Stage Door

Previous Lucille Ball

Next Lucille Ball

Buy This Item Stage Door  Available from Amazon  Click 'BUY IT NOW' to get price.  on 11-15-2008     This one's all about the ladies. In this absolutely terrific 1937 gem, a Manhattan boardinghouse for aspiring actresses houses an amazing roster of golden-era performers--some of whom, like their characters, were just breaking in. It's hard to say who's in best form here: Katharine Hepburn in blueblood mode, Ginger Rogers streetwise, Andrea Leeds suffering, Lucille Ball and Ann Miller impossibly young, and Eve Arden being, well, splendidly Eve Ardenish. The sassy comedy and sober life lessons are wonderfully mixed by the underrated director Gregory La Cava (<I>My Man Godfrey</I>), who captures the brashness of '30s female chatter in a much pleasanter way than the more famous <I>The Women</I>. Hepburn's sublime attempts to wrestle with the line about calla lilies being in bloom will make you smile long after the movie's over. <I>--Robert Horton</I> Reader Reviews Take a talented group of RKO contract actresses and a proven Broadway hit; assign it to a director known for his ability for sponaneity and wit and you have "Stagedoor", a surefire smash at the box office in 1937. Ginger Rogers, ambitious to broaden her appeal outside Fred Astaire, and Katharine Hepburn, badly in need of a hit after a series of mainly pretentious and unpopular roles, are superbly matched in the main roles of aspiring actresses sharing a room in a boarding house for actresses. If the plot is a bit contrived, who cares. The important thing is the dialogue filled with great one liners. The stars are supported by sarcastic Eve Arden, a teenage Ann Miller and the tough Lucille Ball, all of whom are outstanding. Mention too should be made of Andrew Leeds who has a highly emotional role and pulls it off. Adolphe Menjou has the only decent male role as a lecherous producer - perfect casting. The print is excellent and the extras include a good radio version of the film and an unusual musical short with the talented gangly dancer Hal le Roy and a platinum blonde (yuk) June Allyson in her film debut. She is almost unrecognisable. The DVD is OK value but better if purchased as part of the Comedy Classics DVD set.

Stage Door Available from Amazon Price: Click 'BUY IT NOW' to get price. Updated on 11-15-2008.

SPONSORED LINKS