This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The Footlights Club is a boarding house for aspiring actresses in New York City. Among the gals, Linda Shaw (Gail Patrick) has a relationship with rich sleazy producer Anthony Powell (Adolphe Menjou). New arrival Terry Randall (Katharine Hepburn) is confident and rich. Her manners make her an outsider with all the girls including her sassy dancer roommate Jean Maitland (Ginger Rogers). Anne Luther (Constance Collier) is an older actress who presumes to be a mentor. Kay Hamilton (Andrea Leeds) is a nice girl who is struggling to hang on after an initial success. Jean's dancing catches Powell's eyes.The girl power in this movie is amazing. A sharp eye will even notice a young Lucille Ball. I've never been impressed with Ginger Rogers' acting skills. Her dancing prowess is without a doubt but she is not relying on that in this movie. She's a bit overshadowed by Hepburn in this one despite being the co-lead. The rapid fire dialogue fits Hepburn very well. I actually like that she's not particularly good at the rehearsal. This tackles a lot of casting couch issues and female relationship issues. One scene made me assume that Kay has an eating issue but her mental issues are more generalized than that. The stress of making it overwhelms her. It may serve the movie better by concentrating on Terry as the main protagonist early on. Not only is Hepburn the superior actress, her character is connected to every aspect of the movie.

There were plenty of egos abound in this film version of the Edna Ferber/George S. Kaufman stage play surrounding the lives of the women who live in a boarding house for actresses. The women range from pretentious Katherine Hepburn, a society girl determined to make it on her own away from the influence of her wealthy family to wise-cracking tough girl Ginger Rogers to cat-wearing Eve Arden. There's also tap-dancing Ann Miller (who wore flats so she wouldn't be too tall to dance with her idol, Ginger), husband seeking Lucille Ball, sensitive Andrea Leeds (nominated for an Oscar for her tragic part), bitchy social climber Gail Patrick and eccentric Constance Collier, the hammy character actress in the group.Unlike the later women ensemble film ("The Women", also based upon a popular play), men are involved in the plot, the major male character being Adolph Menjou's David Belasco type theater producer who takes individual interest in several of the girls he sets out to make stars. Leeds, it turns out, was once the most promising new actress in the theater, but hasn't had a job since her first big break. Hepburn storms into Menjou's office to tell him off for not giving Leeds a pivotal role she'd be perfect for, and before you know it, Menjou is escorting her around town and has cast her in the lead. The other residents of the boarding house are horrified by her getting the role Leeds pined for, and after realizing how horrible she is, Kate takes on aid from the unselfish young girl whose emotional distress just gets worse and worse, resulting in tragedy. This just might be the spark to make Kate shine, and Kate shows it utilizing a line from her infamous Broadway flop, "The Lake", where she says "The Calalilies are in bloom again", a line burlesqued many times since she first said it.In their only film appearance together, Hepburn and Rogers exchange wisecracks from the moment they meet, especially when Hepburn becomes Rogers' new roommate. The scene between them discussing Hepburn's audacious trunk has become a comedy classic. While their bitchy rapport is biting, it isn't as caustic as that between Rogers and Patrick who has a nasty comment for every statement Rogers makes. While "The Women" has gone on to become more of a cult favorite, "Stage Door" is equally as classic for its look at how women often bring out the worst in each other rather than the best. Of course, every archetype is here, and you can see a little bit of each character from each play when you compare the two. While "The Women" has been revived several times on Broadway, "Stage Door" has been strangely overlooked even though the movie is considered a classic.

Framed and shot as though a stage play – which it was originally, but much changed for the film – and with a stage play within the staged play, le tout ensemble in this witty farce delivers a virtual non-stop, wise-cracking, virtuoso performance. Timing is everything and in comedy, it's particularly so; and the director, Gregory La Cava – who cut his teeth, in the silent era, as a director beginning in 1916 – doesn't miss a beat with this one.From a play by Edna Ferber (of Giant fame) and George S. Kaufman, the film tells the story of what happens to a group of aspiring actresses who happen to board at a place called the Floodlights Club in New York City, supposedly. Of course, there are minor players, as in all plays – Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller and most of the men, the exception being Adolphe Menjou as a caricature (almost) of the Big Bad Producer of those days. The majors, Katharine Hepburn (as Terry), Ginger Rogers (Jean), Gail Patrick (Linda) and Andrea Leeds (Kay) form the core about which this story revolves.Which, when all is said and done, is about the ascendancy of Terry as an actress and the decline of Kay as another: out with the old, in with the new, if you will. That would tend to make for a somewhat pedestrian story if it were simply that. Happily, what sets this apart from, say, the almost maudlin characterization by Hepburn in Morning Glory (1933) in a similar situation (for which, however, she did receive a Best Actress award in 1934), is, first, the scintillating dialog. Which means the viewer must really listen: it goes so quickly between characters that you'll miss the one-liners and sight gags if you take a chomp on a sandwich or sip of coffee, or whatever. So, be prepared.What's left? Well, of course, the great acting by Hepburn, Rogers, Ball, Miller, Menjou, Arden, Patrick and Leeds, the latter getting a Best Supporting nomination for her somewhat overly tearful acting; so much so, she reminded me of Olivia de Havilland, in looks and style.The direction, already mentioned, is in the hands of an old hand and it shows, explicitly. Add to that the camera work that included almost manic cuts up and down stairs, superb face-on tracking shots and perfect timing while up to a dozen people would mill about in the frame concurrently – and with dialog. Confusing? Perhaps to some. Just concentrate on the majors.What's more interesting for me, however, is the sub-text of this comedy. Made just before USA finally shook free of the Great Depression, as you listen, you'll hear many references to the hard times: at the Floodlights, everybody is down, but not out; rich and unscrupulous producers just want to use and abuse actresses; the women are all scraping for even the lowliest acting or dancing job at the meanest of wages; despondency and depression are endemic. Despite all of that, the women 'soldier' on, pushing themselves to their emotional and physical limits.Women in the audience at that time must have felt the pull: don't deny your dreams of self-fulfillment, despite what chauvinistic clods of men might say and do, even powerful men. It's a stirring message, albeit idealistic, but it sets the tone for the larger section of a country that was about to engage in the world war which, in a very real sense, changed the role of women as never before. So, some may die, yes, but the show must go on...There have been a number of introspective and self-referential films about the acting business, Morning Glory being the earliest I've seen. Others include A Star is Born (made and remade many times), All About Eve (1950) – arguably the best, I think – The Dresser (1983), The Player (1992), and others, but all heavy dramas. So, it's refreshing to find a gem that's prepared to treat the matter lightly, more rather than less.A final thought: it must have been fun for the actors to act at being actors; it's even more fun to know that the director used much of the banter between the women off-camera to actually use in the film – much to the playwrights' displeasure, so I understand.Recommended for all.

In fact this film version of a stage play by Edna Ferber and George S Kaufman, directed by Gregory La Cava is 70 years old and although it may show a wrinkle here or there - like having Adolph Menjou as the romantic lead - the youthful energy in the acting and dialog has surfed the waves of time unscathed. The bunch of girls populating the Footlights lodgings is a smashing crowd. Katharine Hepburn, brisk and Hepburnish already to the hilt. Ginger Rogers drinks, scratches and dances a duet with Ann Miller. Eve Arden, as usual, delivers the best one liners and Lucille Ball seems ready for a startling career. Andrea Leeds got an Oscar nomination and Constance Collier plays an over the hill actress that becomes Hepburn's minder, just like in real life. The film moves at an incredible speed and I defy you not to tear up when Hepburn makes her entrance with the Calla Lillies in bloom.