Yes Katherine Hepburn did a great job and got an Oscar for her role as Linda Lovelace in this 1933 film. It was good to see her in her youth and her first great performance.I was also impressed with the role performed by Mary Duncan, the gorgeous blond actress. I had never seen her before and it looks like Morning Glory may have been her last performance in movies. I am going to see if I can download some of the other movies she was in to see what character she played. Mary's bio states that she lived until 1995 and was 97 when she passed away - I see in this role the satin and lace bombshell that predates, Harlow, Monroe and Madonna.

"Morning Glory" released in 1933, in Hepburn's early career at RKO Pictures, tells the story of stage struck Eva Lovelace. He character is from a small town in Vermont - we hear her tell it a few times. At the beginning of the film, I did not find Hepburn's character likable. In fact, I thought she was downright touched. As the film progresses, we come to understand that her art (acting) is seemingly everything to her and she is obsessed with it, yet she is not very successful. At a party, Hepburn gets tipsy and gets to show her stuff, performing "Romeo and Juliet" in front of the guests (at a cocktail party, no less!). Hepburn falls for Adolphe Menjou, playing a typical stage producer, who sees only the bottom dollar. Exactly why she falls for the aging Menjou over the young and handsome playwright (played nicely by Dougls Fairbanks Jr.) who is kind to her - well, that is indeed a mystery that also strains credibility. This movie has glitches and flaws that don't quite make complete sense, and the film seems to be little more than RKO showing off Hepburn as its newest star. Fortunately for her, better roles lay ahead. Hepburn won an Oscar for this film - not her best by any means, but the Academy Awards were new then and maybe not as picky. Not that Hepburn isn't good here - she's always good - just not great.

The TCM version had three confusing glitches. The first, as noted, was that "small part" that keeps getting mentioned, in which Eva failed. but the new play is just opening, so there's been no time for Eva to have done this. Then, she floats out of Menjou's apartment after a one-nighter believing that he and she are soulmates. Are we to believe that she is putting on an act for Fairbanks? The transition to her scrubby career as part of a barrel-rolling team is not charted. Then she turns up as the understudy in the new play, but apparently has had no contact with the impresario, Menjou. Impossible. When Menjou tells her that they are not soulmates, she simply replies "I understand" and goes on from there to cry to the moon that she won't be a morning glory. She's good in her transition from the dull Hamlet clichés to a really strong Juliet -- the quality of the two speeches is nicely contrasted. C Aubrey and Ware are wonderful in the believable roles of people who have fallen from the firmament of stardom. The film itself, though, has the "written" sense and the static sets of a filmed play, which this one is. Oscar? It must have been a bad year!

Katharine Hepburn is a young actress who comes to New York for fame and fortune in "Morning Glory," also starring Adolphe Menjou, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and C. Aubrey Smith. Eva Lovelace ("my stage name, I can shorten it if you want something else") is eccentric, fast-talking, and has many fantasies about acting and theater. The reality hits hard as at one point, she seems not only starving but homeless. Noting that she is in trouble, an elderly actor, Hedges (Smith) who meets her in producer Louis Easton's (Menjou) office invites her to Easton's opening night party. With no food in her stomach, she gets drunk recites some monologues, and ends up in bed with Easton. She's in love; he never wants to see her again. Meanwhile, Easton's writer Sheridan (Fairbanks) has fallen in love with her.Dated, melodramatic, predictable - "Morning Glory" is all of that but somehow the theatrical repartee and attitudes ring true - some things never change, including competition between actresses. Hepburn is very young, slim and pretty, and she does an excellent job as a young woman embarking on a new life. Why with Fairbanks Jr. staring her in the face she fell for Menjou I'll never know. Fairbanks is incredibly young here but very effective. Menjou is perfect as an elegant, gracious producer who in the end is all business. C. Aubrey Smith gives a dignified and lovely performance as Hedges.The ending does leave one asking, is Eva Lovelace to be a morning glory (i.e., flash in the pan) or not? Somehow whatever happens, the film leaves you with the impression that Eva will make it work in her own eccentric way.