Themes: Culture Clash, Fish Out of Water, Nothing Goes Right
Main Cast: Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley, Billie Burke, Jimmy Durante, Richard Travis
Release Year: 1941
Country: US
Run Time: 112 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
The George S. Kaufman/Moss Hart Broadway hit The Man Who Came to Dinner was inspired by the authors' mutual friend, waspish critic/author Alexander Woollcott. Generously bearded ex-Yale professor Monty Woolley, no mean curmudgeon himself, plays the Woollcott character, here rechristened Sheridan Whiteside. While on a lecture tour in Ohio, Whiteside slips on the ice outside his hosts' home; until his broken leg heals, the hosts (Grant Mitchell and Billie Burke) are forced to put up (and put up with) the imperious Whiteside. This means enduring an unending stream of Whiteside's whims, caprices and vitriolic bon mots, as well as his long-distance phone calls, eccentric guests and a variety of critters, ranging from penguins to octopi. Like the real Woollcott, Whiteside insists upon stage-managing the lives of everyone around him. He is particularly keen on discouraging a romance between his faithful secretary Maggie Cutler (top-billed Bette Davis) and local newspaper editor Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis). Once he realizes he's gone too far in this respect, Whiteside is forced to reunite the lovers. That's only one aspect of a three-ring-circus plotline that accommodates a Lizzie Bordenish axe murderess, takeoffs of Woollcott intimates Harpo Marx, Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, and a general practitioner who's willing to let his patients suffer for a chance to pitch his interminable memoirs to Whiteside. Featured in the cast are Jimmy Durante as "Banjo" (the Harpo clone), Reginald Gardiner as the Noel Coward-like Beverly Carlton, Anne Sheridan as the predatory Gertrude Lawrence counterpart Lorraine Sheldon, and Mary Wickes as the long-suffering Nurse Preen ("You have the touch of a love-starved cobra!") The script, by the Epstein brothers, manages to retain most of the play's best lines and situations, even while expanding Bette Davis' role to justify her start status; it's a shame, though, that we are robbed of Sheridan Whiteside's imperishable opening line, "I may vomit!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Man Who Came to Dinner is one of the screen's brightest comedies, with identical twin-brother screenwriters Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein giving the George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart stage classic a smooth transition to the screen. This is a prime example of an "insider" comedy that is enjoyable out of the context in which it was created. Viewers who choose to do so may enjoy reading any of several available commentaries on the film that detail the numerous inside jokes and references. Because Bette Davis was a top-billed star, her role is considerably expanded from the play. This is one of her best comic performances, as she adroitly handles even the most improbable story turns and punchy dialogue. The film, though, largely belongs to Monty Woolley as Sheridan Whiteside, the title character. His blustering, pompous manner gives the film its comic edge and yet allows those around him to have their moments to shine. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Famous radio personality Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) slips on the icy steps of the house of the Stanleys, a prominent Ohio family, and invites himself to recuperate in their home during the Christmas holidays. The overbearing, self-centered celebrity soon comes to dominate the lives of the residents. He encourages the Stanleys' adult offspring, Richard and June, to pursue their dreams, much to the dismay of their father.
Meanwhile, Whiteside's spinster assistant Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis) is very attracted to the local newspaperman, Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis). When she reads Bert's play, she is so impressed, she asks Whiteside to show it to his contacts. However, her boss is loathe to lose such an efficient aide and does his best to sabotage the romance. He gets actress Lorraine Shelden (Ann Sheridan) to take one of the leading roles, intending to have her steal Bert away from Maggie. It seems to work. However, when Maggie finds out, she quits. Somewhat chastened, he and their mutual friend Banjo (Jimmy Durante) concoct a scheme to get Lorraine out of the way.
When the fed-up Mr. Stanley gives Whiteside an ultimatum to leave, Whiteside first blackmails him into letting his children do what they want after finally recognizing Stanley's sister as an infamous axe murderess (like Lizzie Borden). Then he departs, only to fall on the icy steps and have to be carried back inside.
John Barrymore made a screen test for the Woolley role, which still survives, but Barrymore was too ill to make the film.
Critical reaction
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times said that The Man Who Came To Dinner is 'the most hilarious cat-clawing exhibition ever put on the screen, a deliciously character portrait and a helter-skelter satire'.
