Stage Door (1937)
.jpg)
Director: Gregory La Cava
Many American girls at one time or another dream about being in show
business, lavished with fame and fortune, but Stage Door presents what most ladies with such dreams were more so living
like while desperately trying to just land a job, in this case, on Broadway.
Following the doings of a group of wannabe actresses living in a New York
boarding house this picture creates a desperate, comical, yet tragic look at
what life is like for such aspiring ladies. Headlined with names like Ginger
Rogers and Adolphe Menjou, along with “box office poison” Katharine Hepburn, we
see a motion picture with an energized ensemble cast and an entertaining story.
Stage Door is a tale of group
of aspiring actresses in a New York boarding house and their lives as they seek
out their dreams of breaking through into the big time while simply getting by.
New to the boarding house is Terry (Katharine Hepburn), a proper and polished
young lady who seems to not fit in with the other more cynical girls in the
house, especially her new roommate Jean (Ginger Rogers), a sarcastic and more
offhanded dancer. Jean becomes the latest infatuation of theatrical producer
Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou), but does not get her too far. With the aid of
Terry’s father Powell’s leading role in his next play is given to Terry in her
father’s hope it will reveal her as a poor actress and end her silly dream of
acting. Originally the lead role was
meant for another well liked actress in the boarding house, Kay (Adrea Leeds),
crushing her spirit and angering Jean in the process. In deep sadness Kay
commits suicide and what was up until then a poor performance in practice from
Terry turns into a an emotional and ravely adored performance on opening night.
Broken by the loss of their friend the girls grow closer together while Terry’s
play with the help of her touching performance becomes a hit on Broadway.
What starts off as a comedy of bickering girls and their cynical views on
show business and interactions turns into a emotional climax as a girl with shattered
dreams takes her own life somehow helping guide her fellow board mates to find
new, happier paths in life. It is an unexpected turn with tragic darkness to
it, but at the same time very poetic, for the short time Andrea Leeds in on
screen you are drawn to her character. Undoubtedly she would be nominated for
best supporting actress for her role as Kay. To match the energy and emotion of
the film is well done production quality led by director Gregory La Cava. This
ensemble picture would take the best of standing stars, reclaiming a falling
star, and help audiences discover new stars all in its entertaining 92 minute
window.
Coming off a hugely successful film with My Man Godfrey Gregory La Cava would seem the perfect fit for an
ensemble cast comedy leaded with couple major actors. He allowed for quick
talking performances and dialogue overlap to create a sense of real life
interactions between the female characters. The story and directoral
inspirations were inspired by the overheard ramblings of actresses by the
playwrights that penned the original stage play. La Cava would encourage
ad-libbing in the boarding house, which also enhanced that energy and craziness
of the girls and their conditions. He seemed to have his finger on the pulse of
comedy and vigor when it came to the pace of this picture, and above that brought
the story home with an emotional conclusion. His work here would get him his
second consecutive nomination for best director, manifesting a man on the rise
for RKO.
If anything hindered the production it would have been the stars of the
film. Originally the role of Terry was set for the Margret Sullivan, star of
the stage play the film was based on. Unfortunately Sullivan would become
pregnant, opening the door for Hepburn to take on the part. Hepburn, then
coming off four financial failures and deemed poison at the box office, did not
like the idea of Ginger Rogers, the major money making star while working alongside
of Fred Astaire, to be named above her in the credits. Hepburn somewhat shared
likenesses to her character as she willed herself into acting stardom, allowing
her to fit nicely into the part. After much deliberation with the film’s
producers and filmmakers she would finally land herself a credit alongside of
Rogers.
Regular and aging film star Adolphe Manjou supplies the perfect amount
of friction for the girls to fight off of in the role of the theatrical
producer that bounces from girl to girl and is swayed by money to cast Terry in
the lead role of his next play. He would add class and stability as the primary
male role in a picture based completely around women.
 |
| Three major actresses of the 20th century: Hepburn, Ball, and Rogers |
The feature would also be a launching point for a couple of new girls
in Hollywood. Lucille Ball had been working at RKO for some time now
desperately waiting for that breakthrough role for this tall, quirky model type.
Here in Stage Door she is given her
first meaty role as one of the boarding house girls, Judy, who provides many
quick verbal jabs, exercising her comedic chops. Years later Ball marked this
film as her breakthrough job. Also found in this film is Ann Miller. In a small
role as Ginger Rogers’ dancing partner, RKO executives had no idea this tall
lanky girl was only 14 years-old. Having lied about her age and procuring a
fake ID Miller keeps up with the now dancing legend in Rogers, even if it is
only in a small tape dancing numbers. In later years she would become
successful and famous in many musicals.
The picture would be a very modest success at the box office, making a
meager profit, but landed four Academy
Award nominations including the before mentioned nominations it was up for best
screenplay and even best picture. Fans of the stage play would see that the
film had very little resemblance to the stage version that inspired it, so much
so that original playwrights joked about renaming the film “Screen Door.”
Whatever its relationship with the original play, the film proved to be a
triumph for RKO and its stars. With the picture’s aid Hepburn would now be
considered for comedic roles which would lead to her performance in the classic
comedy Bringing Up Baby. In any case Stage Door would be another good find
for any audience willing to discover late 1930s comedies.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment