Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome To The Theatre., January 9, 2004
This has always been one of my favorite movies. I've just watched it for maybe the tenth time, and my jaw hurts from the constant grin, along with a tear or two, that viewing this film produces. The story of the inhabitants of "The Footlights Club", those struggling young actresses pursuing the glory and heartbreak of show-biz, is just as fresh and witty as when it was produced in 1937. Katherine Hepburn was somewhere in the midst of her "Box Office Poison" phase when she made this film. She is wonderful as "Terry Randall", the heiress attempting to live in anonymity to pursue her starry dream, against the wishes of her wealthy father. She is assisted in all this comaraderie by the now legendary cast of Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, and Ann Miller. Other than Rogers, all the others were relatively unknown at this point, and their intimidation at the prospect of working with the Great Kate has been often told. Ann Miller was but a babe here, and we get to see her tap!, something she later became very famous for. Also, our beloved Lucys wisecracking and dead-pan humor foreshadow her future greatness as the worlds favorite t.v. clown. This superbly written film, taken from the play by Edna Ferber and George Kaufmann, is full of witty banter, repartee, occasional sweet sentiment, and tragedy, as the lovely gaggle of girls try and constantly out-talk each other. It is rich with wonderful character roles, the stand out being that of Constance Collier, as the older resident drama coach and faded actress. She is absolutely hysterical in her delivery, as she attempts to tell anyone who will listen about her acting glory days of past, always accompanied by the showing of her aged review clippings, which always just happen to be at hands reach. There just aren't any wonderful character actresses like this anymore, or, if there are, the roles for them are few and far between. In real life, Miss Collier, famous for her New York soirees, was Katherine Hepburns drama coach and dear friend, and, on her death in the mid-1950's, Miss Hepburn inherited Miss Colliers secretary, Phyllis Wilbourn, who remained with her for over forty years. Miss Collier was also drama coach for the great Garbo, as well as, for a brief time, her beloved Marilyn Monroe (Read "A Beautiful Child" by Truman Capote.) Some may find certain scenes and acting styles in this film dated, but, if so, don't let that distract you from its timeless wit in its depiction of those who will risk all to achieve their dream of their name in lights. This film also has one of my favorite endings and fade-outs, which always leaves a smile on my face. A classic.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The calla lilies are in bloom again...", May 14, 2003
"The Philadelphia Story" brought Katharine Hepburn's film career back from the oblivion of being considered "Box Office Poison" by the nation's theater owners, but she was making a string of first-rate pictures right before that classic 1940 film beginning with 1937's "Stage Door." Her next two films were "Bringing Up Baby" and "Holiday," both with Cary Grant, and all four films have Hepburn playing a rich girl. In "Stage Door" she is Terry Randall, a debutante and wannabee actress who comes to New York City to become a Broadway star. She moves into the Footlights Club, where she joins a company of poor, starving young actresses who are all trying to make it in show businesses.Terry ends up rooming with Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers), an acid-tongued but softhearted dancer. The two trade barbs over everything from Terry's extensive wardrobe to Jean's affair with Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou), a Broadway producer who is working his way through an endless procession of young women. His next big production is "Enchanted April," and in order to get funding he is cornered into giving the inexperienced and patently inept Terry the starring role. The part should have gone to Kaye Hamilton (Andrea Leeds), a talented actress at the club who is broke and on the verge of starvation. When Terry gets the part Kaye is crushed. Based on the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman, the script by Morrie Ryskind and Anthony Veiler retained the basic plot line regarding Terry, Jean, and Kay, while provided some wonderful crackling dialogue amongst the girls (some of which was supposedly based on overhearing the actresses chatting during rehearsals). One of the prime attractions of the film today are the faces that would become familiar in the future, such as Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, and Ann Miller. The show piece of the film is the play-within-the-play sequences, which was remodeled after a scene in the third act of "The Lake," the infamous Broadway play were Dorothy Parker got off the famous shot "Katharine Hepburn ran the gamut of emotions from A to B." This is where the famous line "The calla lilies are in bloom again" is uttered by Hepburn. In rehearsal she butchers the line and the scene in the most horrendous fashion. But then, in the grand tradition of opening nights in such films, Terry turns in a transcendent performance. The comparison of the two scenes is ample evidence of the range of Hepburn's acting talents at this point in her career. Admittedly it seems strange that Terry could be so inept, but the transformation is rewarding, as is the payoff of the film. However, Hepburn's performance was apparently overshadowed by the realization that Ginger Rogers was also a pretty good comedienne as well as a great dancer. Still, it is the ensemble nature of the film, with all those wisecracking young girls trying to make it in the big bad city that is the prime attraction. "Stage Door" received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Director for Gregory La Cava, and Best Supporting Actress for Leeds.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE FOOTLIGHT CLUB..., March 2, 2005
Excellent film of the George S.KaufMan-Edna Ferber play about young Broadway hopefuls staying at The Footlight Club, a boarding house for young actresses. Katharine Hepburn is the rich one trying to make it on her own as a new arrival, forced to room with tough Ginger Rogers who's barely getting by. Others include Lucille Ball, Eve Arden (who wears a cat around her neck) and an astonishingly young Ann Miller. Terrific ensemble cast gives plenty of room to watch the soon stars to be (Ball, Arden and Miller). The film is a "comedy-drama" but features enough bite and serious situations to just merit drama. Nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Andrea Leeds as a doomed young actress who finds herself cast aside after once scoring a hit on stage. Oddly, Leeds faded into obscurity after this. Adolphe Menjou also stars as a snakey producer with a lecherous eye for young talent. Wonderful showcase for a wonderful cast. Good DVD print. Enjoy this one.
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