Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 334357" data-attributes="member: 7">I watched MORNING GLORY earlier today. It was my first viewing of the movie. It was Hepburn&#039;s third movie, and a movie she fought to be apart of. RKO and producer Pandro S. Berman had originally sought to cast Constance Bennett in the lead, then the studio&#039;s biggest star, but Hepburn fumbled upon the script and persuaded the reluctant production team to cast her instead. Bennett was thereby reassigned to a movie called BED OF ROSES. Hepburn stars as Eva Lovelace, a would-be actress with a goal to succeed on the legitimate stage. She wedges her way into befriending an aging actor named R.H. Hedges (C. Aubrey Smith), and eventually gets a contract with producer Louis Easton (Adolphe Menjou) and becomes the love interest for playwright Joseph Sheridan (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). I won&#039;t summarize the plot any further, just in case some here might want to see it and don&#039;t want anything substantial spoiled for them. MORNING GLORY runs around 70 minutes, and therefore the story progresses quickly -- which, isn&#039;t necessarily a bad thing, especially for those that have short attention spans and want their stories to get to the point. Hepburn&#039;s performance is solid, although I find her a little fidgety and actressy and therefore not always as effective as she could&#039;ve possibly been. Perhaps such a performance was given because of the staginess of early sound films and the restrictions of a short running time. Hepburn&#039;s character, Eva Lovelace, operates with a strong-willed determination that&#039;s quite admiral, although she possess a self-confidence that hasn&#039;t been earned. She&#039;s an amateur actress, and even if she&#039;s gotten good reviews in small-town productions, she&#039;s yet to prove herself legitimately. The supporting cast (as this is truly Hepburn&#039;s time in the sun) is strong. Fairbanks and Menjou are probably the most recognizable of Hepburn&#039;s co-stars, although there are other good performers among them. C. Aubrey Smith is quite good as R.H. Hedges, an aging stage actor Eva Lovelace appoints as her mentor. Mary Duncan (an actress I don&#039;t believe I&#039;ve seen in anything before) was also quite good as Rita Vernon, a successful stage actress whose temperament costs her in the end. As many know, Hepburn received her first of four Oscars for her performance in MORNING GLORY. It&#039;s a little hard to judge if that win was warranted, especially considering this film is reaching its 90th birthday and film acting has transformed in the decades since. I&#039;d argue that Hepburn&#039;s performance is solid and she definitely shows promise that she&#039;d mature into a long and successful screen career (even though a deep &quot;box office poison&quot; valley would cloud her career in the mid-to-late-&#039;30s). MORNING GLORY is a good film. I&#039;ve always enjoyed films about the theatre and even if this movie wasn&#039;t good (which it is), I&#039;d enjoy it for that reason alone. Hepburn is always good playing upcoming stage actresses -- she would play another, Terry Randall, in STAGE DOOR four years down the road. If you haven&#039;t seen this film, it&#039;s worth a look. [ATTACH=full]39776[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ClassyCo, post: 334357, member: 7"] I watched MORNING GLORY earlier today. It was my first viewing of the movie. It was Hepburn's third movie, and a movie she fought to be apart of. RKO and producer Pandro S. Berman had originally sought to cast Constance Bennett in the lead, then the studio's biggest star, but Hepburn fumbled upon the script and persuaded the reluctant production team to cast her instead. Bennett was thereby reassigned to a movie called BED OF ROSES. Hepburn stars as Eva Lovelace, a would-be actress with a goal to succeed on the legitimate stage. She wedges her way into befriending an aging actor named R.H. Hedges (C. Aubrey Smith), and eventually gets a contract with producer Louis Easton (Adolphe Menjou) and becomes the love interest for playwright Joseph Sheridan (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). I won't summarize the plot any further, just in case some here might want to see it and don't want anything substantial spoiled for them. MORNING GLORY runs around 70 minutes, and therefore the story progresses quickly -- which, isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for those that have short attention spans and want their stories to get to the point. Hepburn's performance is solid, although I find her a little fidgety and actressy and therefore not always as effective as she could've possibly been. Perhaps such a performance was given because of the staginess of early sound films and the restrictions of a short running time. Hepburn's character, Eva Lovelace, operates with a strong-willed determination that's quite admiral, although she possess a self-confidence that hasn't been earned. She's an amateur actress, and even if she's gotten good reviews in small-town productions, she's yet to prove herself legitimately. The supporting cast (as this is truly Hepburn's time in the sun) is strong. Fairbanks and Menjou are probably the most recognizable of Hepburn's co-stars, although there are other good performers among them. C. Aubrey Smith is quite good as R.H. Hedges, an aging stage actor Eva Lovelace appoints as her mentor. Mary Duncan (an actress I don't believe I've seen in anything before) was also quite good as Rita Vernon, a successful stage actress whose temperament costs her in the end. As many know, Hepburn received her first of four Oscars for her performance in MORNING GLORY. It's a little hard to judge if that win was warranted, especially considering this film is reaching its 90th birthday and film acting has transformed in the decades since. I'd argue that Hepburn's performance is solid and she definitely shows promise that she'd mature into a long and successful screen career (even though a deep "box office poison" valley would cloud her career in the mid-to-late-'30s). MORNING GLORY is a good film. I've always enjoyed films about the theatre and even if this movie wasn't good (which it is), I'd enjoy it for that reason alone. Hepburn is always good playing upcoming stage actresses -- she would play another, Terry Randall, in STAGE DOOR four years down the road. If you haven't seen this film, it's worth a look. [ATTACH type="full"]39776[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]

Verification

6 + 4 =