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The Man Who Came to Dinner
Sheridan Whiteside, a famous lecturer, having dined at the home of small townies, slips on their icy doorstep, breaking his hip. A tumultuous six weeks of confinement in their home follow.
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
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About the author
George S. Kaufman
76 books32 followersPeople note American playwright George Simon Kaufman for many collaborations, including
Dinner at Eight
(1932) with Edna Ferber and
You Can't Take It with You
(1936) with Moss Hart.
This theatre director, theatre producer, humorist, and drama critic, known as "the great collaborator," wrote very few plays alone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...
This theatre director, theatre producer, humorist, and drama critic, known as "the great collaborator," wrote very few plays alone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
May 8, 2019
Basic Plot: A famous lecturer dines with a family, breaks his leg, and then stays to recover.
Hilarious. Celebrities are often jerks, and this play builds off of the way that celebs impose upon their fans sometimes, and the lengths that people will go to in order to impress the glitterati of society. There is a lot to love here, and the older time period of the setting just reminds us how much things haven't actually changed.
Hilarious. Celebrities are often jerks, and this play builds off of the way that celebs impose upon their fans sometimes, and the lengths that people will go to in order to impress the glitterati of society. There is a lot to love here, and the older time period of the setting just reminds us how much things haven't actually changed.
December 17, 2019
After seeing the still-funny 1941 movie version of this play, I decided to read the original. It reads just as hilariously. Hart's wonderfully selfish blowhard Sheridan Whiteside offers the perfect satire of the cult of celebrity. The only reason I cannot give the play five stars is the high number of dated cultural references; otherwise, a fun, breezy read.
November 13, 2020
Hey this play isn't great or very good. It may have been a riot back in 1939 but it's a play with 36 people (based on the cast list) and it could easily be chopped in half.
Sheridan Whiteside (a famous critic with an acid tongue) is visiting a family and breaks his leg. The play begins and he is stuck in a wheelchair and not allowed to leave and therefore the family must contend with his acerbic nature and spitfire insults.
This sounds great but instead, there's a plot involving his aide and a local newspaper guy who fall in love (which also could be a fine plot) but instead, we are treated to one-off characters who visit Whiteside and give him crazy shit like cockroaches and penguins. Which could be a fine plot but then we are given celebrity guests that visit Whiteside and try to upend the romance subplot and then Whiteside has a change of heart for some fucking reason and then blackmails the father of the house because his sister was a murderer or something.
Fucking pick an avenue George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and go with it you insane assholes.
Why would anyone do this play? Probably so they could be Sheridan Whiteside. Who wouldn't want to be that character. Hell, I would want to be that character because you sit in a chair 99% of the play and be an enormous jerk face and say some great snippy lines. You could probably watch clips of Monty Woolley and that would be all you need to do.
But yeah, skip this play.
Sheridan Whiteside (a famous critic with an acid tongue) is visiting a family and breaks his leg. The play begins and he is stuck in a wheelchair and not allowed to leave and therefore the family must contend with his acerbic nature and spitfire insults.
This sounds great but instead, there's a plot involving his aide and a local newspaper guy who fall in love (which also could be a fine plot) but instead, we are treated to one-off characters who visit Whiteside and give him crazy shit like cockroaches and penguins. Which could be a fine plot but then we are given celebrity guests that visit Whiteside and try to upend the romance subplot and then Whiteside has a change of heart for some fucking reason and then blackmails the father of the house because his sister was a murderer or something.
Fucking pick an avenue George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and go with it you insane assholes.
Why would anyone do this play? Probably so they could be Sheridan Whiteside. Who wouldn't want to be that character. Hell, I would want to be that character because you sit in a chair 99% of the play and be an enormous jerk face and say some great snippy lines. You could probably watch clips of Monty Woolley and that would be all you need to do.
But yeah, skip this play.
May 30, 2019
A play about a vile, misogynistic, egomaniacal writer who falls on the porch of one of his fans and hurts his hip. He spends the rest of the play in a wheelchair yelling at everyone, calling them names, and interfering in their lives in ways that benefit him. This was supposed to be a farcical comedy, but all I could think about was people laughing at this kind of humor and feeling disgusted that we've made no progress if we're producing and enjoying such a play in 2019.
January 1, 2018
I'm sure that this was an interesting play in it's day. But the themes of a man who is abusive to everyone, and especially to women at least in his manner of speech, are not things that are comfortably addressed in the current climate, not even when they're intended as humor. If I were a theatre company looking for something to stage, this would not be it.
April 10, 2024
Be sure to have a volume of Who’s Who at hand (or ready access to the internet) when reading this play. Names famous and no longer so are readily dropped throughout.
September 6, 2013
A work of comic genius!
One of my favourite play-to-film adaptations and a riot of a play with some eminently quotable lines.
Sheridan Whiteside, celebrity speaker has slipped on ice outside the smalltown home of a family he had deigned to visit (for a fee) and has now taken over their house, rooms, telephone with his requests, guests and gifts.
