75 reviews
Booth's performance is one of the best ever to win an Oscar
Shirley Booth was 54 when she won the Academy Award as Best Actress for her performance as Lola in the screen version of William Inge's "Come Back, Little Sheba". It was also her screen debut in a role that had previously won her a Tony on the stage and, quite frankly, she was magnificent. It launched her on a short-lived movie career and a slightly longer career on television. It's a fine film, well directed by Daniel Mann and adapted by Ketti Frings and it has three other good performances from Burt Lancaster as the alcoholic Doc, Terry Moore as the young lodger who, unwittingly, is the cause of Doc's hitting the bottle again and Richard Jaeckel as the athletic stud Moore is dallying with. Admittedly Lancaster, who at 39 was 15 years younger than Booth, isn't really right for his role, (he was too young for starters), but he handles it very effectively. Nevertheless, this is Booth's show. If she had never done anything else on screen she would still have earned her place in the pantheon of great performances.
- MOscarbradley
- Apr 1, 2017
- Permalink
Fantastic performance by Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth's performance in this movie is one of the best I've seen.From the moment she appears as Lola Delaney you know almost everything you need to know about her character.It's quite rare that I get moved to tears by a performance,but Shirley Booth managed that feat. She conveys all the emotions of a simple woman who's life didn't turn out the way she dreamed and her realization that the springtime of her life has long gone.Burt Lancaster might have been a bit young for the part of Doc Delaney,but I think he's really good and powerful and frightening in the drunk-scene.Terry Moore was a charming acquaintance for me.Her performance was quite assured and natural. Although this movie is more like a filmed play, I enjoyed it a lot.
- nnnn45089191
- Oct 23, 2006
- Permalink
Shirley Booth gives Oscar-Performance (got Kleenex?)
William Inge's play transfers nicely to the big screen, with perfectly cast leads Shirley Booth and Burt Lancaster.
A middle aged, childless couple struggles with the husband's periodic alcoholic "episodes". When they rent out a room in their house to a young college girl, the audience learns a lot about the couple just by observing their reactions to "the young people". "Doc" Delaney exhibits fatherly, protective feelings toward the young woman, expressing disgust when she brings a young man to her room. A regular at AA meetings, he eventually "gets sick" again. Determined never to give up, his devoted wife Lola stands by her man. The ending leaves us hopeful that all will turn out well.
There are many beautiful moments in this film, assuring a lover of tearjerkers a full pay-off! Shirley Booth deserved her 1953 Oscar for her portrayal of Lola Delaney. Oh, and don't look for little Sheba, she won't be back.
A middle aged, childless couple struggles with the husband's periodic alcoholic "episodes". When they rent out a room in their house to a young college girl, the audience learns a lot about the couple just by observing their reactions to "the young people". "Doc" Delaney exhibits fatherly, protective feelings toward the young woman, expressing disgust when she brings a young man to her room. A regular at AA meetings, he eventually "gets sick" again. Determined never to give up, his devoted wife Lola stands by her man. The ending leaves us hopeful that all will turn out well.
There are many beautiful moments in this film, assuring a lover of tearjerkers a full pay-off! Shirley Booth deserved her 1953 Oscar for her portrayal of Lola Delaney. Oh, and don't look for little Sheba, she won't be back.
Forget "Hazel" - And Bring Tissues
Shirley Booth was a remarkably versatile actress - she did comedies, musicals, and dramas - and won the adoration of critics and audiences in all. But as with Agnes Moorehead and Eve Arden, her success in a TV comedy, "Hazel" tended to over-shadow her work on stage or film. A well-liked comedic actress on Broadway since the 1930s, she reinvented herself as a dramatic actress in 1949 with COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA, winning every award in sight. Although the film version was offered to the likes of Bette Davis (who turned it down because she felt she couldn't bring to the role the "gorgeous vagueness" Booth had), Hal Wallis wisely went with Booth to recreate her stage role, casting Burt Lancaster for box-office appeal.
