The Man Who Came to Dinner was real life critic Alexander Woollcott

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a 1942 black-and-white comedy film based on the play of the same name by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. It stars Monty Woolley (reprising his role in the Broadway play) Bette Davis and Ann Sheridan

Alexander Woollcott

Kaufman and Hart wrote the play as a vehicle for their friend Alexander Woollcott, the model for the lead character Sheridan Whiteside. At the time the play was written Woollcott was famous both as the theater critic who helped re-launch the career of the Marx Brothers and as the star of the national radio show The Town Crier. Woollcott was well liked by both Kaufman and Hart, but that did not stop him from displaying the obnoxious characteristics displayed by Whiteside in the play. Kaufman and Hart had promised a vehicle for Woollcott but had been unable to find a plot that suited them until one day Woollcott showed up, unannounced, at Hart's Bucks County estate, and proceeded to take over the house. He slept in the master bedroom, terrorized Hart's staff, and generally acted like Sheridan Whiteside. On his way out he wrote in Hart's guest book, "This is to certify that I had one of the most unpleasant times I ever spent." Hart related the story to Kaufman soon afterwards. As they were both laughing about it, Hart remarked that he was lucky that Woollcott hadn't broken his leg and become stuck there. Kaufman looked at Hart and the idea was born.

Woollcott was delighted with the play and was offered the role for its Broadway debut. With his busy schedule of radio broadcasts and lectures he declined and Monty Woolley played the part. Woollcott did play Whiteside in the West Coast version of the play, and was even joined by Harpo Marx, who portrayed his own referenced character, Banjo.

The printed edition of the play starts with the inscription "To Alexander Woollcott, for reasons that are nobody's business."

Monty Woolley

Now Voyager | Don't Let's Ask For The Moon Videoclip

Now, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty, who borrowed her title from a line in the Walt Whitman poem "The Untold Want," which reads in its entirety, "The untold want by life and land ne'er granted, / Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find." Bette Davis' portrayal garnered her an Academy Award nomination, and the film continues to be popular not only due to its star power but also the "emotional crescendos" engendered in the storyline.

For years, Davis and co-star Paul Henreid claimed the scenes in which Jerry puts two cigarettes in his mouth, lights both, then passes one to Charlotte, was developed by them during rehearsals, inspired by a habit Henreid shared with his wife, but drafts of Casey Robinson's script on file at the University of Southern California indicate it was included by the screenwriter in his original script. The scene remained an indelible trademark that Davis later would exploit as 'hers'.

Frank Capra Directs Runyon's Apple Annie Story Twice | Lady for a Day & Pocketful of Miracles

Lady for a Day is a 1933 film which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was written by Robert Riskin, based on the Damon Runyon story Madame la Gimp.The film was directed by Frank Capra. Apple Annie (May Robson) is a street peddler who had sent away her daughter as a young child to be raised in Europe, letting her believe that Annie was a member of New York high society.

The movie was remade (again directed by Frank Capra) as Pocketful of Miracles in 1961, starring Bette Davis and Glenn Ford. The supporting cast including Edward Everett Horton, Peter Falk, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Ann-Margret in her film debut. The film proved to be director Frank Capra's final production, and the last film role of veteran actor Thomas Mitchell.

"Lady for a Day" cast

Bette Davis as Apple Annie in "Pocketful of Miracles"