The Great Katharine Hepburn

[ClassyCo]

I'm sure I've said it before, but I love STAGE DOOR; one of my top 20 favorite films of the era.

I really enjoy STAGE DOOR, and have since I originally saw it on TCM many years ago. I've always liked movies with ensemble casts and I've always liked movies about the theater. So, this one checks both boxes. Perhaps my only drawback is the fact that Andrea Leeds commits suicide. I know it's supposed to heighten the emotional and tragic angle, but I would've preferred had she just gone back home. Yes, I know that would've probably made the ending a little less dramatic, the climax less tense.

RKO really tried to salvage Kate's career.

They were committed, it seems, to restoring Hepburn's box office appeal. They did literally everything that they could to bring her back to audience favor. The problem was that the damage had already been done and audiences were ready to reject Hepburn no matter what type of movie she made.

Crawford and Davis were branded "box office poison" the same time Hepburn was, but that stuck to Kate a lot longer.

In that infamous 1938 "box office poison" article, Davis was actually listed as a star who "deserved" her salary, along with the likes of Shirley Temple and Myrna Loy.

But, as you say, Hepburn carried the "box office poison" label for many years. And, unlike some of the others, she had to orchestrate her own comeback with THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.

Did Hughes have something to do with that?

I always forget Hepburn was linked with Howard Hughes.

 

[Crimson]

that infamous 1938 "box office poison" article, Davis was actually listed as a star who "deserved" her salary

So you are correct. Funny, Dietrich was quoted by her daughter as being incredulous that she, Hepburn and Garbo were on the list but fully understood why the "pop eyed" actress was included. I always assumed she meant Davis. Now I wonder who she was trash talking.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Yes, Davis was at the top of her career in 1938, and would be for another half-dozen years.

 

[ClassyCo]

So you are correct. Funny, Dietrich was quoted by her daughter as being incredulous that she, Hepburn and Garbo were on the list but fully understood why the "pop eyed" actress was included. I always assumed she meant Davis. Now I wonder who she was trash talking.

From the lists I've seen, I always see Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Dolores del Rio, Mae West, Kay Francis, and Edward Arnold. It's interesting, too, considering Crawford was labeled the "Queen of the Movies" in 1937, Dietrich and Garbo were raking in exceptionally high salaries, Del Rio was the face of Max Factor, Hepburn was just four years from having received her first Oscar, and West was apparently called the "mortgage lifter".

Some lists even include Norma Shearer, Luise Rainier, and Fred Astaire.

Maybe Dietrich was taking a shot at Crawford.

 

[Toni]

So you are correct. Funny, Dietrich was quoted by her daughter as being incredulous that she, Hepburn and Garbo were on the list but fully understood why the "pop eyed" actress was included. I always assumed she meant Davis. Now I wonder who she was trash talking.

Betty Boop?

 

[ClassyCo]

"pop eyed" actress

Kay Francis?

 

[Crimson]

Turns out, I was correct -- Dietrich's daughter, Maria, erroneously had Davis listed along the Box Office Poison actors.






As I recall from the book, Dietrich really liked and admired Hepburn. She might have been the only one of Dietrich's peers to escape her scathing criticisms.

 

[ClassyCo]

Turns out, I was correct -- Dietrich's daughter, Maria, erroneously had Davis listed along the Box Office Poison actors.

Wow, that's an interesting excerpt from Maria's book. I think I owned it at one time, but with all my moving and decluttering, it's long gone.

It's strange that people think Davis would've been considered "poison" at the box office the same year she made JEZEBEL and won her second Oscar. (Maria also says the article was printed in 1937, when, in fact, it was printed in March 1938. But I'll excuse her error on the year.)

As I recall from the book, Dietrich really liked and admired Hepburn. She might have been the only one of Dietrich's peers to escape her scathing criticisms.

Marlene did seem to be quite critical of her contemporaries, perhaps because she saw them as threats or out of some sort of jealousy. Perhaps it's all a combination of the two.

I hadn't any previous knowledge that she admired Hepburn, but I have seen a brief interview where she spoke politely and some form of admiration about Garbo.

 

[Crimson]

But I'll excuse her error on the year

It's interesting to read older books and see how they can often be prone to error. Books written at a time when the author didn't have instant access to media or information relied on their recollections. Another book I have makes reference to Crawford guest staring on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES; clearly conflating Swanson's appearance on that show with Crawford's appearance on THE LUCY SHOW. (Small wonder since the later was a shameless ripoff of the former.)

Not that instant access to information is a guarantee against error or misinformation.

Marlene did seem to be quite critical of her contemporaries, perhaps because she saw them as threats or out of some sort of jealousy.

It was arrogance. Dietrich was perhaps the least insecure person of all time.

As I recall, she spoke poorly of Davis, Crawford, Colbert, Lombard and Goddard. She loathed Loretta Young and Liz Taylor. (Taylor, at least, might have been actual jealousy; specifically that Liz stole away men Dietrich was involved with. Dietrich credited it to Taylor's big boobs.) Publicly, she spoke well of Garbo; privately, seemingly not so much.

She seemed to genuinely respect Hepburn, but I don't know that they actually knew each other. If so, probably during the filming of JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG. She also liked Mae West and thought Dolores Del Rio was beautiful.