Booth's performance as Lola is astonishing, filled with nervous energy and anxiety, living on the edge - ask anyone who's ever lived with an alcoholic - every gesture, every emotion she plays, is honest and accurate. When I finally saw this film in the early 1990s, I was floored by Booth - where in heck had she done her research? Help for families of alcoholics (the Al-Anon Family Groups) was still several years off when the stage version was done - the resources available to Booth would have been "open" AA meetings and perhaps talking with family members. (Incidentally, the director, Daniel Mann, wasn't finished with AA - a more realistic AA meeting figured in his 1956 I'LL CRY TOMORROW, in which he directed Susan Hayward to an Oscar nomination - ironically, she lost out to Anna Magnani's Mann-directed performance in THE ROSE TATTOO!)
Booth was still alive at the time I first saw this film (around 1991-92), and I knew after watching that, unfortunately, her great success as TV's "Hazel" over-shadowed SHEBA, and that when she died, the obit's would begin, "Shirley Booth, TV's HAZEL, is Dead..." and I was right. Agnes Moorehead had a similar fate - the generation which grew up on "Bewitched" was clueless that Moorehead was one of the finest, most versatile and respected actresses around and, like Booth, every bit the equal of the other leading ladies (whom she'd usually supported). I remember attending a screening for the 50th anniversary of CITIZEN KANE and hearing gasps of astonishment as the cast's names appeared "That was AGNES MOOREHEAD!!!!"
Yes, indeed. And THAT was Shirley Booth, breaking our hearts in COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA. Forget "Hazel," and bring tissues.
Booth's performance as Lola is astonishing, filled with nervous energy and anxiety, living on the edge - ask anyone who's ever lived with an alcoholic - every gesture, every emotion she plays, is honest and accurate. When I finally saw this film in the early 1990s, I was floored by Booth - where in heck had she done her research? Help for families of alcoholics (the Al-Anon Family Groups) was still several years off when the stage version was done - the resources available to Booth would have been "open" AA meetings and perhaps talking with family members. (Incidentally, the director, Daniel Mann, wasn't finished with AA - a more realistic AA meeting figured in his 1956 I'LL CRY TOMORROW, in which he directed Susan Hayward to an Oscar nomination - ironically, she lost out to Anna Magnani's Mann-directed performance in THE ROSE TATTOO!)
Booth was still alive at the time I first saw this film (around 1991-92), and I knew after watching that, unfortunately, her great success as TV's "Hazel" over-shadowed SHEBA, and that when she died, the obit's would begin, "Shirley Booth, TV's HAZEL, is Dead..." and I was right. Agnes Moorehead had a similar fate - the generation which grew up on "Bewitched" was clueless that Moorehead was one of the finest, most versatile and respected actresses around and, like Booth, every bit the equal of the other leading ladies (whom she'd usually supported). I remember attending a screening for the 50th anniversary of CITIZEN KANE and hearing gasps of astonishment as the cast's names appeared "That was AGNES MOOREHEAD!!!!"
Yes, indeed. And THAT was Shirley Booth, breaking our hearts in COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA. Forget "Hazel," and bring tissues.
- Harold_Robbins
- Aug 20, 2004
- Permalink
My heart shattered into a thousand pieces
Shirley Booth is so convincing in this movie that it makes me think she was wasted in cinema because she was never given an opportunity to display her magnificent talent. She is completely heartbreaking in the movie and deservedly won the Oscar, over such heavyweights as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Burt Lancaster is great also but its Shirley's show all the way and she does not disappoint.
Best film about the problem of Alcoholism.
Days of Wine and Roses and The Lost Weekend deal with the problem of those afflicted with Alcoholism. Both are fine films. This movie is better than those two and that's only part of the story in this picture. Shirley Booth gives a most certainly well deserved Academy Award winning performance as the wife of a recovering alcoholic husband. Burt Lancaster in a role he is not often remembered for is the husband. A once proud and respected person who falls by the wayside due to his drinking has picked himself up and is determined to start over again even though various demons still linger inside him. I first saw this motion picture on New Years eve back in the late 60's on NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies. During the week preceding the showing NBC advertised it with the clip of Lancaster going after Booth with a kitchen knife. My older sibling and I not really old enough to know about such things joked about the scene. When we watched the movie and it came to that part we were no longer joking. I didn't see it for many years until it aired on AMC. The film is as powerful today in its story and it's acting performances as when I first saw it and I'm certain when it was first released in 52. A must see.
