L'homme qui vint dîner

Screenwriters Moss Hart & George S. Kaufmann created this hilarious story based upon the personas of playwright Noel Coward, film critic Alexander Woollcott, and theater actress Gertrude Lawrence. It became a Broadway hit, then this box-office sensation. Bette Davis convinced Warner Brothers to make this film.

When "The Man Who Came To Dinner," Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley), an eccentric author & radio lecturer, & his secretary, Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis), arrive at the home of a prominent Ohio family, the Stanleys, Whiteside injures his leg, slipping at his hosts' entrance. After a doctor (George Barbier) tells Whiteside that his leg is broken & he can't leave, the eccentric guest who had only come to dinner wreaks havoc by meddling in everyone else's lives in a proper family's home! Whiteside is especially bent upon keeping Maggie (Davis) unmarried & employed as his secretary who manages all of his life affairs. She's fallen in love, wants to marry & leave her job. Whiteside even bribes the doctor to remain silent after learning nothing's wrong with his leg! When Mr. Stanley uncovers their fraud, Whiteside blackmails him by holding an old family secret over his head. Though, Whiteside's plot to keep Maggie doesn't fool her, it is the central comedy performance of the movie.

Maggie Cutler (Davis) is a perfect foil for Whiteside (Woolley). Her original role was not as central in the stage play. It was expanded for film. Playing a secretary is the only time during Davis' golden 40's period in Hollywood when she accepted a supporting role. However, Davis was billed first in order to make the movie box-office hit. It's a delightful Christmas comedy.

Here's a typical exchange between 'Sheri' & Maggie: Sheridan Whiteside: I simply will not sit down to dinner with Midwestern barbarians, I think too highly of my digestive system.

Maggie Cutler: Harry Clarke is one of your oldest friends.

Sheridan Whiteside: My stomach is an older one.

Maggie Cutler: And Mrs. Stanley is President of the women's club.

Sheridan Whiteside: I wouldn't care if she was the whole cabinet.

Banjo (Jimmy Durante) delivers some memorable comical one-liners, as well.

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a little uneven, but it's mostly entertaining. The unevenness comes mainly from the dullness of the budding relationship which the film holds in focus. The original play is very well written, especially the dialogue. It was actually performed at my high school when I was there. But its the cast here that excels. Monty Woolley is great in the titular role. He plays Sheridan Whiteside to absolute perfection. Bette Davis is quite good as his secretary, but the role is actually somewhat below her standards. I'm sure she took the role because she loved the play so much and was sure it'd be a hit, but that role is pretty dull. Ann Sheridan perhaps gives the film's most memorable performance as an egotistical Hollywood diva who's not sure whether she wants to marry British nobility for money or just chase around cute guys. Also noteworthy are Billie Burke as Mrs. Stanley, the Ohio society woman who invites Whiteside to dinner, Reginald Gardiner as an eloquent celebrity friend of Whiteside (far underused), and the incredibly insane Jimmy Durante as Banjo. He comes into the film very late, but he very nearly steals the show. 8/10.

This is one of the great film comedies of all time. Monty Woolley is priceless as the uppity celebrity who comes to dinner and stays and stays, causing havoc to a socially upper-crust household. The rest of the cast is superb too. Don't miss this film. It is a gem and a joy.

Yes, most of the below reviewers are correct. "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is a splendid comedy. But what no one has mentioned - and this is especially relevant, given some of the negative comments here - is that Kaufmann and Hart wrote the play, basing the Whiteside character on their friend Alexander Woolcott, who was a hugely famous and influential - not to mention opinionated and acerbic - theatre critic of the day. The presence of Jimmy Durante, playing "Banjo" is important because a high profile member of the Woolcott "rat-pack" was Harpo Marx, clearly the model for Banjo. Monty Wooley played "Sheridan Whiteside" in the play's initial run (and of course here in the movie) but it's a tribute to Woolcott's ability to laugh at himself that during the play's national tour of the US Woolcott actually played the Sheridan Whiteside part himself. (I only know all of this because I've just finished reading Harpo Marx' autobiography, "Harpo Speaks", which I highly recommend to all IMDBers)

Robert Osborne of TCM said that Warners intended John Barrymore but the Great Profile was too ill by 1942) for the role of Sheridan Whiteside (whose real life model was columnist & broadcaster Alexander Woolcott. Monty Woolley, who originated the role on Broadway (if one can originate what is a copy of the original) brought his smart performance from stage to screen. Others including Clifton Webb, Orson Welles, Simon Callow, Vincent Price and Nathan Lane have attempted the role with various degrees of success, and no doubt Barrynmore would have been great in the juicy, flamboyant role. Indeed, The Man Who Came to Dinner (MWCD), like all scripts written by George S. Kaufman and his various collaborator (Edna Ferber, Mac Connolly and Moss Hart) offers a great roles for all its actors. The screen cast was excellent, especially Reginald Gardiner who, in the role of Mr Beverly Carlton) captured Noel Coward perfectly. Gardiner and Monty Woolley recreated their roles for TV in 1954 (CBS' Best of Broadway 1954). Surprising to me was that Bette Davis actually underplayed and fit very nicely into the ensemble as the sane counterweight to a bunch of madcap egoists. Ann Sheridan sparkled in the slightly unpleasant role based on Gertrude Lawrence. And when did Billie Burke ever disappoint? Jimmy Durante played Banjo (based on Harpo Marx who, as a bachelor, palled around with the same sophisticated set in real life). Davey Burns created Banjo on Broadway, but Durante worked as a more famous casting choice, though in the 1954 Best of Broadway TV revival of this play, Banjo was played by Bert Lahr, and I preferred Lahr's performance. Although Mary Wickes was perfect as the nurse (she played the role in the Broadway production as well as in the film), Zasu Pitts was even more suited to the nurse ("Miss Bedpan!") role in the telecast, and casting Buster Keaton as the doctor in the TV version was brilliant. Most Kaufman plays, including MWCD, written with various partners (who probably supplied structure), remain playable and funny today. He was a master.