The Man Who Came to Dinner

The Man Who Came to Dinner, comedy in three acts written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City.

Plot synopsis

The story of The Man Who Came to Dinner is set in a small town in Ohio in December. Famous and outlandish orator Sheridan Whiteside has been invited to dinner at the house of the well-off Stanley family. He slips on a patch of ice outside the house, however, and injures his hip. He is attended by Dr. Bradley, the town physician, and Miss Preen, his nurse. The Stanleys, intimidated by Whiteside's threats of legal prosecution, are forced to allow him to remain at their house while he convalesces.

Whiteside proceeds to terrorize the Stanleys, interfering with almost every aspect of their lives. But Whiteside's life is about to change for the worse when his secretary of 10 years, Miss Maggie Cutler, falls in love with the local newspaper editor, Bert Jefferson, who had dropped by to interview Whiteside. Maggie informs Whiteside of her intention to marry Jefferson (who had not proposed to her yet) and that Bert had written a great play, which she is confident would be a Broadway hit. She gives the play to Whiteside asking him to send the play to Katherine Cornell, a famous actress of the time. Whiteside refuses to believe that Maggie is in love and also doesn't want to lose a very valuable secretary so he plots to break it up. He invites sexy actress Lorraine Sheldon to visit, promising her that he has a great play for her. All she has to do is convince the author to let her have the leading part. Lorraine is excited and says she will come at once. Meanwhile, the doctor returns with the news that he had misread Whiteside's X-Ray, and that he is in fact perfectly fine! Whiteside, attached to his scheme to separate Maggie and Bert, bribes the doctor to hide the "good" news by promising to help edit the Doctor's novel, Forty Years an Ohio Doctor.

Lorraine shows up and starts working on Bert. Maggie suspects Whiteside and plays a trick on Lorraine to get rid of her but it fails; Lorraine is so furious with Maggie that she vows to stop at nothing to break up her relationship with Bert.

Maggie quits her job which causes Whiteside to realize that she really is in love with Bert but he cannot call off Lorraine. With the help of his Hollywood friend, Banjo, he tricks Lorraine into stepping into a mummy case, locks her in and ships the case to Nova Scotia. The play ends with Whiteside walking out of the house, only to fall on ice again.

Influence of 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 launched 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.

Contrary to popular belief 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 Company version of the play, and was even joined by Harpo Marx, who portrayed his own character, Banjo.

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

Original cast

The original cast is listed below, as billed.

Mrs. Ernest W. Stanley ....... Virginia Hammond
Miss Preen ................... Mary Wickes
Richard Stanley .............. Gordon Merrick (in real life, he later became a successful author of gay literary novels)
June Stanley ................. Barbara Wooddell
John ......................... George Probert
Sarah ........................ Mrs. Priestley Morrison
Mrs. Dexter .................. Barbara Adams
Mrs. McCutcheon .............. Edmonia Nolley
Mr. Stanley .................. George Lessey
Maggie Cutler ................ Edith Arwater
Dr. Bradley .................. Dudley Clemens
Sheridan Whiteside ........... Monty Woolley
Harriet Stanley .............. Ruth Vivian
Bert Jefferson ............... Theodore Newton
Professor Metz ............... LeRoi Operti
The Luncheon Guests:
- Phil Sheridan
- Charles Washington
- William Postance
Mr. Baker .................... Carl Johnson
Expressman ................... Harold Woolf
Lorraine Sheldon ............. Carol Goodner
Sandy ........................ Michael Harvey
Beverley Carlton ............. John Hoysradt (who later became a successful film and television actor under the name John Hoyt)
Westcott ..................... Edward Fisher
Radio Technicians:
- Rodney Stewart
- Carl Johnson
Six Young Boys
- Daniel Leone
- Jack Whitman
- Daniel Landon
- Donald Landon
- DeWitt Purdue
- Robert Rea
Banjo ........................ David Burns
Two Deputies
- Curtis Karpe
- Phil Sheridan
A Plainclothes Man ........... William Postance

Film adaptation

In 1942, the production was adapted for film. Starring Monty Woolley, Bette Davis and Richard Travis, the film had its world premiere at the Capitol Theater in Paragould, Arkansas. The script was adapted for film by the Epstein brothers, Philip G. Epstein and Julius J. Epstein (who won an Academy Award for their adaptation of Casablanca).

Recent and upcoming performances

Hart and Kaufman's work will be performed in June 2006 as part of Sheldon High School Summer Theatre's 35th season.

information

The play "The man who came to dinner" was adapted for Broadway under the name "Sherry! the musical". The morning after any Broadway show closes two things happen: the set is burned and the show’s score is packed in a trunk and sent to the writers’ publisher. However, in this instance, the trunk with the show’s score went missing. The search was unsuccessful and led to the only possible conclusion - that the trunk had been burned with the set. For over 30 years, every offer for a Sherry! production had to be turned down because of the missing score.

In 1999, a young record producer named Robert Sher contacted James Lipton and said he heard a pirated tape and wanted to record the cast album. His perseverance led him to contact the Library of Congress repository of the musical theatre. The trunk was finally found - unopened since 1967 - in mint condition.