#moss hart

[newyorkthegoldenage]

George S. Kaufman (left) and Moss Hart, veteran co-authors of stage successes, with Hart's wife, Kitty Carlisle, at the Stork Club, March 30, 1948.

Photo: Robert Wands for the AP

[yourdailyqueer]

Moss Hart (Deceased)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Bisexual

DOB: 24 October 1904 

RIP: 20 December 1961

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Nationality: American

Occupation: Playwright, screenwriter, writer, director, presenter

[onefootin1941]

Moss Hart, Katherine Hepburn and Irving Berlin at a party at the home of George Cukor. Photo taken by EJP. 3/5/44

[do-you-know-this-play]

[oldshowbiz]

[citizenscreen]

George S. Kaufman with Kitty Carlisle and Moss Hart at the Stork Club, New York, NY, 1948.

[scholarofgloom]

[principiumindividuationis777]

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

George Washington Slept Here

Before Mr. Blandings built his dream house or Tom Hanks got caught in THE MONEY PIT (1986), Ann Sheridan lured Jack Benny into buying a dilapidated Pennsylvania farmhouse in William Keighley’s GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (1942, TCM). I’d like to say that’s a surefire ticket for laughter, but though the film was a hit in its time, it seems rather forced today. In the George Kaufman-Moss Hart play, it’s the husband who buys the house while his wife grows increasingly exasperated. Benny suggested the gender switch, and that isn’t really a problem, particularly with Sheridan, who could play just about anything. She’s got the right pixilated air to make the character believable, and Orry-Kelly manages to keep her costumes fashionable while giving some a touch of eccentricity to mirror the character. Benny, however, is more comic than actor. He has great timing and handles the physical bits well. He knows how to milk a bit just enough, but he doesn’t have the actor’s skill of playing the positive. His exasperation is just whiny and eventually starts to drag on the film. That may be Keighley’s fault. He tends to go for the obvious here (the ending, building on the play’s final punchline, is just embarrassing), so despite Benny’s comic skills, some jokes are beaten to death. Fortunately, the one holdover from the original Broadway cast is Percy Kilbride, who’s a deadpan delight as the handyman who keeps turning up with increasingly expensive projects to renovate the property. There’s also good work from Charles Coburn as Sheridan’s rich uncle (and he can play crabby with a sense of sheer delight Benny should have copied), Charles Dingle as a nasty neighbor, Franklin Pangborn as the city landlord who evicts Benny and Sheridan, Hattie McDaniel as the harried housekeeper and Terry, most famous for playing Toto, as their mischievous dog.

[cladriteradio]

It’s less than a month till the first weekend of Marxfest and we’re still adding events! Just confirmed for Friday 5/17: a conversation with Christopher Hart, son of Kitty Carlisle and Moss Hart! Do you have your tickets yet? What are you waiting for? Visit marxfest.org!

[sondheims-hat]

September 29, 1934: Flyer for the play that inspired the musical. 155 performances at the Music Box.

[encryptedlunacy]

Y'all ever have little clusters of miscellaneous pics you take that don't really fit anywhere but bring so much joy for the little dense ecosystems and little features of nature and stuff bc I have so many of these and the joy they bring me is ridiculous

[lionfloss]

Gordon Hart

[ennysimmer]

Amelia and Lucille shared one bolt, and Amelia didn't try to hide her attraction for her. She almost immediately started flirting and as a romance sim, Lucille didn't mind at all.

[oldshowbiz]

Groucho Marx to impersonate Lee Shubert

[citizenscreen]

Noted playwrights and frequent collaborators George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart in 1937.