Great for the most part
Heartbreaking, heartfelt film with a world-class star turn
- ecjones1951
- Aug 30, 2006
- Permalink
The gentleman caller knocks the Wingfields off the stage
A decade or two of not having last seen this, I found it disappointing. Shirley Booth, of course, is brilliant. Hers is one of the great screen performances. (And what a shame she made so few movies!) Rating this it based solely on her performance, I'd give it a 10. But the rest is not so hot.
Burt Lancaster does a creditable acting job but he just isn't believable as the beaten-down husband of a woman Booth's age. His presence may have helped sell some tickets but this is miscasting of a serious sort. (Lancaster is an actor I like very much, from his early films in the 1940s through, especially, to his later roles in "Atlantic City" and "Conversation Piece." Even in those, though, when he was around the age he was playing in this movie, he seems wrong for the temperament of Doc -- even though he plays a frustrated older man in each.)
One of the major flaws of "Come Back Little Sheba" is the focus on Terry Moore and her romances. Her acting is all right for what it is but the balance of this delicate story is tipped and the movie at times seems like one of the many forties romantic comedies tracing the dating lives of high school or college girls.)
The way I see it, the Shirley Booth character is a little bit of Blanche DuBois and a little bit of Amanda Wingfield. Doc is little like Tom Wingfield (Amanda's song.) And Moore and her boyfriends, neither of whom is particularly likable, are all like the gentleman caller. Hollywood was full of movies about characters like the gentleman caller and the Moore character. Sometimes these movies work. In this case, they all but sink a small, delicate story whose highlight is the heartbreakingly lovely performance of a character actress who was also a major Broadway star.
Burt Lancaster does a creditable acting job but he just isn't believable as the beaten-down husband of a woman Booth's age. His presence may have helped sell some tickets but this is miscasting of a serious sort. (Lancaster is an actor I like very much, from his early films in the 1940s through, especially, to his later roles in "Atlantic City" and "Conversation Piece." Even in those, though, when he was around the age he was playing in this movie, he seems wrong for the temperament of Doc -- even though he plays a frustrated older man in each.)
One of the major flaws of "Come Back Little Sheba" is the focus on Terry Moore and her romances. Her acting is all right for what it is but the balance of this delicate story is tipped and the movie at times seems like one of the many forties romantic comedies tracing the dating lives of high school or college girls.)
The way I see it, the Shirley Booth character is a little bit of Blanche DuBois and a little bit of Amanda Wingfield. Doc is little like Tom Wingfield (Amanda's song.) And Moore and her boyfriends, neither of whom is particularly likable, are all like the gentleman caller. Hollywood was full of movies about characters like the gentleman caller and the Moore character. Sometimes these movies work. In this case, they all but sink a small, delicate story whose highlight is the heartbreakingly lovely performance of a character actress who was also a major Broadway star.
- Handlinghandel
- Aug 6, 2007
- Permalink
A fascinatingly well done tale of alcoholism.
Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, and Terry Moore shine in this very fine flick. In watching it, if you know anything at all about denial, projection, alcoholism, and Alcholics Anonymous, this is a wonderful telling of the psychological and spiritual truths behind the disease. Certain attitudes and comments, projected so well by both Booth and Lancaster, along with the innocent bystander Moore, are dead on. The activities of the men who come to deal with Lancaster while he is in his cups are straight out of the "Big Book". And the resultant coming to grips with the thing, a turn around in out look, are perfect examples of "progress, not perfection" and "having had a spiritual awakening". For the plot, the great acting ability, the talent both in front of and behind the camera, and, for me anyway, the psychology of the thing, it just doesn't get much better than this.
