Bette Davis plays in a rare comedy for her but the main attraction is Monty Wooley (aka known as "The Beard" /played the Professor in "The Bishop's Wife") as the man who came to dinner. Wooley plays acid-tongue radio celebrity Sheldon Whiteside in this delightful adaptation of the George Kaufman-Moss Hart Broadway hit play. A fast-moving, rip-roaring picture where the gags and sight gags fly fast and furious. The premise of the movie is simply this: while on a lecture tour in the mid-west, Whiteside and his secretary (Bette Davis) are invited to dinner at the Stanleys, an ordinary, All-American mid-west family. But, when Whiteside falls on their front steps breaking his hip and the doctor says he can't be moved, the man who came to diner stays. But, Whiteside's eccentric lifestyle, his sharp, biting (but hilarious) barbs at everyone who comes near him and his collection of oddball friends (Jimmy Durante included) brings the Stanley's well-ordered, mundane lives into pure mayhem including penguins in their living room (don't ask). A mad-cap, entertaining movie, well-acted with a great cast and a great screenplay. Woolley recretes his Whiteside character and it is a masterful performance. The characters are actually said to be thinly disguised caricatures of celebrities, for instance Whitside is supposed to be a caricature of the famed wit, Alexander Woollcott and Jimmy Durante's character "Banjo" is supposed to a caricature of Harop Marx. Set around the Christmas season, it is a perfect family comedy for Christmas. Theater release: 1942, b&w, running time: 1 hr. 53 mins., NR, starring Bette Davis, Woolley Monty (The Bishop's Wife), Ann Sheridan, Jimmy Durante, Billie Burke (The Wizard of Oz), Richard Travis, Reginald Gardiner.
