Gregory LaCava's "Stage Door" has some of the best dialogue ever heard
in an American movie. It was based on a play by Edna Ferber and George
S. Kaufman and was brilliantly adapted, and altered, by Morris Ryskind
and Anthony Veiller and delivered at breakneck speed by some of the best
actresses ever put together in one film. It's set mostly in a boarding
house for aspiring actresses, most prominent of whom are Katharine
Hepburn and Ginger Rogers who spark off each other magnificently. Others
cracking wise include Eve Arden, Lucille Ball, Gail Patrick, Ann
Miller. (14 but you would never believe it), and Andrea Leeds who was
Oscar-nominated for her performance while the always wonderful Adolphe
Menjou is the big producer who can make or break anyone who steps into
his office. It's move from comedy to melodrama also works beautifully,
making this not just one of the best female orientated films of its
period but one of the high-points of thirties cinema.
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