Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Christmas-Reviewer BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEWED ONE FILM. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY THEME MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS.During a cross-country lecture tour, notoriously acerbic radio personality Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley) slips on the icy steps of the house of the Stanleys (Grant Mitchell and Billie Burke), a prominent Ohio family, and insists on recuperating in their home during the Christmas holidays. The overbearing, self-centered celebrity soon comes to dominate the lives of the residents and everyone else who enters the household. He encourages young adults Richard (Russell Arms) and June (Elisabeth Fraser) Stanley to pursue their dreams, much to the dismay of their conventional father Ernest.This is a classic film. Its very funny and should be made mandatory viewing! Films today are no longer made this way and that is sad. In 50 years people will still be watching this. Will they still be watching "Office Christmas Party"

MartinHafer Despite receiving third billing, this film clearly stars Monty Woolley. After all, HE is the man who came to dinner--not Bette Davis or Ann Sheridan! But, since he was not a familiar name and never made that many films, these two big stars fro Warner Brothers get top billing. Now for me, a film that stars Woolley is a great thing--as he was able to make any film tremendously watchable and was a great character actor in films like "The Bishop's Wife" and "Since You Went Away". Without him, these films would have lacked his wonderful presence. Interestingly, Woolley had another outside career--he was a professor at Yale!! Sheridan Whiteside (Woolley) plays an obnoxious but very famous author (no one is a greater fan of the man than Whiteside). And, he holds the world in disdain in a way no other actor but Clifton Webb could have done! But Webb was still an unknown actor and the filmmakers' other choice (John Barrymore) was too sick from the final stages of alcoholism--so the choice of Woolley to play the role was a natural."The Man Who Came to Dinner" begins with Whiteside and his personal secretary (Bette Davis) arriving in yet another town during his public speaking/book tour. A family invites him over for dinner--not realizing that this simple dinner party would result in him staying for weeks! Whiteside slips outside the home and milks the family's generosity to the hilt by staying there--and creating a lot of upheaval in the process. What exactly? See this clever film to find out for yourself.The plot of this film is not the main reason to watch it--after all, the story is pretty simple and not all that remarkable. However, the dialog and acting are just lovely--making for a nice viewing experience throughout. Overall, a nice comedy that shows off Woolley's star power. Well worth seeing.

Ignaz Maus Not only is the main character completely obnoxious and annoying, but the stage-originated and stagy plot doesn't work at all. It's so implausible that I wouldn't even know where to begin, so I'll pick one glaring mistake (or oversight) at random. When Jimmy Durante's character locks Ann Sheridan's character in a mummy case, she ought to be pounding and screaming to be let out, but she doesn't make a sound! The whole film is full of gaffes like this; and besides, you know the comedy is failing when the writers think that they have to throw in a flock of penguins for a (hopefully) sure-fire laugh.Sheridan Whiteside's supposedly "witty" lines all fall flat; I didn't laugh even once. If this is supposed to be "sophisticated" 1940's humor, I'll stick with the Marx Brothers... or even the Three Stooges! Not only that, but it goes on much too long; it would have benefited from a cut of at least ten minutes, just to improve the snail-like pace of the plot.It's hard to believe that so many big-name actors and writers were involved in this prize turkey, or that it was a hit in 1942. I guess that wartime audiences were desperate for entertainment. Any entertainment, however flimsy it might be.

brendangcarroll What a great disappointment this famous film turned out to be when I finally sat down to watch the DVD.In spite of its impressive literary pedigree, remarkable cast and fine production values, it tries much too hard to be funny and likable. Maybe it's because I am British and not American that to me, this frantic farce seemed so desperately unfunny?The main problem is with the central performance by Monty Woolley who may have been terrific in the stage version but whose 'hit the audience over the head' style doesn't really work on film. Every time he is about to deliver another bon mot, he draws himself up and tells us "Get ready!" before he even opens his mouth. His delivery is also less than crisp and he often gabbles his lines. Originally Bette Davis hoped for John Barrymore in the role and it is a great pity that, by 1941, the Great Profile was an alcoholic wreck unable to memorise dialogue or withstand the frenetic demands of such a production. In his heyday, he would have eaten this up, and brought a manic quality to the role (think of his Oscar Jaffe in Twentieth Century, a part not dissimilar to Whiteside) He would also have been much more likable. The rest of the cast are interesting, especially Davis who impresses by being able to suppress her familiar mannerisms and bring a presence to her scenes. However it was hardly a convincing romance between Davis and the colourless Mr Travis (another dull actor that Warners had high hopes for, similar to the vacuous Michael North a few years later).Ann Sheridan does her best but seems out of her depth. Reginald Gardiner makes the most of his cameo as a Coward clone (though I was sorry that Cole Porter's song written for the stage version was dropped). Billie Burke reprises her usual dizzy matron act, and Grant Mitchell does his usual flustered, pompous father.In spite of the gloss, the film irritates and tries far too hard, and the one-liners - though coming thick and fast - are just not very funny. The original trailer (also on the DVD) interestingly makes much of the Davis-Sheridan rivalry and even the soppy romance with barely a mention of the main plot strand at all. It also contains scenes not in the finished film!No matter.This is a much over-rated film that does not bear repeated viewings.