- KennethEagleSpirit
- Jan 30, 2007
- Permalink
Solemn Man and Sheba
Heavyweight contemporary drama adapted from the successful play by William Inge documenting the unhappy, childless marriage of Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth's Doc and Lola. After marrying young, when Lola accidentally became pregnant, the viewer understands that any spark in their marriage disappeared when she lost the child and couldn't have another. Doc, who forfeited his medical career for the marriage has become an alcoholic and Lola apparently has come to dote on their pet dog Sheba. As the film commences we learn that Doc, a regular at A.A., has been dry for a year while Lola pines for her little dog which has been missing for weeks. When a young, pretty college student Marie (Terry Moore) rents their spare room and brings home a hunky freshman with the only-in-plays name of Turk (Richard Jaeckel) tensions rise as Doc identifies the young girl as the daughter he never had and inwardly becomes fiercely protective of her. Lola is oblivious to this and indeed seems to enjoy watching the rough romancing of Marie by Turk. Is this old, dusty couple reliving their past when they see under their own roof the passion between the two youngsters, he wishing he'd suppressed his original desire because of where it has led him and her wishing back her own youth when she was young, slim and pretty and had a string of competing beaus at the time.
Inge's frankness in realistically depicting sexual tension to the backdrop of a loveless marriage between an ordinary middle-aged couple with the overhanging spectre of alcoholism must have seemed like strong stuff at the time pushing further at the door being broken down by fellow playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Inge's characters to me seem more ordinary and real, certainly than Williams and are posited in more credible everyday situations and speak more naturally with a commendable lack of grandstanding soliloquising. It does seem as if he has taken the roof off Doc and Lola's dingy, claustrophobic apartment to allow the viewer access to their desperate and needy lives.
First time director Daniel Mann does a reasonable job filming the play although there is evidence of poor editing when he makes unnecessary cuts especially in the kitchen scenes between Doc and Lola. Lancaster's casting was criticised at the time for seeming too young for the part and you can see him trying too hard to compensate for this with the almost zombie-like way he plays the part. He then overdoes his big breakdown scene when he releases all his suppressed emotions at Lola, fuelled of course by the bottle. Booth however is great and I'd say well worth her Oscar nod as the dumpy, dowdy, damaged wife trying to gravitate towards something like a happy married life. Moore was Oscar nominated too as the unwitting young catalyst for the drama which follows her incursion into this staid household.
This movie, flawed and imbalanced as it is, nevertheless must have sent some shock waves through the American viewing public at the time who probably weren't used to seeing a man, even under the influence of drink, berate his wife so insultingly and in its way probably helped further push back the fossilised Production Code of the day. A better reason to watch it however is to catch Booth's moving performance as a broken woman who tries to pull herself together to help rescue her even more broken husband and with it their broken down marriage.
Inge's frankness in realistically depicting sexual tension to the backdrop of a loveless marriage between an ordinary middle-aged couple with the overhanging spectre of alcoholism must have seemed like strong stuff at the time pushing further at the door being broken down by fellow playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Inge's characters to me seem more ordinary and real, certainly than Williams and are posited in more credible everyday situations and speak more naturally with a commendable lack of grandstanding soliloquising. It does seem as if he has taken the roof off Doc and Lola's dingy, claustrophobic apartment to allow the viewer access to their desperate and needy lives.
First time director Daniel Mann does a reasonable job filming the play although there is evidence of poor editing when he makes unnecessary cuts especially in the kitchen scenes between Doc and Lola. Lancaster's casting was criticised at the time for seeming too young for the part and you can see him trying too hard to compensate for this with the almost zombie-like way he plays the part. He then overdoes his big breakdown scene when he releases all his suppressed emotions at Lola, fuelled of course by the bottle. Booth however is great and I'd say well worth her Oscar nod as the dumpy, dowdy, damaged wife trying to gravitate towards something like a happy married life. Moore was Oscar nominated too as the unwitting young catalyst for the drama which follows her incursion into this staid household.
This movie, flawed and imbalanced as it is, nevertheless must have sent some shock waves through the American viewing public at the time who probably weren't used to seeing a man, even under the influence of drink, berate his wife so insultingly and in its way probably helped further push back the fossilised Production Code of the day. A better reason to watch it however is to catch Booth's moving performance as a broken woman who tries to pull herself together to help rescue her even more broken husband and with it their broken down marriage.
Brilliant, sad and very well written.
