Katherine Hepburn won four Academy Awards for Best Actress, and was nominated on eight other occasions. Her first Oscar and nomination was for "Morning Glory," a stagey drama in which she plays a stage-struck young actress with a knack for getting men to take a paternalistic interest in her.
Armed only with a letter from George Bernard Shaw, she leaves her small hometown to land a starring role on Broadway. Soon she realizes that parts of any size are not open for the taking, and lives in poverty while playing trivial roles in stock shows. But she keeps trying, using her charms to win agreeable stage veteran C. Aubrey Smith as her mentor, and playwright Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as her proponent. At last she is given her big break, a starring role, but will she be only a morning glory, a one-hit wonder?
Hepburn's charming character is contrasted
against that of Mary Duncan, who plays a
temperamental and spoiled actress. Producer
Menjou coddles Duncan, while shunning Hepburn
since she is too unknown to sell tickets.
I only have one major complaint. Hepburn gets
drunk at a party. Her speech is hopelessly
slurred. To impress the stage celebrities
present, she gives two dramatic performances from
Shakespeare, both with perfect diction. Is she
drunk or isn't she?
"Morning Glory" has an outstanding script, and
fine performances by the leads and supporting
cast. The score is also excellent. Fairbanks may
actually give a better performance than Hepburn,
as her lines are sometimes breathlessly delivered
making them difficult to understand. This film
could use closed-captioning. (84/100)
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.