Aren't we forgetting something?
16 August 2002
Yes, most of the below reviewers are correct. "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is a splendid comedy. But what no one has mentioned - and this is especially relevant, given some of the negative comments here - is that Kaufmann and Hart wrote the play, basing the Whiteside character on their friend Alexander Woolcott, who was a hugely famous and influential - not to mention opinionated and acerbic - theatre critic of the day. The presence of Jimmy Durante, playing "Banjo" is important because a high profile member of the Woolcott "rat-pack" was Harpo Marx, clearly the model for Banjo. Monty Wooley played "Sheridan Whiteside" in the play's initial run (and of course here in the movie) but it's a tribute to Woolcott's ability to laugh at himself that during the play's national tour of the US Woolcott actually played the Sheridan Whiteside part himself. (I only know all of this because I've just finished reading Harpo Marx' autobiography, "Harpo Speaks", which I highly recommend to all IMDBers)
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