- planktonrules
- Jan 18, 2011
- Permalink
Shirley Booth Earned That Oscar
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), is another one of those dramatic, 1950s films, that explores the awful corners of the disease, known as addiction. In this case, alcoholism, a hot topic, that was explored in many films of the 1950s. This one however, has Oscar-power behind it. Our character in mind, the one who is facing the terrors of alcoholism, is one-year recovered AA member, Doc Delaney (Burt Lancaster), the local chiropractor in town. His wife, is a loyal, stay-at-home, disheveled, wifty housewife, named Lola (Shirley Booth). Shirley Booth's fantastic performance as Lola, won her the Best Actress Oscar for this film.
In fact, all the acting is done well in, Come Back, Little Sheba (1952). A college student, Marie Buckholder (Terry Moore), rents a room in the Delaney's house and for all practical purposes, starts to become, somewhat, of a daughter figure, to the Delaney's. If you do not know who Terry Moore is, most of you may recognize her as Jill Young, the young woman, who's able to tame the mighty one, in Mighty Joe Young (1949). Her performance in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), won her an Oscar nomination, but she lost to Gloria Grahame for the Bad and the Beautiful (1952).
So, the acting performances for this film, are definitely there. Other than a slow-pacing issue, this film gives an excellent depiction, of a dramatic, tension-filled situation, that many people have to deal with in life. It also, creates a conclusion, that involves, coming full circle for some. We learn very early in the film, that Sheba is Lola's dog, who disappeared months before the events of this story, so I am not giving anything away here, but yeah, the symbolism is thick, everywhere in this film. Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), is definitely a strong one to see.
7.6 (C+) = 7 IMDB.
In fact, all the acting is done well in, Come Back, Little Sheba (1952). A college student, Marie Buckholder (Terry Moore), rents a room in the Delaney's house and for all practical purposes, starts to become, somewhat, of a daughter figure, to the Delaney's. If you do not know who Terry Moore is, most of you may recognize her as Jill Young, the young woman, who's able to tame the mighty one, in Mighty Joe Young (1949). Her performance in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), won her an Oscar nomination, but she lost to Gloria Grahame for the Bad and the Beautiful (1952).
So, the acting performances for this film, are definitely there. Other than a slow-pacing issue, this film gives an excellent depiction, of a dramatic, tension-filled situation, that many people have to deal with in life. It also, creates a conclusion, that involves, coming full circle for some. We learn very early in the film, that Sheba is Lola's dog, who disappeared months before the events of this story, so I am not giving anything away here, but yeah, the symbolism is thick, everywhere in this film. Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), is definitely a strong one to see.
7.6 (C+) = 7 IMDB.
Timeless, well-acted classic
Come Back, Little Sheba is one of the finest old movies ever made. It's not an epic or resplendent in Technicolor, but it's such a fantastic representative of a 1950s classic in every element-and it's stood the test of time amazingly well.
Based on William Inge's Broadway play, Ketti Frings adapted the script for the screen, and although it's clear it used to be a play, the lines aren't wooden, artificial, or boring like many play adaptations are. The acting, like the script, is clearly stylized and old-fashioned, but at the same time it's realistic and heartbreaking to the most modern audiences. Shirley Booth played the lead on Broadway, won a Tony, then starred in the film and won an Oscar-not bad for her film debut! If you don't know who she is, or you only associate her with the tv series Hazel, you need to watch Come Back, Little Sheba so you can appreciate her true talent. Every time I see her in a movie, she brings tears to my eyes. She's instantly sympathetic, and you can see all the pain and hope in her eyes during every moment.
Burt Lancaster, only thirty-eight years old at the time, plays Shirley's husband. Hollywood aged him up for the role rather than cast an older actor-and there were several vying for the part-and it's easy to see why they made that choice. This is one of his best performances, rivaled only by Birdman of Alcatraz, and the Academy snubbed him terribly during the awards season. When you watch this tortured, heartbreaking performance, you'll feel sick that he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar that year.
Now for the plot: Shirley and Burt play an older, unhappy, married couple. Burt is recently sober, and Shirley is recently distraught that their beloved dog Sheba has run away. While they struggle through, a young college girl rents a room in their house, attracting different attentions from each. There's much more to the story, but I'd rather describe the skeleton and let the rest unfold for you as the film plays. It's a very emotional experience, and I can't recommend this classic highly enough.
