Morning Glory (1933)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Lowell Sherman

Writers:

Zoe Akins (play)
Howard J. Green (writer)

Release Date:

18 August 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

She'll give you the heart thrill of your life !

Plot:

When a naively innocent, aspiring actress arrives on the Broadway scene, she is taken under the wing of several theater veterans who mentor her to ultimate success.

Plot Keywords:

New York | Theater | Playwright | Mentor | Aspiring Actress

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Eva Lovelace
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Joseph Sheridan
Adolphe Menjou	...	Louis (Lewis) Easton
Mary Duncan	...	Rita Vernon, blonde star
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Robert Harley 'Bob' Hedges
Don Alvarado	...	Pepi Velez
Fred Santley	...	Will Seymour, Easton's bespectacled asst. (as Fredric Santly)
Richard Carle	...	Henry Lawrence, elderly critic
Tyler Brooke	...	Charley Van Duesen, alcoholic writer
Geneva Mitchell	...	Gwendoline Hall, brunette actress
Helen Ware	...	Nellie Navarre, Lovelace's dresser
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Adair	...	Roberts, Easton's Butler (uncredited)
Ralph Bard	...	Head Usher (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher	...	Actor (uncredited)
Robert Bolder	...	Actor (uncredited)
John Carradine	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Louise Carver	...	Miss Waterman, Woman at Party (uncredited)
Helene Chadwick	...	Miss Murray, Easton's stenographer (uncredited)
Shirley Chambers	...	Woman at Party (uncredited)
Helen Collins	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
D'Arcy Corrigan	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Nathan Curry	...	Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Harry D'Arcy	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Helen Dickson	...	Miss Tracy (uncredited)
Joan Dix	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Florence Dudley	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
James Duffy	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Jay Eaton	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Bill Fisher	...	Grip (uncredited)
Carter Gibson	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
John Gough	...	Actor (uncredited)
Carlton Griffin	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Charlie Hall	...	Actor (uncredited)
Theresa Harris	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Althea Henley	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Leroy Johnson	...	Theater Janitor (uncredited)
Julanne Johnston	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
John Kelly	...	Prop Man (uncredited)
Winifred Landis	...	Dowager (uncredited)
Pat O'Malley	...	Actor (uncredited)
George Periolat	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Arthur Rankin	...	Frank, Easton's front desk clerk (uncredited)
Frances Raymond	...	Dowager (uncredited)
Sana Rayya	...	Emma, Rita's Maid (uncredited)
Harrington Reynolds	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Jack Rice	...	Newspaperman (uncredited)
Vera Steadman	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Al Stewart	...	Actor (uncredited)
Ray Stewart	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Jerome Storm	...	Actor (uncredited)
Edward Thomas	...	Ticket Taker (uncredited)
Max Wagner	...	Smoker in Diner (uncredited)
Pauline Wagner	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Mildred Washington	...	Emma, Rita Vernon's dresser (uncredited)
Florence Wix	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
William Worthington	...	Banker (uncredited)
Otto Yamaoka	...	Servant (uncredited)

Directed by
Lowell Sherman

Writing credits
Zoe Akins		(play)
Howard J. Green		(writer)

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer
Merian C. Cooper	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Bert Glennon

Film Editing by
William Hamilton

Set Decoration by
Chick Kirk		(settings)
Van Nest Polglase		(settings)
Ray Moyer		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	key makeup artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Hugh McDowell Jr.	....	sound

Special Effects by
Harry Redmond Sr.	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Bernhard Kaun	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1933) (USA) (theatrical)
• Tobis-Sascha Film-Vertrieb (1935) (Austria) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  package design (2007 release)
• Turner Entertainment  supplementary material (2007 release)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Katharine Hepburn is the only movie star to win four Academy Awards (2009) for her leading roles in Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981).

Quotes:

Robert Harley Hedges: Youth has its hour of glory... but too often it's only a morning glory, the flower that fades before the sun is very high.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Carnivàle: Day of the Dead (#1.11)" (2003)

Katharine Hepburn's wonderful Oscar-winning performance is worth seeing.

In only her third film, Katharine Hepburn gives a lovely performance as a skinny, aspiring actress coming to New York from a small Vermont town convinced she will become a star. From the opening scenes where she stares admiringly at portraits of famous actors in the theater lobby, and then nervously starts her chatterbox conversation with C. Aubrey Smith in producer Adolphe Menjou's outer office, you are compelled to root for her because of her exuberance. But the climb to stardom is not that easy, she learns, failing in a small role Menjou gives her, taking menial jobs in vaudeville to keep from starving until she can get a break. When she does get the break of a lifetime, replacing the star who quit on opening night when her financial demands were not met, Hepburn is filled with fear of failure once again.

I loved the famous scene where Hepburn gets slightly drunk at a party given by Menjou and recites the "to-be-or-not-to-be" soliloquy from Hamlet and the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. So did the guests, who applauded, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who fell in love with her. The supporting cast were all excellent, but I particularly liked Helen Ware playing Hepburn's costumer, who was briefly once a famous star, but faded quickly, like a morning glory.

If you are interested in credit errors, note that Menjou's onscreen character name credit is given as "Louis Easton," but when you see it printed throughout the film it is spelled "Lewis Easton."