Good start, but then it gets ruined

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

A film about struggling actresses in the 1930s living in a boarding house which despite some rapid fire lines looks a bit creaky now.Katherine Hepburn plays Terry, daughter of a wealthy father determined to make it big on her own but not knowing that her father is pulling some strings to get her a role in a new play. Terry is tough and self assured but at odds with the other actresses in the boarding house but willing to fight their corner if needed.Ginger Rogers plays Jean a struggling dancer always at odds with Terry especially when Terry bags a stage role that was coveted by their roommate Kay who is pushed over the edge by this latest setback.The film has a cynical but comedic look at show business, a producer who refuses to see the actresses who come each day to hopefully audition for him and who thinks they should be at home cooking. We have a lecherous casting agent who looks to take advantage of the ladies in exchange for advancing their careers.

Stage Door is very much the poverty row version of MGM's The Women. It features only one big box office star, another who had become box office poison and a supporting cast who would later go on to play notable prominent roles in later films (Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Eve Arden).Ginger Rogers and Katharine Hepburn where the two big rivals at RKO pictures with Rodger's career on the up and Hepburn's career on the down yet you can feel their mutual respect for each other as the film progresses (in the fictional realm at least). Stage Door follows a group of actresses living in a drab theatrical boarding house trying to make it in the world of show business. Right of the bat the movie is emotionally investing as the cast of street smarts constantly spew one liners and witty remarks in an effort to try and deal with their lack of success amidst the depression ridden 30's; the film succeeds in evoking both laughter and sadness simultaneously with its barrage of highly relatable human emotion - The lightning fast dialogue alone makes Stage Door worthy of multiple viewings. Supposedly the filming of Stage Door began without a completed script resulting in much of the film's dialogue being improvised. The interactions between the female cast feels real; the acting present in the movie doesn't feel like acting, almost like I'm getting a voyeuristic insight into these character's lives. Likewise the film even has an early appearance by Jack Carson as an over giddy lumberjack on an arranged date with Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers); always a great screen presence no matter how brief his appearance is. I find Stage Door a one of a kind film; it has a raw quality, one that can't be created intentionally making it a rare treat in many respects. The cast and dialogue is just too good that I really become attached to these characters and almost wish the film could be a bit longer. Katharine Hepburn's Terry Randall is another instance of Hepburn playing the odd one out. I do love Terry Randall, she's the one character in the boarding house of whom clearly comes from an upper class background and she is only one who achieves stage success by landing the lead in a play despite her lack of acting experience. With her go getter attitude Terry is the embodiment of the individual as summed up in one line: "You talk as if the world owed you a living. Maybe if you tried to do something for the theatre, the theatre would do something for you". I get the impression Stage Door purports the idea that one who comes from a lower class background will find it harder to overcome these ties and find success. In one dialogue exchange Terry asks the other women "do you have to just sit around and do nothing about it?" and the character played by Lucille Ball replies "maybe it's in the blood, my grandfather sat around until he was 80". Terry is clearly more dedicated to her craft than the other woman in boarding house, discussing Shakespeare and other aspects of theatrical arts, while the other conformist woman poke fun and shun her for it. This does make me question what they are doing there in the first place; I guess they have just been beaten down by the system that bad. One thing Terry is not however is a snob. She doesn't look down on the girls from a high and mighty position and even makes the effort to learn their slang. When I doubt I will ask myself, what would Terry Randall do?

Stage Door embodies the reasons why I am extremely fond of the Hollywood's Golden Age. Actors and Actresses of substantial talent, cleverly crafted story lines with substance and charming dialogue. Viewing such films with the knowledge of Hollywood's current crop falls below the standards shown in Stage Door enflames my fondness.Set in a boarding house for aspiring actresses, Stage Door's opening moments fixated my spectatorship. The bustling of the tenant's lives living in close quarters, Stage Door's strength is imminent from there-on-in as capturing each personality invested my spectatorship into their lives escalating when Jean (Ginger Rogers, sharing top billing with Katharine Hepburn) finds herself in a verbally heated altercation. The snappiness of Jean's responses to insults and bringing out a rough persona Rogers' embodied within Jean proposed to me a prosperous narrative which did not disappoint. Katharine Hepburn soon appeared as Terry Randall attempting to make her own path out of her privileged existence.Two firm talents in Hepburn and Rogers, each with their knack of dramatic flair that equals the other embroiling as fantastic adversaries. As Stage Door progresses their conflict is perfectly crafted to flourish into new plot elements which for any film is fantastic for spectators. Snapping at each other with remakes and sarcastic mimics made for great entertainment but is was not all about catty rivalries, conflicts, and moments of light fare Stage Door dramatized the price of pursuing theatrical fame.In one of the smaller roles but containing an equally powerful performance to the two head liners was Karen (Andrea Leeds). Although the dream for stardom affected all of those living at the boarding house, it was Karen who bared the greatest burden trying to reclaim her previous success. Her emotional fragile state built right to the boil by sleazy casting agent Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou). His arrogant demeanour in exploiting his position for women chasing instead of searching for talent. Menjou succeeded in affirming Powell's antagonistic streak with such naturalism and indifference that when tragic consequences arise, he personified injustice to myself as he had to Jean, Terry and the other characters who knew him. On a brief side note, the tragic consequences mentioned propels the core of the message and acts as a catalyst to a tear jerking sequence which is masterfully directed and written.It is this sequence in particular along with Stage Door's lighter moments, gripping storyline and phenomenal acting which motivates my applause to high esteem.

Terrific cast in middling comedy-drama adapted from the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman concerning would-be actresses living in a New York boarding house, each vying for parts on the Great White Way. Katharine Hepburn's solid performance as a socialite trying to make it on her own merits is the acting highlight here, and her bits alongside roommate Ginger Rogers are sharp and funny. Andrea Leeds received a Supporting Oscar nomination for her effective work as a troubled young woman who can't seem to find a job, but Adolphe Menjou keeps popping up as if he were the only show-producer in the city. On the whole, only marginal, but certainly worth a look for that female ensemble, which includes Lucille Ball, Ann Miller and the incomparable Eve Arden, who might have benefited from more scenes. *** from ****