Based on William Inge's Broadway play, Ketti Frings adapted the script for the screen, and although it's clear it used to be a play, the lines aren't wooden, artificial, or boring like many play adaptations are. The acting, like the script, is clearly stylized and old-fashioned, but at the same time it's realistic and heartbreaking to the most modern audiences. Shirley Booth played the lead on Broadway, won a Tony, then starred in the film and won an Oscar-not bad for her film debut! If you don't know who she is, or you only associate her with the tv series Hazel, you need to watch Come Back, Little Sheba so you can appreciate her true talent. Every time I see her in a movie, she brings tears to my eyes. She's instantly sympathetic, and you can see all the pain and hope in her eyes during every moment.
Burt Lancaster, only thirty-eight years old at the time, plays Shirley's husband. Hollywood aged him up for the role rather than cast an older actor-and there were several vying for the part-and it's easy to see why they made that choice. This is one of his best performances, rivaled only by Birdman of Alcatraz, and the Academy snubbed him terribly during the awards season. When you watch this tortured, heartbreaking performance, you'll feel sick that he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar that year.
Now for the plot: Shirley and Burt play an older, unhappy, married couple. Burt is recently sober, and Shirley is recently distraught that their beloved dog Sheba has run away. While they struggle through, a young college girl rents a room in their house, attracting different attentions from each. There's much more to the story, but I'd rather describe the skeleton and let the rest unfold for you as the film plays. It's a very emotional experience, and I can't recommend this classic highly enough.
- HotToastyRag
- May 26, 2018
- Permalink
See this
I see this movie again and again as it comes on periodically.
If you want to see a great story, greater writing, and greater acting from Shirley Booth, see this.
Shirley Booth won a Tony and an Academy Award for her role. They should have given her 5, each. One of the finest performances ever.
Ever.
Make that 10, each.
To see her performance is to understand where the benchmark of acting starts.
See this. One of the finer exposures on alcoholism within family.
If you want to see a great story, greater writing, and greater acting from Shirley Booth, see this.
Shirley Booth won a Tony and an Academy Award for her role. They should have given her 5, each. One of the finest performances ever.
Ever.
Make that 10, each.
To see her performance is to understand where the benchmark of acting starts.
See this. One of the finer exposures on alcoholism within family.
Wonderful film will never date
This film is as powerful as when I first saw it as a teenager. One would think that after 50 years, the material would seem dated. But in fact, a lot of what was said then, seems even more relevant today. Inge is unfortunately a very underrated writer. He seemed to respond to things on a much more emotional level than many of his contemporaries and this is why his material has not lost interest. His plays never seem to go to an intellectual level. He wrote about what he knew and didn't try to be something he wasn't. Are there really Blanche DuBois and Willie Lomans today? Just listening to those plays, as wonderful as they might be, is something we can no longer relate to. But there will always be Lola Delaneys. Everyone knows a few of them. The film was obviously made on a very tight budget and we are lucky for that. Imagine how it would have been had they cast Rosiland Russell and Jimmy Stewart. Though Burt Lancaster was miscast, the simple fact that he was a great actor, means his performance comes off amazingly well. And what more can be said about Booth, except the extreme regret we who never saw her in the play onstage must feel. The power of that performance is beyond description. Anyone who likes this movie should try to get hold of the new recording of the musical version. It was obviously written by people with tremendous love and respect for Inge's work.
