June 25, 2020
Morning Glory –
US, 1933
The 6th Academy Awards was a curious affair, taking
place during the Depression and after the Academy proposed a temporary 50 per
cent cut in wages for all studio employees and a cap on actors’ salaries,
suggestions that no one took kindly to. The Academy nominated ten films for
Best Picture, yet tradition still dictated that the acting categories were restricted
to three nominees each. Best Actor went to Charles Laughton for The Private Life of Henry VIII; the
statue for Best Actress was awarded to Katharine Hepburn for Lowell Sherman’s Morning Glory. It was her first of four such
victories, the others given for her roles in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The
Lion in Winter, and On Golden Pond.
Neither she nor Mr. Laughton were presented to receive their awards, so they
missed the confusion when Will Rogers, announcing the award for Best Director,
exclaimed, “Come and get it, Frank,” completely forgetting that two of the
nominees had that first name.
Morning Glory is
another example of Hollywood’s obsession with turning the camera on itself and telling
rather self-serving tales about young people risking it all for a chance at
fulfilling their dreams of achieving a career on the stage. Hepburn plays Eva
Lovelace, a young aspiring actress with an impressive degree of confidence in
her abilities and a mental blueprint of just how her career will transpire. All
she needs, of course, is an opportunity to show what she can do. At least that’s
how she puts it.
Hepburn plays Eva as a woman who overcompensates for her
nervousness by talking incessantly about herself. I don’t say this as a
criticism, for during my own time in the theater, I saw countless examples of
such behavior; a few times I was even the over-explainer. I suspect that most
of the characters she talks to have had similar experiences, for most of them
have an incredible amount of patience with her, and it is this kindness that
Eva misjudges. She even insists of barging into director Louis Easton’s office
to say good-bye because she believes they shared a moment.
The film is well paced, in particular its opening scene in
which we meet all of the principal players, Eva, Easton (Adolphe Menjou), a
writer named Joseph Sheridan (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), an veteran British actor
named Robert Harley (C. Aubrey Smith), and star and diva Rita Vernon (Mary
Duncan). In an early scene, we watch Easton and Sheridan tiptoeing around numerous
fragile egos and superstar demands with grace and calm, and it reminded me of
the multiple skills that producers and directors need when putting on a show.
The film peaks midway with a scene at a cast party to
celebrate the opening night of Sheridan’s play, “Blue Skies.” After having what
appears to be her first drink on an empty stomach, a drunk Eva decides to prove
her talent by spontaneously performing Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy;
as a follow-up, she dons a tablecloth and begins one from Romeo and Juliet. Interestingly, only Joseph seems to truly
recognize her talent. Of course, that doesn’t stop the film from ending with an
improbable stab at stardom and the rapturous applause of an unsuspecting audience.
Morning Glory was
not nominated for Best Picture, nor should it have been. However, there is a
lot to commend here. The role of Eva allows Hepburn to display her numerous
talents. In a lesser actress’s hand, Eva may have come across as simply annoying,
yet Hepburn allows us to view her as an actress almost perpetually suffering
from audition anxiety- whether she’s trying out for a role or trying to become acquainted
with a stranger. For an example of this, watch the way Eva’s hands fidget as
she talks to Easton early on in the film. It is clear that Eva’s confidence is
a bit of an act. As Sheridan, Fairbanks Jr. does well with a fairly limited
role. He almost single-handedly makes us believe in Eva’s talent. Menjou plays
Easton with grace and dignity, and he cleverly drops subtle hints that the
character may be a little less noble than he lets on. Duncan is perfect, capturing
the ego and the cunning of a pampered star intent on getting what she thinks
she deserves.
The film’s weakness is its script, especially its finale. It
is all just too convenient. It also seems odd that the film waits until the last
scene to introduce a rather somber theme, one that robs Eva of her
accomplishment and makes the film a cautionary tale rather than a celebratory
one. The film never truly finds the right balance between humor and drama. This
is a film made and set during the Depression, yet it skirts that subject,
reducing it to a few lines indicating Eva’s economic difficulty, yet never
fully committing to it. Instead, we get drunken revelries and numerous examples
of Eva finding employment, even if it is not entirely what she envisions
herself doing. I wish the film had just slowed down enough to let us see Eva’s
obvious pain and hardship, but then again it’s not surprising that it doesn’t. Few
films do. Morning Glory has its
moments, and Hepburn is certainly impressive. Still, the film could have been
so much more, and you can clearly see the moment when its creators decided it
wouldn’t be. (on DVD as part of Katharine
Hepburn: 100th Anniversary Collection)
3 stars
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