"The best natural actress who has ever passed under my hands" - that's how Gregory La Cava described Andrea Leeds after directing her in "Stage Door" (1937). She appeared in some prestigious films and you would have thought she had it made but you would be wrong. After only a handful of films she retired to marry a millionaire sportsman and became involved in breeding race horses. "Letter Of Introduction" is one of her best films.
Kay Martin (Andrea Leeds) arrives home to find her apartment block on fire. She is desperate to retrieve a letter of introduction she has to John Mannering (Adolphe Menjou) a Broadway actor, fallen on hard times. Barry (George Murphy), a dancer from across the street, helps her save it and also introduces her to some more Broadway hopefuls (Eve Arden, Rita Johnson and Inez Courtney).
John Mannering was once a top Broadway matinée idol, who just happens to be Kay's father. Because of the secrecy, it creates some sticky situations - Barry is suspicious that Kay and Mannering are more than just "friends" and John's fiancée, Lydia Hoyt (a very glamorous Ann Sheridan) is convinced John is back to his old ways (he has been married 5 times ) and breaks off their engagement. Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy play themselves and also the only ones that are in on the secret. They are given a chance to work by Mannering as they have been unemployed for months and he thinks they have potential.
Mannering is worried that if the news gets out about his "relationship" with Kay he will lose his "youthful" reputation.He is also worried that his ten years in Hollywood may have damaged his stage reputation. Barry has had enough and decides to marry his old dancing partner (Rita Johnson) and go on the road for a tour.
John and Kay are given roles in a Broadway production and they decide at the end of the performance that they will tell the audience that they are father and daughter. John finds it difficult to face an audience after ten years and gets drunk, muffing his part and causing the performance to be cancelled. He feels a failure and steps out in front of a car. He dies without revealing his secret.
The last third of the film is very good. It gives you an understanding of why he didn't want to reveal his relationship with Kay. It became a more dramatic and complex film than it had started out. Leeds' Kay Martin was quite determined to make good. Although she was starry-eyed and emotional to meet her father - she was also intensely ambitious and was initially only upset that he had ruined her big chance. George Murphy, also didn't get to do much dancing.
Andrea Leeds was a talented actress who didn't realise her full potential. Adolphe Menjou was very good as John Mannering, the actor clinging on to his lost youth. In my opinion it would have been a better film if it had concentrated on the relationship between Kay and her father rather than the mistaken situations the secret created.
Recommended.
Kay Martin (Andrea Leeds) arrives home to find her apartment block on fire. She is desperate to retrieve a letter of introduction she has to John Mannering (Adolphe Menjou) a Broadway actor, fallen on hard times. Barry (George Murphy), a dancer from across the street, helps her save it and also introduces her to some more Broadway hopefuls (Eve Arden, Rita Johnson and Inez Courtney).
John Mannering was once a top Broadway matinée idol, who just happens to be Kay's father. Because of the secrecy, it creates some sticky situations - Barry is suspicious that Kay and Mannering are more than just "friends" and John's fiancée, Lydia Hoyt (a very glamorous Ann Sheridan) is convinced John is back to his old ways (he has been married 5 times ) and breaks off their engagement. Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy play themselves and also the only ones that are in on the secret. They are given a chance to work by Mannering as they have been unemployed for months and he thinks they have potential.
Mannering is worried that if the news gets out about his "relationship" with Kay he will lose his "youthful" reputation.He is also worried that his ten years in Hollywood may have damaged his stage reputation. Barry has had enough and decides to marry his old dancing partner (Rita Johnson) and go on the road for a tour.
John and Kay are given roles in a Broadway production and they decide at the end of the performance that they will tell the audience that they are father and daughter. John finds it difficult to face an audience after ten years and gets drunk, muffing his part and causing the performance to be cancelled. He feels a failure and steps out in front of a car. He dies without revealing his secret.
The last third of the film is very good. It gives you an understanding of why he didn't want to reveal his relationship with Kay. It became a more dramatic and complex film than it had started out. Leeds' Kay Martin was quite determined to make good. Although she was starry-eyed and emotional to meet her father - she was also intensely ambitious and was initially only upset that he had ruined her big chance. George Murphy, also didn't get to do much dancing.
Andrea Leeds was a talented actress who didn't realise her full potential. Adolphe Menjou was very good as John Mannering, the actor clinging on to his lost youth. In my opinion it would have been a better film if it had concentrated on the relationship between Kay and her father rather than the mistaken situations the secret created.
Recommended.