- Turridulover
- May 19, 2002
- Permalink
Come Back, Little Sheba
I'd never heard of this film until I stumbled upon it today, and boy - what a stumble. Shirley Booth turns in one of the most intense performances I have ever seen. "Lola" is married to recovering alcoholic "Doc" (Burt Lancaster) and they live a meticulously ordered life with her the housewife and he at the hospital. As the story transpires, we learn a little more of what has driven them to their current scenario whilst she yearns for companionship. To that end she rents out their spare room to student "Marie" (Terry Moore). Initially, "Doc" isn't sure, but he takes a shine to the girl - if not to her all-American boyfriend "Turk" (Richard Jaeckel). She seems set on him, though, and as his paternal concern for her choices starts to mount his need for that lone bottle sitting in the cupboard starts to mount too! It's only really in the last fifteen minutes that the story all falls into place and we realise just why both of these characters are as they are. Lancaster plays his role in a measured and entirely convincing fashion as he foils the almost perfect effort from an entirely convincing Booth who elicits sympathy and exasperation in almost equal measure. What's also quite effective here is that the story isn't full of contrived pitfalls and disasters. It's a story of humanity with it's roots in a plausible scenario (of the time, anyway) that has provided these two, perhaps despite themselves, with a true and lasting affection. It's much more of a drama than a romance, and really is worth an hour and half of your time.
- CinemaSerf
- May 7, 2024
- Permalink
Shirley Booth won the Tony and the oscar for her portrayal. Burt was great too!
Hard to say too much to laud this movie. It plays much like a Broadway play and is lovely on film.
If you only have a vague remembrance of Shirley Booth as the domestic Hazel in the early TV comedy, then you don't know her well.
Terrific story, great acting and a very intricate story woven by masters of screenplay.
Revel in the classics so you can demand better of today's entertainment fare.
If you only have a vague remembrance of Shirley Booth as the domestic Hazel in the early TV comedy, then you don't know her well.
Terrific story, great acting and a very intricate story woven by masters of screenplay.
Revel in the classics so you can demand better of today's entertainment fare.
- greghoroski
- Mar 16, 2018
- Permalink
This film is packed! So much to think about...
- MyMovieTVRomance
- Sep 16, 2023
- Permalink
Sheba Like Our Youth Ain't Coming Back
For those of you who only know Shirley Booth from the television series Hazel, I would strongly recommend you look at the list of her Broadway credits which date all the way back to the twenties. She appeared in so many Broadway plays that later went on screen without her recreating the role. For example she created parts in The Philadelphia Story, Goodbye My Fancy, and Desk Set that were later played by Ruth Hussey, Joan Crawford and Katharine Hepburn respectively.
Booth joined that select group of players who won both Tony and Oscars for playing the same role in Come Back, Little Sheba. The play by William Inge ran for 190 performances during the 1950 season and co-starred Sidney Blackmer with Booth. Like the Lunts when they filmed The Guardsman, we get to see but one of her performances preserved on film, maybe her best role.
William Inge's play concerns two very ordinary people, Doc and Marie Delaney, a seemingly quiet middle aged couple. But like George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, there's a lot of skeletons in the Delaney closet. Doc was forced to marry Marie when she became pregnant and then the baby was lost anyway. Both made the best of the situation. Doc, unfortunately turned to drink. But when we meet him he's been sober for a year and involved with Alcoholics Anonymous.
Marie is this dowdy middle aged housewife who's forever tuned into the radio and constantly reminiscing of her youth. Doc is just the opposite, he doesn't like to talk at all about the past. But he gets a bit of nostalgia going when pretty and stacked Terry Moore boards with the Delaneys.
Her presence in the house sets of a chain of events that knocks Doc off the wagon. We then see what Marie's been living with before AA.
Another reviewer remarked at how well Shirley Booth caught the attitudes and mannerisms of the wife of an alcoholic and where had she done her research for the part. The answer is she lived it. Her first husband, Ed Gardner from radio's Duffy's Tavern, was a notorious alcoholic, Booth got all the material she ever would need to create Marie Delaney with him.
For movie box office Burt Lancaster played Doc Delaney and he got rave notices himself for the part. Doc was such a change from the aggressively masculine heroes like Lancaster played in The Crimson Pirate or The Flame and the Arrow. I wouldn't doubt that his performance may have led to Lancaster being cast in From Here to Eternity and winning his first Oscar nomination. In a sense Lancaster plays two roles because the sober Doc is a totally different individual from the raging drunk when he gives in to temptation.
The title comes from their dog Sheba who up and ran away one day. Marie calls for him constantly, thinks she sees him at times. But Sheba's a metaphor for their youth which is never to return.
