besides. Warner's DVD treatment is just a tad above middle of the road. The black and white image has been mastered from reasonably clean film elements. Contrast levels are adequate, though at times weak. There's a hint of edge enhancement and some fine detail shimmering, but nothing that will distract. Fine details are sometimes nicely realized. Film grain is kept to a bare minimum. Age related artifacts are present throughout. An audio only radio broadcast is the only extra included.

In fact this film version of a stage play by Edna Ferber and George S Kaufman, directed by Gregory La Cava is 70 years old and although it may show a wrinkle here or there - like having Adolph Menjou as the romantic lead - the youthful energy in the acting and dialog has surfed the waves of time unscathed. The bunch of girls populating the Footlights lodgings is a smashing crowd. Katharine Hepburn, brisk and Hepburnish already to the hilt. Ginger Rogers drinks, scratches and dances a duet with Ann Miller. Eve Arden, as usual, delivers the best one liners and Lucille Ball seems ready for a startling career. Andrea Leeds got an Oscar nomination and Constance Collier plays an over the hill actress that becomes Hepburn's minder, just like in real life. The film moves at an incredible speed and I defy you not to tear up when Hepburn makes her entrance with the Calla Lillies in bloom.