"Stage Door" *** (out of ****)As I recently rewatched George Cukor's "The Women", a film I must admit I didn't like very much, I kept thinking about this film.
"Stage Door" was made two years before "The Women" in 1937. It too feature a large female cast. The director was Gregory LaCava, he made a few films worth noting. His most successful film may have been "My Man Godfrey". Also check out "5th Avenue Girl" and "She Married Her Boss". The film was based on a play written by Edna Ferber and the great George S. Kaufman.
The cast includes Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Eve Arden and a young Lucille Ball and Ann Miller. The small male cast consist of Jack Carson and Franklin Pangborn.
The plot involves a group young wannabe actresses who live at a theatrical boarding house for women. Each of them waits for their big break when they can meet a producer and find their way to fame and fortune. In the meantime however the ladies sit around throwing insults and wise-cracks at each other.
Things change in the boarding house when a wealthy young women seeks a room. Her name is Terry Randall (Hepburn). She is determined to succeed as an actress and finds herself the object of scorn among the other tenants. They look upon her as a snob. Terry thinks they are lazy.
Ginger Rogers plays Jean, Terry's roommate. Jean is a dancer. Her partner is Annie (Ann Miller). They get a break when a Broadway producer, and known ladies man, Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou) takes an interest in Jean and offers the two a job at one of his nightclubs, in exchange for a few dates with Jean. Lucille Ball plays Judith, a woman who seems to get by, by meeting single men who take her out for dinner. None of whom are really appealing. Jack Carson plays one of the dates. Eve Arden plays Eve (I wonder how long it took the writers to come up with that name?). Arden, as usually, plays the sarcastic, world weary supporting actor. I'm afraid a lot of readers may not be familiar with Arden. Her name doesn't float around anymore. She was a very funny and talented lady. She always had a wise-crack ready. She even got to match wits with the great Groucho Marx in one of the Marx Brothers comedies, "At the Circus". Finally there is Kay (Andrea Leeds) the only actress in the boarding house which may actually have talent. But currently even she can't find a job and is behind on her rent.
"Stage Door" suffers from a few of the problems "The Women" suffers from and creates some new problems all its own. Like "The Women", it becomes a little annoying listening to all these characters complain and throw nasty remarks at one another. I love sarcastic humor as much as the next person. But when you have so many characters all engaging in biting remarks it becomes too much. We can deal with Groucho or Bob Hope doing it because they are only one character. The rest of the cast balances them out. Here though, there is no escape. It becomes too much of a good thing.
What separates "Stage Door" though is at times it is very funny. Even though I may complain about the over use of sarcasm I must admit, there are some good lines. I love the banter between Ginger Rogers and Hepburn. They exchange insults so fast. It reminds me of the speed in "His Girl Friday" it is unrelenting. And of course, you can also count on Arden to know how to deliver a one-liner. Other highlights include seeing Rogers and Miller dance together. It may have been the first and only time these two talented ladies danced together on-screen. Sadly though not enough time is given to them, there are no elaborate dance numbers for them. The film is more of a comedy than a musical.
But for whatever good I may say about the film you can't hide its faults. The film has a great first act but a weak second and third act. The stakes never seem to gradually grow. There are no highs and lows in our emotions. The film never really seems to go anywhere. It is not a realistic portrait of theater life either. It may however get some of the underlying themes correct though such as the hard aches associated with breaking through, the perseverance involved and the idea of tragedy inspiring art. By the end of the film "Stage Door" seems to turn into "42nd Street". The story of a novice actress going out on the stage having to prove herself.
The film was nominated for 4 Oscars including "Best picture", "director", "screenplay" and "supporting actress (Leeds)". It didn't win any of the awards. There was a lot of tough competition that year including the eventual "best picture" Oscar winner "The Life of Emile Zola" and Leo McCarey's great screwball comedy "The Awful Truth".
If someone is looking for a harmless comedy with some good writing and amazing star power, the performances given by Hepburn, Rogers and Arden are all great, "Stage Door" may be worth watching, especially if you enjoy black&white Hollywood films.
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