Main Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Adolphe Menjou, Mary Duncan, C. Aubrey Smith
Release Year: 1933
Country: US
Run Time: 74 minutes
Plot
Katharine Hepburn won her first Oscar for her portrayal of Eva Lovelace, a small-town community-theatre actress who comes to New York dreaming of theatrical stardom. She amuses producer Adolphe Menjou and playwright Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with her naively pretentious prattle, but neither man takes her too seriously. Both, however are attracted to Eva: Menjou has a brief affair with her, but she yearns for the more reserved Fairbanks. Partly out of sympathy, Fairbanks arranges for Eva to understudy the troublesome star (Mary Duncan) of Menjou's latest production. When the star walks out on opening night, Eva goes on in her stead, and is universally hailed as a brilliant new find. Backstage after her triumph, Eva is warned not to let her sudden success go to her head lest she become a "morning glory": a briefly spectacular "bloomer" that withers and dies within a very short time. Proof of this warning is Eva's maid, a middle-aged woman who had also been an instant star years earlier. But Eva is too intoxicated by the thrill of realizing her life's dream; embracing her weeping maid, Eva declares to the world that she doesn't care if she is a morning glory. The film fades as Eva shouts defiantly "I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid!" Adapted from a stage play by Zoe Akins, Morning Glory was remade in 1957 as Stage Struck, with Susan Strasberg as Eva Lovelace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Don Alvarado - Pepe Velez, the Gigolo; Richard Carle - Henry Lawrence, Elderly Critic; Tyler Brooke - Charles Van Dusen, Alcoholic Writer; Geneva Mitchell - Gwendolyn Hall; Robert Adair - Roberts, the Butler; Helen Ware - Nellie, Lovelace's Dresser; Fred Santley - Will Seymour, Easton's Assistant; Arthur Rankin - Frank, Easton's Front Desk Clerk; Mildred Washington - Emma, Rita's Dresser
Eva Lovelace (Hepburn) is a small town theater performer who hopes to make it big in Broadway. She goes to auditions and tries to get a role in an upcoming play that would help her make it to the big time. While there, several other actresses auditioning make the cut and they cast them and not her since they have a lot more experience on stage than her. A theater coach (Menjou), whom she meets while auditions agrees to give her acting and theater coach lessons.
She later meets Joseph Sheridan (Fairbanks), who later agrees to give her a small part in their upcoming broadway play. Later in the film, just as the play is about to begin, the star of the show Rita Vernon (Mary Duncan), a blond theater star, starts making demands for certain amounts of money in a contract she wants and when they can't meet her demands for a contract and more money, she storms off the set and the show is without a star. The production crew frantically tries to find a replacement. As a last resort, they choose Eva Lovelace to play the star of the show, she gets her big break. She quickly rehearses her lines and makes an excellent debut as a star.
