| Stage Door | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Stage Door theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Gregory La Cava |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | Stage Door 1936 play byEdna Ferber George S. Kaufman |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robert De Grasse |
| Edited by | William Hamilton |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $952,000[1] |
| Box office | $1.8 million[1] |
Stage Door is a 1937 Americantragicomedy film directed byGregory La Cava, and starringKatharine Hepburn,Ginger Rogers,Adolphe Menjou,Gail Patrick,Constance Collier,Andrea Leeds,Samuel S. Hinds, andLucille Ball. Adapted from the 1936play of the same name, it tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street inNew York City. It was produced and distributed byRKO Pictures.Eve Arden andAnn Miller, who became notable in later films, play minor characters.
The film was adapted byMorrie Ryskind andAnthony Veiller from the play byEdna Ferber andGeorge S. Kaufman, but the play's storyline and the characters' names were almost completely changed for the movie, so much so in fact that Kaufman joked the film should be called "Screen Door".[2]
Terry Randall moves into the Footlights Club,[3] a theatrical boarding house in New York. Her polished manners and superior attitude make her no friends among the rest of the aspiring actresses living there, particularly her new roommate, flippant, cynical dancer Jean Maitland. From Terry's expensive clothing and her photograph of her elderly grandfather, Jean assumes she has obtained the former from hersugar daddy, just as fellow resident Linda Shaw has from her relationship with influential theatrical producer Anthony Powell. In truth, Terry comes from a wealthy Midwest family. Over the strong objections of her father, Henry Sims, she is determined to try to fulfill her dreams. In the boarding house, Terry's only supporter is aging actress Anne Luther, who appoints herself Terry's mentor and acting coach.
When Powell sees Jean dancing, he decides to dump Linda. He arranges for Jean and her partner Annie to get hired for the floor show of a nightclub he partly owns. He then starts dating Jean, who starts falling for him.
Meanwhile, well-liked Kay Hamilton had great success and rave reviews in a play the year before but has had no work since and is running out of money. She clings desperately to the hope of landing the leading role in Powell's new play,Enchanted April. She finally gets an appointment to see Powell, only to have him cancel. She faints in the reception area, the result of malnutrition and disappointment. Seeing this, Terry barges into Powell's private office and berates him for his callousness. As a result, the other boarding house residents start to warm up to the newcomer.
Terry's father secretly financesEnchanted April on the condition that Terry is given the starring role, hoping she will fail and return home. Powell invites Terry to his penthouse to break the news. When Jean shows up unannounced, Terry sees the opportunity to save her friend from the philandering Powell. She pretends that Powell is trying to seduce her. It works. However, it makes things uncomfortable around the boarding house. Terry's landing on the plum part breaks Kay's heart.
The inexperienced Terry is so woodenly bad during rehearsals that Powell tries to get out of his contract with Sims. On opening night, after she learns from Jean that Kay has committed suicide, Terry decides she cannot go on. Anne Luther tells her that she must, not just for herself and the tradition of the theatre, but also for Kay. She does and gives a heartfelt performance. She and the play are a hit, much to the chagrin of her father, who is in the audience. At hercurtain call, Terry gives a speech in tribute to her dead friend, and Terry and Jean are reconciled. The play remains a success after months, but Terry continues to board at the Footlights Club. A newcomer shows up looking for a room.
RKO Radio Pictures purchased film rights to thestage play of the same name for $130,000.[4] The film only sparsely resembles the play, except in a few character names, such as Kay Hamilton, Jean Maitland, Terry Randall, Linda Shaw, and Judith Canfield. In the play, Terry Randall is from a rural family whose father is a country doctor, and Jean Maitland is actually a shallow girl who becomes a movie star. Kay Hamilton does commit suicide, but for completely different reasons and not on an opening night.
Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers were cast in lead roles, each for a respective salary of $75,000.[4] Rogers, who was a close friend of Lucille Ball, suggested Ball for the role of Judy Canfield to producerPandro S. Berman.[4] Ann Miller, who was cast in the supporting part of Annie, was only fourteen years old when she appeared in the film.[2]
Burgess Meredith was considered for a role in the film, andDouglas Fairbanks Jr. was also considered for the part of Tony Powell, which ultimately went to Adolphe Menjou.[4] Andrea Leeds, who was cast as Kay Hamilton, was borrowed by RKO from her contract withThe Samuel Goldwyn Company.[4]
Principal photography forStage Door began on June 7, 1937, and was completed on July 31, 1937.[5] DirectorGregory La Cava also allowed the actresses to ad lib and improvise dialogue during filming, which earned him praise from stars Leeds and Rogers.[2] Hepburn's famous lines during the play within the film, "The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower, suitable to any occasion. I carried them on my wedding day and now I place them here in memory of something that has died," are fromThe Lake (1934), the play for whichDorothy Parker panned Hepburn's performance as "running the gamut of emotions from A to B."[6]
RKO Radio Pictures releasedStage Door in the United States on October 8, 1937.[5]
After Kay commits suicide, there is a brief shot of her grave as part of the montage of the success of the play, which was once edited out on all television showings and is not present in some early home media releases.[2] The shot was restored for DVD and subsequent TV broadcasts. As of 2025,Stage Door has been released on DVD in the US, UK, Italy, France and Spain on various labels includingWarner Bros. andSony.[7]
Warner Bros. first released the film onDVD on March 1, 2005.[8] TheWarner Archive Collection reissued the film on DVD on May 6, 2016.[9]
Stage Door grossed $1,762,000 at the United Statesbox office, for small profit of $81,000.[1]
The film received favorable reviews from critics, withFilm Daily declaring it one of the ten best films of the year.[5]Frank Nugent ofThe New York Times described it as a "brilliant picture" with "amazingly good" performances,[2] and summarized the film as "a magnificently devastating reply on Hollywood's behalf to all the catty little remarks that George Kaufman and Edna Ferber had made about it in their play."[10]
The reviewer inThe Times wrote of January 3, 1938, after the film's London premiere at theRegal on December 31, 1937:
Stories of life on the stage have always appealed to Hollywood: here success is sensational and meteoric, and failure equally sudden and dramatic. We know the formula by heart, and expect of our entertainment that it shall be rowdy, aggressive, and spectacular, culminating in the rise of the central character to fame in the bright lights of Broadway.Stage Door is rowdy and aggressive, and it does end in success for one of its characters and failure for another, but for all that it is a film of unusual insight and characterization. (...) The dialogue is brilliant, with typical American point and brevity, but nearly always spiteful and cruel, for these girls are the product of a hard environment. Three stand out from among the rest: Miss Katharine Hepburn (...) Miss Ginger Rogers (...) Miss Andrea Leeds.
— "New films in London: Back-stage tragedy",The Times, January 3, 1938, p. 10.
Hepburn's four movies precedingStage Door had been commercial failures. However, as a result of the positive response to this performance, RKO immediately cast her oppositeCary Grant in the screwball comedyBringing Up Baby (1938).
| Award/association | Year | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 1938 | Outstanding Production | RKO Radio Pictures | Nominated | [11] |
| Best Director | Gregory La Cava | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actress | Andrea Leeds | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay Adaptation | Morris Ryskind,Anthony Veiller | Nominated |
Stage Door inspired the 1938Golden Age Argentine filmWomen Who Work byManuel Romero, which also takes place in an all-female boarding house.[12]
A 60-minute radio version ofStage Door was performed onLux Radio Theatre on February 20, 1939, broadcast over theCBS Radio network. Ginger Rogers and Adolphe Menjou reprised their roles from the film, whileRosalind Russell replaced Katharine Hepburn as Terry Randall. Eve Arden, who played minor character Eve in the film, replaced Gail Patrick as Linda Shaw. The radio broadcast was included as a bonus feature on the 2005 Warner Bros. DVD release of the film.
Stage Door was presented on CBS Radio again on December 5, 1941 onPhilip Morris Playhouse. The 30-minute adaptation by Charles Martin starredGeraldine Fitzgerald as Terry Randall.[13]
On April 6, 1955, a 60-minute version of the play, adapted byGore Vidal, aired on theCBS Television seriesThe Best of Broadway. It starredRhonda Fleming,Elsa Lanchester,Diana Lynn, andVictor Moore.[14]
Films directed byGregory La Cava | |
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