Querulous, sharp-tongued and used to his own way, 'Sherry' causes friction in the family, stirs up trouble between his secretary and her new beau, and generally attempts to force things to be as he wants them.
Much hilarity ensues. Honestly. It's brilliant. Whiteside is a fantastic creation, the old-fashioned setting no impediment to the language of the play.
Enjoy.
One of my favourite play-to-film adaptations and a riot of a play with some eminently quotable lines.
Sheridan Whiteside, celebrity speaker has slipped on ice outside the smalltown home of a family he had deigned to visit (for a fee) and has now taken over their house, rooms, telephone with his requests, guests and gifts.
Querulous, sharp-tongued and used to his own way, 'Sherry' causes friction in the family, stirs up trouble between his secretary and her new beau, and generally attempts to force things to be as he wants them.
Much hilarity ensues. Honestly. It's brilliant. Whiteside is a fantastic creation, the old-fashioned setting no impediment to the language of the play.
Enjoy.
July 28, 2012
This has got to be one of my favorite comedies of all time! Whiteside is absolutely hilarious! He's so mean - it's fantastic! I love that the characters in the play are very closely modeled after real-life celebrities of the 1930s. I'm such a fan of the era that adding the impeccable timing and comedy in with the fashion makes this play one of the best ever. I cannot wait to direct this show at our theatre this Christmas! Auditions are in September!
November 5, 2015
Another funny play! I directed this during my student teaching and it is hilarious! (Plus we won a One-Act competition with this play so it will always hold a place in my heart!)
March 5, 2012
Brilliant script!
May 15, 2012
This is a play that I loved reading every moment of. The writing was top notch making it a timeless play that just so happens to take place in a certain time period.
October 9, 2012
Fun fun fun!!! Such drama and comedy! Laughing out loud in the subway all the way. Maggie: pg144 Lorraine: pg177,193
August 15, 2013
This is certainly not my first time through this play, but a project had swung it back into view, and it always a pleasure to spend time with this comedic gem.
July 23, 2016
Camp comedy of insult & bitchery. Well-crafted burp that delights amateur theatre groups in the stix.
October 29, 2016
Subtly funny, slightly raunchy, insidiously clever.
November 2, 2024
Summary: When Sheridan Whiteside (a "critic, lecturer...radio orator") has an accident at the home of the Stanleys that confines him to a wheelchair, he is forced to stay at theirs. He becomes a menace at their home, telling them they are not allowed in the living room, nor to use the phone. He constantly has a barrage of guests and various gifts are sent to him, including live penguins and an octopus! His secretary, Maggie, is dutiful but then she meets a local reporter named Bert and falls in love with him. Well, Whiteside doesn't care for this and sets up a scheme. He invites a friend of his named Lorraine, who is an actress. Bert has a play that Lorraine has an interest in reading (thanks to Whiteside). When Maggie gets wind of this she comes up with a plan of her own when another friend of Whiteside's arrives. Lorraine has been seeing a man in England so when she receives a call from him proposing marriage, she immediately plans on leaving; however, Whiteside foils that scheme. So once again, Bert is meant to be leaving with Lorraine. Maggie is over it and decides she will leave since she can't have the love of her life. It all gets resolved with a silly plot of trapping Lorraine in a mummy case. Maggie goes off with her Bert and Whiteside is finally forced to leave the Stanley residence...only for him to slip and fall yet again.
Review: This guy was such a douche! I feel like that's my review. lol I mean the nerve of this guy. Okay, he falls at their residence and I suppose that does entitle someone to sue the owners (Something he threatens) but to then take up residence in said home?! And demand all these things of these people. What a selfish bastard. I suppose he slightly redeems himself with Maggie but yeah, what a jerk. I guess this is more a review of the main character than the play...the play's fine. I suppose it's entertaining and occasionally has funny lines (I know it is meant to be a comedy) but this guy was so infuriating!
Grade: B-
Review: This guy was such a douche! I feel like that's my review. lol I mean the nerve of this guy. Okay, he falls at their residence and I suppose that does entitle someone to sue the owners (Something he threatens) but to then take up residence in said home?! And demand all these things of these people. What a selfish bastard. I suppose he slightly redeems himself with Maggie but yeah, what a jerk. I guess this is more a review of the main character than the play...the play's fine. I suppose it's entertaining and occasionally has funny lines (I know it is meant to be a comedy) but this guy was so infuriating!
Grade: B-
October 25, 2022
With its melange of glittery wackos and endlessly witty repartee, The Man Who Came to Dinner is one of the funniest plays I know of. Indeed, when I saw a production of the play on Broadway some years ago, I found myself laughing--very frequently--about five seconds before the punchlines.
