This winter I am watching movies starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

This past week I watched Morning Glory (1933) with him and Katharine Hepburn.

Morning Glory is a somber commentary on Hollywood’s common tendency to send a starlet sky high and then drop her fast, destroying her emotionally, mentally, and sometimes even physically.

Don’t get me the wrong, the movie does its best to wrap up that somberness in a cheerful pill to swallow but, in the end, the message is clear — fame will come and make you happy for a time, but then it will fade and you will be nothing more than what those in the acting world call a “morning glory” — a firework that burns bright and fast and then burns out.

In her third film and her first Oscar-win, Katharine Hepburn portrays a woman who has taken the name Eva Lovelace, left her smalltown in Vermont, and traveled to Hollywood to become a famous actress.

At least she says she’s left a little town in Vermont. We can never be sure with Eva who likes to create stories to tell a story about herself that may or may not be real.

Eva is bubbly, chatty, full of hope and expectations, and determined to become a leading actress in a play. That’s why she camps outside the office of theater owner and producer Louis Easton (Adolphe Menjou) — waiting for the chance to beg him for a chance to kick off her acting career. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays Playwright Joseph Sheridan, who is there to both doubt and be beguiled by Eva.

Eva falls for Easton or the idea of him and what he can do for her and… well, I was a bit shocked by what happens between them at one point, though all off screen, of course.

This movie is a bit all over the place at times, very short at about and hour fifteen, and wraps up situations way too easily. I probably wouldn’t watch it again but I did enjoy seeing Katherine in her early days of acting. The moment she slips from the innocent want-to-be actress to the hardcore going-to-be-famous actress while reciting Shakespeare while drunk makes the movie worth watching but I wouldn’t say much else does — not even handsome Douglas.

I think this review I saw online sums it up well:

The movie was based on the play of the same title by Zoe Akins.

The part in the movie was originally written for actress Constance Bennett, who was RKO’s biggest attraction at the time, according to articles online. Much like in the movie, though, Katharine, a newcomer, talked the producers into hiring her. It paid off since she won the Oscar.

According to TCM.com, Katharine’s first movie was A Bill of Divorcement in 1932 and he next film was Christopher Strong, with the screenplay also being written by Akins.

She reportedly did not like Akins or his writing.

“Although Hepburn disliked Zoe Akins personally and had not been happy with Akins’ script for Christopher Strong, she was eager to do Morning Glory as her next film,” the article by  Margarita Landazuri, on TCM reads. “One day while waiting to meet with producer Pandro Berman in his office, she saw the script for Morning Glory on his desk and began reading it. She was instantly enthusiastic, telling Berman, “That’s the most wonderful script ever written for anybody.” Berman told her it was intended for Constance Bennett, but Hepburn demanded it for herself. Akins reportedly had modeled the character of Eva on Tallulah Bankhead (whom Hepburn also disliked), but Hepburn demanded changes so that the character resembled her.”

Landazuri further writes that Fairbanks tried to date Katharine.

“Sherman rehearsed Morning Glory like a play,” she writes. “And shot it in continuity in 18 days, skillfully developing the actors’ characterizations. It paid off; not only was Hepburn’s performance superb, the rest of the cast was excellent also, particularly Smith as Eva’s elderly mentor, and Fairbanks, giving a complex portrayal of the playwright, attracted to Eva but wary of her ambition, and ambitious for his own career. Fairbanks evidently had similar mixed emotions about Hepburn.”

“He tried to date her, but she wasn’t interested. In fact, she was secretly involved with Leland Hayward, although both were married to others at the time. Finally, Hepburn agreed to go out with Fairbanks, but she cut the date short, complaining of a headache. When he took her home, Fairbanks watched as she went inside, then immediately came out again, getting into a car with Hayward.”

There are various reviews of the movie online. Here is an interesting one from The  London Times : “Miss Hepburn admirably mingles intellectual austerity with physical gaucherie…her grip never falters, but those who most admire the perfection of her technique must have wished she could, for a few minutes, be free of the depressing limitation of a second-rate story.”

Of her own performance Hepburn was quoted as saying: “I should have stopped then. I haven’t grown since.”

While Morning Glory was not my favorite, I do agree with other critics that the acting was on point. I’ve never been a huge fan of Katharine Hepburn — something about her voice and style grates on me (I know…drum me right out of the Classic Movie Fan Club) —, but she did star in quite a few very interesting films, including this one.

Have you ever seen this film? What did you think of it?

Up next for my Winter of Fairbanks Jr. is The Prisoner of Zenda.

Here is my complete list of planned watches if you want to join in:

The Power The Press (January 2)

Morning Glory (January 9)

The Prisoner of Zenda (January 16)

Gunga Din (January 23)

The Young At Heart (January 30)

Having Wonderful Time (February 6)

Chase a Crooked Shadow (February 13)

Sinbad The Sailor (February 20)

The Rise of Catherine the Great (February 27)

The Sun Never Sets (March 6)

You can also find my impressions of previous movies in the series, as well as other classic movies here: https://lisahoweler.com/movie-reviews-impressions/