Touches You

Good movie but grossly overrated

A Masterpiece!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Katharine Hepburn (Eva Lovelace), Douglas Fairbanks, Jr (Joseph Sheridan), Adolphe Menjou (Louis Easton), Mary Duncan (Rita Vernon), C. Aubrey Smith (Robert Harley Hedges), Don Alvarado (Pepe Velez, the gigolo), Fred Santley (Will Seymour), Richard Carle (Henry Lawrence), Tyler Brooke (Charles Van Dusen), Geneva Mitchell (Gwendolyn Hall), Helen Ware (Nellie Navarre), Theresa Harris (maid), Jed Prouty (Seymour), Robert Greig (Roberts), Mildred Washington (Emma), Arthur Rankin (Frank), Max Wagner (smoker in diner), Leroy Johnson (janitor), Nathan Curry (elevator operator), Helene Chadwick (secretary), Shirley Chambers (party guest), Louise Carver (Miss Roberts), Robert Adair (butler), Sana Rayya.Director: LOWELL SHERMAN. Screenplay: Howard J. Green. Based on an unproduced stage play by Zoe Akins. Photography: Bert Glennon. Film editor: William Hamilton. Art directors: Van Nest Polglase and Charles Kirk. Costumes: Walter Plunkett. Music: Max Steiner. Make- up: Mel Burns. Set decorator: Ray Moyer. Special effects supervisor: Harry Redmond, senior. Music orchestrations: Bernhard Kaun. Assistant director: Tommy Atkins. Sound recording: Hugh McDowell. RCA Sound System. Producer: Pandro S. Berman. Executive producer: Merian C. Cooper.Copyright 17 August 1933 by RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall, 17 August 1933 (ran 1 week). U.K. release: 24 March 1934. 8 reels. 74 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Stand-in steps into leading part at the last minute and becomes an instant success.NOTES: Best Actress, Katharine Hepburn. Other Oscar nominees were May Robson in Lady For A Day and Diana Wynyard in Cavalcade. Re-made as Stage Struck (1958) with Susan Strasberg and Henry Fonda under Sidney Lumet's direction.COMMENT: A filmed stage play. Almost no attempt is made to extend the movie's scenes outside the original stage area. The opening and closing sequences in the theater, a brief episode in a coffee shop, and a short montage of the heroine trying out in vaudeville, modeling, etc., are the only exceptions that come to mind. For the First Act or so, the movie does have a bit of pace and style, but Sherman seems gradually defeated by the talky and restrictive script, and even the actors tire of infusing life into their persistently superficial, one-dimensional characters. Nonetheless, Miss Hepburn acts with verve throughout, and certainly looks appropriately emaciated. Sherman has kept Fairbanks and Menjou subdued, so as not to draw attention away from her, but Mary Duncan and Geneva Mitchell are delightfully catty as established stars. Right at the very end, a new character (the dresser) is suddenly introduced to explain the meaning of the title.The plot is the hoariest of all show biz pix. This certainly dates the movie, — as does Glennon's now long-out-of-fashion habit of over-lighting all the faces. Thanks to Hepburn's cult status (her third picture, her first Academy Award), Morning Glory is still occasionally aired on TV. Despite the movie's faults, Hepburn makes a viewing worthwhile; — and Max Steiner has contributed one of his most haunting and lovely themes.

Katharine Hepburn, a little woman with a long career, certainly believed in one marriage, and for her life on stage and screen, there was no bill of divorcement. Here, she's a newbee from Vermont anxious to make her New York debut. Showing up at producer Adolph Menjou's office, she is very determined. Sort of like Miss Hepburn herself, she doesn't seem to take no for an answer, and for those who only know the shaky voice and head of the older Kate, this is a great way to see the real her. It's not her first film or first lead (that came with her first film), and it's easy to see why even as a young lady, she was an imitator's delight.As this was during the depression, it was a difficult time for established stars (let alone undiscovered promising actresses), so it won't be easy. Mentions of still open Broadway theaters gives this an exciting yet historical tone to theater aficionados, and for those discovering their passion for the stage, this is a great way to get a sense of what went on behind the scenes during the golden age of the American "theata". RKO gets a plug in by dropping contract player names (Wheeler and Woolsey) as well as mentioning the legendary Katharine Cornell. C. Aubrey Smith stands out in a major supporting part as Hepburn's self proclaimed mentor. Hepburn is fascinating to watch, so affected, eccentric, egotistical but desperate, and absolutely delightful. Less memorable is Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as a rather dull playwright, more a publicity stunt cast due to headlines concerning wife Joan Crawford and made the same year he costarred with the not yet famous Bette Davis. I would have preferred she have more scenes with Menjou whom she would play a similar part opposite in the even better "Stage Door".There's some delightfully bitchy dialog between Mary Duncan and Geneva Mitchell, playing friendly one moment and finding the tender spot in the other's back to insert the knife. Hepburn gets several lines that have become legendary, and ironically, she returned to Broadway this year in a flop where she muttered a certain line about calalillies. This doesn't just focus on Kate, but drops the camera on several typical theater archetypes, often smashed and overly dramatic. For Kate, this is "really" a top drawer example as to why she started off so well, even if she needed to tone down certain mannerisms to become different in each part she played.

Morning Glory is a movie which would most appeal to the baby boomer generation. The movie has great stars like Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Great acting from great stars. However, once the movie ends, so does your recollection of the experience and that is why I rated the film lower than normal (4-5). This movie is worth watching for the stars alone. Morning Glory would best be enjoyed on a rainy afternoon or late at night and viewed alone. The movie's pace is a bit slow and the story line a bit tedious. Savor the experience of Morning Glory with a glass of wine and some fruit on the side instead of popcorn. Enjoy

i'm a big fan of classics and don't mind a movie if it's dated but this movie was just plain bad-even for it's time period. hepburn is good in almost anything but in this she's shrill and annoying. her performance a few years later in "stagedoor" (where she also plays an aspiring Broadway actress who assumes she's better than she is and somehow pulls off a star-making performance at the last moment) is such a better role. in almost ever scene where she's talking to someone she's over-acting and looking past them like she's having a delusional moment-talking to unseen and unknown person out of frame. it's hard to believe she's a good 'broadway' actress, because she's acting the same way ALL the time-even more so when she's off the stage than on. and when she gets drunk at a party and embarrasses herself she starts doing romeo & juliet and everyone gasps like it's so good and it just seems obnoxious. in short, i'd have been happier and like hepburn more if i'd never seen it. AVOID!