An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in with a Midwestern family.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMoss Hart and George S. Kaufman, authors of the play from which this film was adapted, were good friends with Alexander Woollcott, a famous critic, radio personality, and lecturer at the time. Woollcott requested that they write a play FOR him, but they never came up with a plot. One day Woollcott came to visit Hart unexpectedly and turned his house upside down, taking over the master bedroom, ordering Hart's staff around and making a general nuisance of himself. When Hart told Kaufman of the visit, he asked, "Imagine what would have happened if he broke his leg and had to stay?" They looked at each other and knew they had a play.
- GoofsThe exact same shot of the octopus moving around is used for both when Ernest Stanley peeks into the crate and when Whiteside peeks in.
- Quotes
Sheridan Whiteside: [opening a box of candy] Ah, pecan butternut fudge!
Nurse Preen: Oh, my, you mustn't eat candy, Mr. Whiteside, it's very bad for you.
Sheridan Whiteside: My great aunt Jennifer ate a whole box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be 102 and when she'd been dead three days she looked better than you do *now!*
- ConnectionsFeatured in My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988)
- SoundtracksSilent Night, Holy Night
(1818) (uncredited)
Music by Franz Xaver Gruber
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr
Sung by a boys' choir
Featured review
Pretty funny
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a little uneven, but it's mostly entertaining. The unevenness comes mainly from the dullness of the budding relationship which the film holds in focus. The original play is very well written, especially the dialogue. It was actually performed at my high school when I was there. But its the cast here that excels. Monty Woolley is great in the titular role. He plays Sheridan Whiteside to absolute perfection. Bette Davis is quite good as his secretary, but the role is actually somewhat below her standards. I'm sure she took the role because she loved the play so much and was sure it'd be a hit, but that role is pretty dull. Ann Sheridan perhaps gives the film's most memorable performance as an egotistical Hollywood diva who's not sure whether she wants to marry British nobility for money or just chase around cute guys. Also noteworthy are Billie Burke as Mrs. Stanley, the Ohio society woman who invites Whiteside to dinner, Reginald Gardiner as an eloquent celebrity friend of Whiteside (far underused), and the incredibly insane Jimmy Durante as Banjo. He comes into the film very late, but he very nearly steals the show. 8/10.
helpful•339
- zetes
- Apr 25, 2002
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Covek koji je dosao na veceru
- Filming locations
- Stage 17, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA(interior of Stanley home)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,050,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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By what name was The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) officially released in India in English?
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