Come Back, Little Sheba (1952 film)
| Come Back, Little Sheba | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
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| Directed by | Daniel Mann |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Written by |
Ketti Frings William Inge (play) |
| Starring |
Burt Lancaster Shirley Booth Terry Moore |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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December 24, 1952 |
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.5 million (US) |
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952) is a drama film produced by Paramount Pictures. It tells the story of a loveless marriage that is rocked when a young woman rents a room in the couple's house. The film stars Burt Lancaster with Terry Moore and Richard Jaeckel. Shirley Booth makes her film debut, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. The title refers to the wife's little dog that disappeared months before the story begins and that she still openly grieves for.
The movie was adapted by Ketti Frings from the 1950 play of the same title by William Inge and was directed by Daniel Mann (making his directorial debut).
"Doc" Delaney (Burt Lancaster) is a recovering alcoholic who, in his younger days, was a promising medical student who dropped out of school to take a job to support a pregnant Lola, whose premarital intercourse with Doc caused her father to throw her out of her family's house. Doc, thinking he was doing the right thing, married Lola (Shirley Booth). The child later died, and in the process rendered Lola unable to have any further children, leaving the couple childless. As a result, Doc turned to excessive drinking, causing him to have bouts of anger and murderous rage, and later drinking away a sizeable inheritance from his parents. He eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous and was able to quit drinking, though he still keeps a bottle in the house to remind him of his past life.Their marriage is a well-crafted ritual of calling each other "daddy" and "baby" with the ever-talkative Lola going all out to be as pleasant and supportive as possible and Doc the grateful yet humourless and withdrawn former alcoholic; gradually the veneer falls away as Lola expresses her feelings about the initial premise their marriage was based on and,although Doc continues to insist he's at peace with how things turned out,feels that he resents her somehow and goes on at length in one scene about her doubts, fears, worries , and insecurities.
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