“Stage Door” is a classic comedy about what it’s like to be in your Flop Era.
Director Gregory La Cava’s film is stacked with early turns from ladies who would go on to be legends.... eventually. Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, and Ann Miller play a group of aspiring actresses who seem to be more in the business of aspiring than acting.
La Cava apparently transposed the tone and rhythm of natural conversations between the women while on set into the actual film.
This lends “Stage Door” the chaotic patter that prevails when a large group of ladies gather. There is overlapping dialogue, everyone is a little wine drunk, the Funny Friend is at the center of the room…