Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)

An emotionally remote recovering alcoholic and his dowdy, unambitious wife face a personal crisis when they take in an attractive lodger.

Director:

Daniel Mann

Writers:

Ketti Frings (screenplay), William Inge (original play)

Stars:

Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, Terry Moore

Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Burt Lancaster	...	Doc Delaney
Shirley Booth	...	Lola Delaney
Terry Moore	...	Marie Buckholder
Richard Jaeckel	...	Turk Fisher
Philip Ober	...	Ed Anderson
Edwin Max	...	Elmo Huston
Lisa Golm	...	Mrs. Coffman
Walter Kelley	...	Bruce Cunningham

Storyline

For two decades Doc and Lola Delaney avoided coming to terms with what Doc considered a "shot gun" marriage. Lola lost the baby and gives a lot of her affection to Sheba, a dog that disappeared a few months before the film opens. Doc blames Lola for having to drop out of medical school and not becoming a "real" doctor. Until joining AA a year ago, his escape was alcohol. Then college student Marie rents a room in their home. Doc feels passion for the first time in 20 years. But Marie has two suitors her age. Lola -- unaware of Doc's emotions --becomes as interested in Marie's future as if Marie were her daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

alcoholic | chiropractor | infatuation | dysfunctional marriage | drunkenness | 

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Taglines:

That girl in their house spelled trouble!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 February 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Cruz da Minha Vida

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Wallis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 96 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Burt Lancaster wore a girdle to play the paunchy Doc Delaney.

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Goofs

When Doc takes the bottle from the kitchen cabinet, inexplicably there is no knob on the left hand door. When Lola opens the cabinet to check on the bottle, the knob is there and she uses it to open the same door.

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Quotes

Lola Delaney: I'm too tired to wash my face tonight. Did you?
Doc Delaney: [about Marie] She must spend a fortune on bath powders and salts. That whole bathroom smells like a lilac garden.
Lola Delaney: I know. I like it.

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Connections

Referenced in Angels in America (2003)

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Soundtracks

Louise
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by Leo Robin

User Reviews

A fascinatingly well done tale of alcoholism.

Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, and Terry Moore shine in this very fine flick. In watching it, if you know anything at all about denial, projection, alcoholism, and Alcholics Anonymous, this is a wonderful telling of the psychological and spiritual truths behind the disease. Certain attitudes and comments, projected so well by both Booth and Lancaster, along with the innocent bystander Moore, are dead on. The activities of the men who come to deal with Lancaster while he is in his cups are straight out of the "Big Book". And the resultant coming to grips with the thing, a turn around in out look, are perfect examples of "progress, not perfection" and "having had a spiritual awakening". For the plot, the great acting ability, the talent both in front of and behind the camera, and, for me anyway, the psychology of the thing, it just doesn't get much better than this.