Dinner at Eight - February 18, 1940 - 00:59:56 - 27.4 MB

On February 18, 1940, Orson Welles and the Campbell Playhouse present
Dinner at Eight by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Cast: Orson Welles
(Dan Packard, Larry Renault), Lucille Ball (Kitty Packard), Marjorie
Rambeau (Carlotta Vance), Hedda Hopper (Millicent Jordan), Charles
Trowbridge (Oliver Jordan), Clara Blandick (Hattie Loomis), Mary Taylor
(Paula Jordan), Edgar Barrier (Dr. Talbot) and Benny Rubin (Max, the agent).

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Dinner at Eight opened on Broadway October 22, 1932, at the Music Box Theatre,
and closed after 232 performances in May 1933. It was revived on September 27,
1966, at the Alvin Theatre and in 2002 at the Lincoln Center Theater.

The classic 1933 film featured Marie Dressler as Carlotta Vance, Lionel Barrymore
as Oliver Jordan and Jean Harlow as Kitty Packard, but this movie was what they
used to call an "all-star cast" with the likes of Billie Burke, Wallace Beery,
John Barrymore, Lee Tracy, Karen Morley, Jean Hersholt and May Robson filling
out the roster. "According to MGM records the film earned $1,398,000 in the US
and Canada and $758,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $998,000." - wiki

The movie shows up regularly on TCM and still works well. One of the most famous
bits, between Dressler and Harlow:

Kitty: [Final lines] I was reading a book the other day. 

Carlotta: [Nearly trips] Reading a book? 

Kitty: Yes. It's all about civilization or something. A nutty kind of a book.
Do you know that the guy says that machinery is going to take the place of every
profession? 

Carlotta: [Looking her over] Oh, my dear, that's something you need never worry about.

The Welles version had Orson playing Beery and John Barrymore's roles and was one
of many guest star tradeoffs between Orson and Lucille Ball. In addition to radio,
Lucy worked with the stage with Orson entertaining the troops during WWII and Orson
appeared on I Love Lucy in the 50s.