The Man Who Came to Dinner

A 1939 farcical stage play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, adapted to film in 1942.

Sheridan Whiteside, a radio star of The Thirties, is making a nationwide tour. Two weeks before Christmas, he has a publicity stunt dinner at the Stanley household in Mesalia, Ohio. As he's leaving the house, he slips and breaks his hip. Now he must stay in the house while he heals, taking it over in the process. His Hollywood friends send their most "heartfelt condolences."

"I may vomit."
 * Annoying Patient: Whiteside is one of the greatest, completely taking over the Stanley household.
 * Break the Cutie: Maggie and Nurse Preen.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Harriet Stanley
 * Deadpan Snarker: Whiteside is wheeled out of his room to see everyone's smiling faces. He takes one look and delivers his first line:

"Whiteside: I LOST MY WATCH!"
 * Evil Cripple: Whiteside
 * Expy: Where do we start?
 * Whiteside himself is an expy of Alexander Woollcott, a friend of Kaufman and Hart. One day, Woollcott showed up at Hart's house unannounced and took over, sleeping in the master bedroom, terrorizing the staff and writing in the guest book, "This is to certify that I had one of the most unpleasant times I ever spent."
 * Beverly Carlton is Noel Coward.
 * Banjo is Harpo Marx. Reference is made to "Wackko and Sloppo."
 * Harriet Stanley is revealed to be an expy of.
 * It's All About Me: Whiteside again.
 * Jerkass: Whiteside again
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He really does care about Maggie though.
 * Large Ham: Much of the cast, but special mention should be give to--of course--Whiteside, played in the 2000 Broadway revival by Nathan Lane.


 * Nurse Preen shouldn't be a Large Ham for most of the play, but if she doesn't ham up her parting speech, she's doing it wrong.
 * The Movie: made in 1942 with Monty Woolley as Whiteside, Bette Davis as Maggie and Jimmy Durante as Banjo.
 * The Musical: The short-lived Sherry! from 1967. Written by James Lipton. Yes, that James Lipton.
 * Platonic Life Partners: Whiteside and Maggie, which is the main reason he is upset over her new relationship.
 * Pretty in Mink: Maggie has a fox cape, and a fur muff that she kicks like a football in one scene.
 * The Thing That Would Not Leave