The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has been spreading really fast all over Europe and many countries have cancelled public events to welcome the New Year, shutting down also nightclubs. While most people have arranged private dinners and parties, it looks like for many of us this will be a rather somber New Year's Eve, especially for those who must self-isolate. The best way to take the blues away in such cases? Watch an old film and dream about the perfect party and who you may invite to it.
In "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1942) directed by William Keighley, the house-bound protagonist is intent on organizing a radio show, for example, with very special guests.
Based on the eponymous 1939 Broadway hit by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the film tells the story of New York radio personality Sheridan Whiteside (Monty Woolley, who starred in the Broadway version of the play; the character was inspired by celebrated critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott), who breaks his hip after slipping on the icy steps of the house of the Stanleys, a prominent Ohio family.
The Stanleys are at first honoured to have the convalescent Whiteside with them recuperating during the Christmas holidays, but, soon, things change. Whiteside is indeed a self-centered and hilariously vicious man who starts behaving tyrannically with the house residents and visitors.
Monstrously rude with everybody, especially with his poor nurse, he actually loves his Hollywood friends. His devout and efficient assistant Maggie Cutler (Bette Davis) also becomes one of his victims when she falls in love with local journalist Bert Jefferson (Richard Travis). Fearing Maggie will leave him, Whiteside tries to sabotage the romance by getting poolside siren and actress Lorraine Sheldon (Ann Sheridan; the character was inspired by musical stage actress Gertrude Lawrence) between Bert and Maggie. Whiteside will eventually redeem himself, but fate will turn against him (and the unfortunate Stanleys...) at the very end of the film.
Where is the New Year's Eve connection? Well, as mentioned earlier on in this post, at a certain point in the film, Whiteside tries to organise his Christmas and New Year's Eve shows and, for the latter he tells Maggie he wants to invite a wide range of guests, including "Jascha Heifetz, Helen Hayes, Schiaparelli, the Lunts, Dr. Alexis Carrel, with Haile Selassie on shortwave from Addis Ababa." That sounds like a very intriguing list of people that includes a fashion designer, a violinist, actors, a French surgeon and biologist and an emperor.
There is also an interesting fashion twist in the film: the costumes were designed by Orry-Kelly and while Bette Davis seems to wear sensible clothes that help the actress turning into an efficient secretary, Sheridan adds a touch of glam in her feathery attire, and evening gowns. Sheridan's evening gown with hand-shaped buttons seems to evoke Schiaparelli's designs, while her black dress with two minimalist metal bars decorating the neckline is extremely modern and elegant.
So focus your attention on the clothes in this film if you're a fashion fan, but on the witty and funny dialogues as well (try watching it with subtitles if you think the rhythm of the dialogues is too fast). The film is a bit long, but wicked Whiteside will be a joy for all the cynics among us. And check out the exasperated nurse who, after dealing with Whiteside, announces towards the end of the film that she is going to leave the nursing profession.
"I became a nurse because all my life, since I was a little girl I was filled with the idea of serving a suffering humanity," she tells him. "After one month with you, Mr. Whiteside...I'm going to work in a munitions factory. Anything that I can do to help exterminate the human race will fill me with the greatest of pleasure. Mr. Whiteside, if Florence Nightingale had ever nursed you, she would've married Jack the Ripper instead of founding the Red Cross." Have a stylish and fun New Year's Eve!
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