The plot centers on Sheridan Whiteside, a roguish baby of a man whose ego is exceeded only by his unflappable self-assurance. Whiteside, modeled on the famous columnist-radio commentator Alexander Woollcott, finds himself trapped against his will in the home of Ernest and Daisy Stanley, a Babbitt-y middle-class Ohio family, when he slips on some ice and fractures his hip. The bombastic Whiteside takes over the household, banishing his host and hostess to their upstairs bedrooms and interfering in the affairs of their servants and their children. He also plays host himself to a stream of exotic guests from all over the world, most notably theatrical wonderboy Beverly Carlton, glamourpuss Lorraine Sheldon, and the lovable jokester/movie clown Banjo. He orders his doctor around shamelessly, abuses his long-suffering nurse Miss Preen, and strives mightily to break up the romance between his sensible secretary, Maggie Cutler, and a local newspaperman named Bert Jefferson. He's the original sacred monster, and we love him for his excess. And of course--with resort to the occasional blackmail--he manages to put everything right before the play's satisfying and hilarious conclusion.
A final word: The Man Who Came to Dinner is an old play (it was written in 1939), and a very topical one: most of the jokes are dated and may be hard for many to parse.
The plot centers on Sheridan Whiteside, a roguish baby of a man whose ego is exceeded only by his unflappable self-assurance. Whiteside, modeled on the famous columnist-radio commentator Alexander Woollcott, finds himself trapped against his will in the home of Ernest and Daisy Stanley, a Babbitt-y middle-class Ohio family, when he slips on some ice and fractures his hip. The bombastic Whiteside takes over the household, banishing his host and hostess to their upstairs bedrooms and interfering in the affairs of their servants and their children. He also plays host himself to a stream of exotic guests from all over the world, most notably theatrical wonderboy Beverly Carlton, glamourpuss Lorraine Sheldon, and the lovable jokester/movie clown Banjo. He orders his doctor around shamelessly, abuses his long-suffering nurse Miss Preen, and strives mightily to break up the romance between his sensible secretary, Maggie Cutler, and a local newspaperman named Bert Jefferson. He's the original sacred monster, and we love him for his excess. And of course--with resort to the occasional blackmail--he manages to put everything right before the play's satisfying and hilarious conclusion.
A final word: The Man Who Came to Dinner is an old play (it was written in 1939), and a very topical one: most of the jokes are dated and may be hard for many to parse.
November 6, 2022
A delightful play about an asshole being an asshole. This book is essentially this best of Will Ferrell sketch lol. Just a high status dude exhibiting blatant disregard for those around him and everyone else just has to deal with it.
While reading I was anticipating an Ebenezer Scrooge character arc for Whiteside, but was pleasantly surprised when it veered more into the Seinfeldesque "no hugging, no learning". A jackass who has learned nothing and will continue to be a jackass.
While reading I was anticipating an Ebenezer Scrooge character arc for Whiteside, but was pleasantly surprised when it veered more into the Seinfeldesque "no hugging, no learning". A jackass who has learned nothing and will continue to be a jackass.
March 22, 2020
Hilariously witty Christmas play written by the same playwright duo who wrote You Can’t Take It With You.
The black-and-white movie version is even funnier than the written play because the lines have been fine tuned and the cast (including the actor that the Mr. Whiteside character was written for!) is stellar.
The black-and-white movie version is even funnier than the written play because the lines have been fine tuned and the cast (including the actor that the Mr. Whiteside character was written for!) is stellar.
February 24, 2025
🖊 Great fun ensures when a man breaks his leg while visiting friends and has to stay with them for a while.
⬛️ 1939 stage play version, written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman.
જ⁀🔵 Read the play script on Internet Archive.
🎥 1942 movie version with Monty Woolley.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
⬛️ 1939 stage play version, written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman.
જ⁀🔵 Read the play script on Internet Archive.
🎥 1942 movie version with Monty Woolley.
༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺
October 25, 2016
Classic big cast comedy. Practically every character has his/her moment. Even though so many of the names are unrecognizable (takes place in the 1930's--and I don't know half of the celebrities) its humor still holds.
September 4, 2021
This play reads well, but it is much better with the visuals that you only get from the performance.
It's dated, of course, but the comedy of the awfulness of the main character is there. My advice would be to seek out a quality performance and not take it too seriously.
It's dated, of course, but the comedy of the awfulness of the main character is there. My advice would be to seek out a quality performance and not take it too seriously.
December 7, 2023
Wonderfully constructed comedy about what happens when the outsized world of showbiz crashes a Christmas in Middle America. Name-dropping references are dated, but could easily be brought au courrant. Great Christmas show.
May 18, 2024
My big brother Jim played Sheridan Whiteside in his junior year of high school (1962), but somehow I never picked up the written version of this wonderful play - and I absolutely loved it. Great storytelling, and laugh out loud funny! Thanks, Jimbo!
August 1, 2017
A fast-paced witty comedy. In places dated due to sexual banter and gendered comments (also, telegraph!). Otherwise it plays well to a modern era.
April 5, 2018
I was in this play many years ago. It was hilarious!
August 4, 2018
Enjoyable classic comedy.
April 10, 2019
This 1939 play might be the perfect 20th century comedy. So well structured. Laughs in every page.
June 4, 2020
One of their best.
July 31, 2020
Very entertaining. For production, I’d be concerned about how well all the 1940s pop culture references would play with a modern audience.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews