Stage Door

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Stage Door ★★★ ½ 1937

An energetic ensemble peek at the women of the theatre. A boarding house for potential actresses houses a wide variety of talents and dreams. Patrician Hepburn and wisecracking Rogers make a good team in a talent-packed ensemble. Realistic look at the sub-world of Broadway aspirations includes dialogue taken from idle chat among the actresses between takes. Based on the play by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman, who suggested in jest a title change to “Screen Door,” since so much had been changed. Watch for young stars-to-be like Ball, Arden, and Miller. 92m/B VHS, DVD . Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Andrea Leeds, Jack Carson, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick; D: Gregory La Cava. N.Y. Film Critics '37: Director (La Cava).