Stage Door

Plot

Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn) moves into the Footlights Club, a theatrical rooming house in New York. Her polished manners and superior attitude make her no friends among the rest of the aspiring actresses living there, particularly her new roommate, flippant, cynical dancer Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers). From Terry's expensive clothing and her photograph of her elderly grandfather, Jean assumes she has obtained the former from her sugar daddy, just as fellow resident Linda Shaw (Gail Patrick) has from her relationship with influential theatrical producer Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou). In truth however, Terry comes from a very wealthy, upper class, Midwest family. Over the strong objections of her father, Henry Sims (Samuel S. Hinds), she is determined to try to fulfill her dreams on her own. In the boarding house, Terry's only supporter is aging actress Anne Luther (Constance Collier), who appoints herself Terry's mentor and acting coach.

When Powell sees Jean dancing, he decides to dump Linda. He arranges for Jean and her partner Annie (Ann Miller) to get hired for the floor show of a nightclub he partly owns. He then starts dating Jean, who, despite her initial reluctance, starts falling for the man.

Meanwhile, well-liked Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds) had a great success and rave reviews in a play the year before, but has had no work since, and is running out of money. She clings desperately to the hope of landing the leading role in Powell's new play, Enchanted April. She finally gets an appointment to see Powell, only to have him cancel at the last minute. She faints in the reception area, the result of malnutrition and disappointment. Seeing this, Terry barges into Powell's private office and berates him for his callousness. As a result, the other boarding house residents start to warm to the newcomer.

Terry's father secretly finances Enchanted April on condition that Terry be given the starring role, hoping she will fail and return home. Powell invites Terry to his penthouse to break the news. When Jean shows up unannounced, Terry sees the opportunity to save her friend from the philandering Powell. She pretends that Powell is trying to seduce her. It works. However, it makes things uncomfortable around the boarding house. Terry's landing of the plum part breaks Kay's heart.

The totally inexperienced Terry is so woodenly bad during rehearsals that Powell tries desperately to get out of his contract with Sims. On opening night, after she learns from Jean that the depressed Kay has committed suicide, Terry decides she cannot go on. Anne Luther tells her that she must, not just for herself and the tradition of the theatre, but also for Kay. "You've got to give the performance that she wanted you to give. Then perhaps, wherever she is, you may bring her peace." She does, and gives a heartfelt performance. She and the play are a hit, much to the chagrin of her father, who is in the audience. At her curtain call, Terry gives a speech in tribute to her dead friend, and Terry and Jean are reconciled. The play remains a success after months, but Terry continues to board at the Footlights Club. A newcomer shows up looking for a room.

Cast

Production

Reception

The film received very good reviews and was a moderate success at the box office. The reviewer in The Times wrote of 3 January 1938, after the film's London premiere at the Regal on 31 December 1937:

Stories of life on the stage have always appealed to Hollywood: here success is sensational and meteoric, and failure equally sudden and dramatic. We know the formula by heart, and expect of our entertainment that it shall be rowdy, aggressive, and spectacular, culminating in the rise of the central character to fame in the bright lights of Broadway. Stage Door is rowdy and aggressive, and it does end in success for one of its characters and failure for another, but for all that it is a film of unusual insight and characterization. (...) The dialogue is brilliant, with typical American point and brevity, but nearly always spiteful and cruel, for these girls are the product of a hard environment. Three stand out from among the rest: Miss Katharine Hepburn (...) Miss Ginger Rogers (...) Miss Andrea Leeds.

Prior to this film, Hepburn's last four movies had flopped commercially. However, as a result of the positive response to her performance in Stage Door, RKO immediately cast Hepburn opposite Cary Grant in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938).

Stage Door made a small profit of $81,000.

Similarities to the play

The movie has almost nothing to do with the play, except in a few character names, such as Kay Hamilton, Jean Maitland, Terry Randall, Linda Shaw, and Judith Canfield. In the play, Terry Randall is from a rural family whose father is a country doctor, and Jean Maitland is actually a shallow girl who becomes a movie star. However, Kay Hamilton does commit suicide, but for completely different reasons and not on an opening night.

Academy Awards

Home media

After Kay commits suicide, there is a brief shot of her grave as part of the montage of the success of the play, which was once edited out on all TV showings and is not in the original release on VHS and Beta. The shot was restored for the DVD and is now included in TV showings of the restored version.

TV adaptation

Radio adaptation

Stage Door was presented on Philip Morris Playhouse December 5, 1941. The 30-minute adaptation starred Geraldine Fitzgerald. "Stage Door" was presented on Lux Radio Theater.