Morning Glory (1933)

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

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:

Adolphe Menjou re-created his role as Louis Easton for the "Lux Radio Theatre" hour-long version of this film, broadcast on October 12, 1942 by CBS. Co-starring were Judy Garland as Eva Lovelace and John Payne as Joseph Sheridan.

Quotes:

Louis Easton: [to Eva] Please, Eva, you must put me out of your heart. I don't belong there, and you don't belong in mine. I'm not the man for you. I never was. You don't belong to any man now. You belong to Broadway, theater, lights.

Movie Connections:

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

VERY dated

Story about Eva Lovelace (Katharine Hepburn) a stagestruck girl who comes to NY determined to be a great actress. She learns quickly that it isn't that easy and falls in love with producer Louis Easton (Adolphe Menjou) who doesn't love her. And writer Joseph Sheridan (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) DOES love her but she doesn't have a clue.

The story is VERY old and the movie itself is incredibly stagy (it's based on a stage play--and it shows) but it is worth watching. It's well-directed and cast and Hepburn is just incredible. She won her first Academy Award for this and it's easy to see why. She never strikes a false note (even during a drunk scene at a party which could have been done very badly) and she's young and beautiful. Also Menjou is very good (as usual) and Fairbanks is just so-so but he WAS an incredibly handsome young man.

See it for Hepburn. And it is short (about 72 minutes).