Cinema acting don't get much better than Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba.
Booth joined that select group of players who won both Tony and Oscars for playing the same role in Come Back, Little Sheba. The play by William Inge ran for 190 performances during the 1950 season and co-starred Sidney Blackmer with Booth. Like the Lunts when they filmed The Guardsman, we get to see but one of her performances preserved on film, maybe her best role.
William Inge's play concerns two very ordinary people, Doc and Marie Delaney, a seemingly quiet middle aged couple. But like George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, there's a lot of skeletons in the Delaney closet. Doc was forced to marry Marie when she became pregnant and then the baby was lost anyway. Both made the best of the situation. Doc, unfortunately turned to drink. But when we meet him he's been sober for a year and involved with Alcoholics Anonymous.
Marie is this dowdy middle aged housewife who's forever tuned into the radio and constantly reminiscing of her youth. Doc is just the opposite, he doesn't like to talk at all about the past. But he gets a bit of nostalgia going when pretty and stacked Terry Moore boards with the Delaneys.
Her presence in the house sets of a chain of events that knocks Doc off the wagon. We then see what Marie's been living with before AA.
Another reviewer remarked at how well Shirley Booth caught the attitudes and mannerisms of the wife of an alcoholic and where had she done her research for the part. The answer is she lived it. Her first husband, Ed Gardner from radio's Duffy's Tavern, was a notorious alcoholic, Booth got all the material she ever would need to create Marie Delaney with him.
For movie box office Burt Lancaster played Doc Delaney and he got rave notices himself for the part. Doc was such a change from the aggressively masculine heroes like Lancaster played in The Crimson Pirate or The Flame and the Arrow. I wouldn't doubt that his performance may have led to Lancaster being cast in From Here to Eternity and winning his first Oscar nomination. In a sense Lancaster plays two roles because the sober Doc is a totally different individual from the raging drunk when he gives in to temptation.
The title comes from their dog Sheba who up and ran away one day. Marie calls for him constantly, thinks she sees him at times. But Sheba's a metaphor for their youth which is never to return.
Cinema acting don't get much better than Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba.
- bkoganbing
- Jul 29, 2007
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Stark melodrama. Humanity in state of depression.
- michaelRokeefe
- Sep 23, 2008
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WONDERFUL!
This is a great film. One of Shirley Booth's finest performances I feel. The film centres around the hardships of a woman who seemingly has a perfect life (for the period) but we soon see through the facade and see a strong woman with man hardships who struggles to help her husband maintain an error of distinction and hide his alcholism which quickly fails but she still does not buckle. It all centres around a missing dog, Little Sheba. A must see for any Shirly Booth or Burt Lancaster fan.
Lancaster Miscast
Packs a punch still but somehow the ending is unsatisfying. Is it too pat? The young cast threaten to steal the movie from the Delaneys. Shirley Booth's character really doesn't grow throughout the film. In that sense her role is pretty one-dimensional. And Lancaster just doesn't look the part. He is too good-looking and young. The years of self-abuse don't show in his physique. For most of the movie he is subdued and asexual. As a couple they don't seem to fit. (viewed 8/16)
- SwollenThumb
- May 11, 2018
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Lancaster steals the show!
- Elizabeth-328
- Mar 16, 2000
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Face reality -- it's the only truth
This is an interesting study about the trials of people dealing with disappointment and alcoholism. Lost dreams have been Doc's excuse for turning to the bottle, and a lost little dog (Sheba) symbolizes his wife's search for herself.
The film based on the play is an early study of the pain of addiction. As Doc tells his wife, "Dreams are strange." There is redemption in the fact that Doc asks for forgiveness as his wife regains her sense of dignity.
Booth gives a very believable performance, and Lancaster is excellent playing a man far older than he was at the time. This is a touching, though simplistic, look at the dark side of human nature.
The film based on the play is an early study of the pain of addiction. As Doc tells his wife, "Dreams are strange." There is redemption in the fact that Doc asks for forgiveness as his wife regains her sense of dignity.
Booth gives a very believable performance, and Lancaster is excellent playing a man far older than he was at the time. This is a touching, though simplistic, look at the dark side of human nature.