The read
Critics rate it 20 points higher than audiences do.
Synopsis
In the lower-middle-class Adams family, father and son are happy to work in a drugstore, but mother and daughter Alice try every possible social-climbing stratagem despite snubs and embarrassment. When Alice finally meets her dream man Arthur, mother nags father into a risky business venture and plans to impress Alice's beau with an "upscale" family dinner. Will the excruciating results drive Arthur away?
Ratings
IMDb6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes89%
Critics rate it 20 points higher than audiences do.
64 audience votes
Key crew
- George StevensDirector
- Dorothy YostScreenplay
- Mortimer OffnerScreenplay
- Jane MurfinScreenplay
- Roy WebbOriginal Music Composer
- Max SteinerOriginal Music Composer
Cast
- Katharine HepburnAlice Adams
- Fred MacMurrayArthur Russell
- Fred StoneVirgil Adams
- Evelyn VenableMildred 'Georgette' Palmer
- Frank AlbertsonWalter Adams
- Ann ShoemakerMrs. Adams
- Charley GrapewinJ. A. Lamb
- Grady SuttonFrank Dowling
- Hedda HopperMrs. Palmer
- Jonathan HaleMr. Palmer
- Hattie McDanielMalena Burns - Maid Serving Dinner
- Zeffie TilburyMrs. Dresser (uncredited)
Stills
Themes
small towninventorgambling debtbusiness ideabusiness start-upyoung lovedinner partysocially awkwardawkward situationnagging wifedinner guestsocial climber