Katharine Hepburn takes up residence in a theatrical rooming house in "Stage Door," one of the great examples of ensemble acting in film. Besides Hepburn, the film features Adolph Menjou, Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Ginger Rogers, Andrea Leeds, Eve Arden, Constance Collier, and Gail Patrick. Hepburn is a the daughter of a wealthy man who comes to New York to try her hand at acting. She talks a good game, but as we soon learn, she has no emotional understanding or connection to acting at all, approaching everything intellectually. All of the women are pursuing careers in theater, some with more success than others, and Patrick has a sugar daddy (Menjou). Leeds is the tragic character, a star from the previous season who can't find work but is desperate for the lead in "Enchanted April." The atmosphere created by director Gregory Lacava perfectly evokes the lively atmosphere of young women living together, sitting in the parlor complaining about food, men, and work or lack of it, as they sing, joke, play piano, strum the ukulele, and talk on the phone - all at once.
The acting is uniformly excellent, with each actress creating a unique character. Lucille Ball gives evidence of the comic timing that would make her one of the greatest TV stars of all time, and there are plenty of ironic one-liners to be had from Eve Arden, and Ginger Rogers matches her in sarcasm. Ann Miller was supposedly 14 when she made this film; it doesn't seem possible but that was her story and she stuck to it. We do get to see a little bit of her tapping. Andrea Leeds, bearing such a strong resemblance to Olivia DeHavilland, gives a touching performance as the doomed Kay, who does not have the emotional stability to withstand what can be a devastating career. It's an extremely melodramatic role and rather than have her play against this, LaCava had her play to it, thus dating what could have stood as a compelling performance even today.
The climactic scenes toward the end are pure '30s, stripping the film of previous lightness and going into tragedy but are effective and real tear-jerkers. By the film's end, though, we've come full circle.
The film is based on the play of the same name which is actually quite different. The whole idea was probably based on the Studio Club in New York City. "Stage Door" is wonderful and the script, acting and direction make it a deeply satisfying experience.
