Morning Glory turned a profit, but it was Hepburn's next movie, Little Women, that became RKO Radio's biggest box office success of 1933. Today at imdb.com, Little Women has more than double the user votes of Morning Glory, and a higher user rating as well.
Given its Oscar win, the user rating of 6.4 for Morning Glory is surprisingly low. But most user reviews are respectful of both the film and Hepburn, though some viewers tire of her airs and affectations.
How I felt about it. Katharine Hepburn won four Best Actress Oscars during her long film career. One can argue whether the last three were deserved, but there's little debate over Morning Glory. It is an excellent movie, she has the lead role, and she gives a wonderful performance.
The film is similar to Stage Door, which also features Menjou as a Broadway producer with a casting couch. The big difference is that Stage Door has an ensemble cast, while Morning Glory is mostly Hepburn, Menjou, and Fairbanks with no competition regarding the female lead. Comparisons are also made with All About Eve, particularly since Hepburn's character is coincidentally named Eve. But this Eve is more naive than conniving.
It was her third film. She was fourth billed in A Bill of Divorcement (1932), an A-list drama, and already billed first in only her second movie, Christopher Strong (1933). Her burning ambition, forward personality, and distinctive upper-class vocal patter helped her considerably. It appears that she could memorize sheets of dialogue quickly, as well.
But it would be wrong to overstate the importance of Hepburn's casting and performance. The rest of the cast is wonderful as well, with Menjou entertaining as the cynical and ruthless producer. Fairbanks Jr. is second billed, but is burdened with an earnest character inconsistent with his constant companionship with Menjou. Nonetheless, Fairbanks Jr. is likable, and his love for Hepburn is believable. After all, she is only twenty-something woman in the movie.
Director Sherman rehearsed the film for a week before the cameras began rolling. Lowell Sherman is not a famous name today, but that is likely because he died the next year, 1934, at only 46 years old, and did not direct his first feature until 1930. Sherman is aided by a fine script. Though credited to veteran screenwriter Howard J. Green, the quality was likely inherited from the source play by Zoe Akins, which was snapped up by RKO Radio before it made it to Broadway.
Hepburn's famous drunken scene has a problem. She appears quite drunk before her Shakespearean soliloquies, but is sober while delivering them, without flubbing or forgetting a single line. We are also surprised when, after Rita's unreasonable demands result in her opening night dismissal, that Hepburn has been her understudy all along. When did that happen? Who was paying Hepburn's salary during this time?
One wonders whether an audience that expects to see the famous Rita Vernon in the lead role would accept a less commanding performance from an unknown actress. One also doubts that Fairbanks Jr. would not have taken advantage of struggling, starving Hepburn while training as understudy.