Morning Glory

Eva Lovelace (Hepburn), a struggling stage actress, falls in love with a young playwright (Douglas Fairbanks Jr) after breaking off an affair with a producer (Adolphe Menjou). Despite numerous rejections, she perseveres in her career because she loves the theatre so much, and in the end, this forces her to choose between the theatre and the man she loves.

While the story is cliched, and isn't helped by Menjou's and Fairbanks's acting, this was a real breakthrough for Hepburn. The story of a girl from nowhere becoming a star is always popular, as can be seen with A Star is Born, which has been remade three times. The Times said that "in a depressingly second-rate story she admirably mingles intellectual austerity with physical gaucherie." It was reviews like this which made Hepburn's first best actress Oscar a near certainty, and while this isn't a great film, it's well worth watching for Hepburn's luminous performance.

Review by Katherine Edge
Taken from EUFS Programme 1995-96