The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942): Dir: William Keighley / Cast: Bette Davis, Monty Woolley, Richard Travis, Ann Sheridan, Jimmy Durante: It is not about who came to dinner, but the attitude he possessed. When crass Sheridan Whiteside slips on the icy steps at the residents of a businessman and breaks his hip, he is holed up there. He takes over immediately with acquaintances showing up and inconveniences following. This is often very funny but structure is staged with corny humour. Director William Keighley brings a humorous conclusion. Bette Davis plays the loyal secretary experiencing love. When this becomes complicated due to her clingy boss, she decides to quit. She is loyal but does not desire being tied down to demands. Monty Woolley is quite funny as the cranky boss taking advantage of a housing situation and totally annoying everyone there even when it becomes clear that his injury has healed. He plays the sarcastic Whiteside and his lesson is one of the film's best jokes. Richard Travis plays a newspaper journalist whose play impresses Davis who addresses it to her refusing boss. Ann Sheridan plays an actress whom Whiteside uses in an attempt to break up his secretary and her new beau. Jimmy Durante becomes part of the plan in order to get Sheridan out of the picture. It echoes what goes around, comes around, even before dinner. Score: 7 / 10

No need to recap the plot.For contemporary audiences the 2-hours is likely a matter of taste. For sure, the literary script is totally unlike today's raw comedic antics. The curmudgeonly Whiteside (Wooley) manages to insult just about everyone, but in highly elevated fashion. At times, his jibes are a little much and you want to conk him, but somehow the actor avoids making the snobbish character dislikable. All in all, it's a pretty good thespic feat. The movie's a filmed stage play, which means the director has to keep our eye entertained, which he does by shuffling characters in and out, resulting at times in a kind of madcap. Despite the large cast, and the presence of marquee names like Davis and Sheridan, everything revolves around Wooley's Whiteside. Then too, I suspect other reviewers are correct —Durante's low-brow humor was included as relief from that general flow of sophistication. I'm not surprised the play was a hit in New York City. However, it was apparently a big hit nationally, meaning less cosmopolitan audiences also responded. That, I think, is a tribute to not just Wooley, but the production as a whole. Still, the movie dates itself with passing references to celebrities of the day. And note, in passing, how common man Banjo (Durante) refers to the (Brooklyn) Dodgers, which soon became a movie staple for the common WWII war effortAnyway, for folks wanting a strong contrast to the gutter-language comedy of today, this is a film to catch.

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.

Some supposed great films of their time (in this case, the late 30s/early 40s) find fame and reputation. It might even last a decade or two, but in this case this appalling unfunny film should be put into the window seat cavity in (the genuinely funny) ARSENIC AND OLD LACE. The main character Sheridan Whiteside, as played by blustering queen Monty Woolley is utterly tiresome by the third 'hilarious blistering insult', all of which are over worded and each of which are just ridiculous and stupid. If this film is written to be a farce then it succeeds. But it is also just plain mean spirited. Yes Whiteside is supposed to be that but he is so repulsive and abrasive for 100 minutes that had I lived in that house I would have gladly tossed him into the street and happily paid the consequences. THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER has not dated well and the film now would provoke curiosity only in bewilderment as audiences ask 'is this supposed to be funny? This guy is a prick'.