Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)

Come Back, Little Sheba lobby card set image courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

Director Daniel Mann and Paramount Pictures delivered Come Back, Little Sheba to movie theaters in 1952. Burt Lancaster plays the alcoholic Doc Delaney, with Oscar winner Shirley Booth as his slovenly wife.

William Inge’s Come Back, Little Sheba

Come Back, Little Sheba is based on the play of the same name by noted American playwright William Inge (1913-1973). First staged on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on February 15, 1950, Come Back, Little Sheba featured an opening night cast comprised of Sidney Blackmer (Doc), Shirley Booth (Lola), Joan Lorring (Marie), Wilson Brooks (Ed Anderson), Lonny Chapman (Turk) and Robert Cunningham (Bruce).

Come Back, Little Sheba, which earned Shirley Booth both a Tony Award and a New York Drama Critics Award, registered 190 Broadway performances before coming to a close on July 29, 1950.

Daniel Mann Directs Come Back, Little Sheba  

Independent producer Hal B. Wallis purchased the movie rights to Come Back, Little Sheba. Ketti Frings wrote the screenplay for Paramount Pictures and Daniel Mann, who had helmed the Broadway play, directed. Little Sheba would mark Mann’s motion picture debut.

Wallis and Paramount Pictures assembled a strong cast for Little Sheba. Actively campaigning and eventually winning the role of Doc Delaney was Burt Lancaster, who wished to display his sensitive side. Reprising her Broadway role as Lola Delaney was Shirley Booth in her film debut. Other players included Terry Moore (Marie Buckholder), Richard Jaeckel (Turk Fisher), Philip Ober (Ed Anderson), Edwin Max (Elmo Huston), Lisa Golm (Mrs. Coffman), Walter Kelley (Bruce), Virginia Hall (Blonde) and Paul McVey (Postman).

Bette Davis had been considered for the role of Lola. Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan and Fred MacMurray had all been mentioned as potential Doc Delaneys.

Come Back, Little Sheba: Alcoholism and Lost Youth

Come Back, Little Sheba opens with college art student Marie Buckholder answering a newspaper ad regarding a room to rent in the home of Doc and Lola Delaney. The nervous Doc, a chiropractor and recovering alcoholic, likes things they way they are and frets that a new boarder will upset the steady rhythm of his life.

Marie decides to take the room, with the Delaneys doting over her as if she were their daughter, or more symbolically, their missing dog, Little Sheba. The long-lost pet represents the Delaneys’ past, the good times when Doc was a promising medical student and Lola was still endowed with her youthful good looks.

The pretty Marie is currently seeing two men: the virile college athlete Turk Fisher and the steady, responsible Bruce from back home. Meanwhile, Doc continues to struggle with his alcoholism, falling off the wagon one night and threatening Lola with a kitchen knife. Coming to her rescue are two of Doc’s sponsors from Alcoholics Anonymous, who disarm the drunken Doc and transport him to City Hospital where he can dry out.

With Doc back on the wagon once again, the Delaney household returns to normal. When Marie suddenly marries Bruce, a happy Doc and Lola express their approval.

Come Back, Little Sheba Opens in New York City

Come Back, Little Sheba premiered at New York City’s Victoria Theater on December 23, 1952.

“The screen version of Come Back, Little Sheba…makes as poignant and haunting a drama as was brought forth upon the stage. For this we may also be grateful to Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth, who contribute two sterling performances in the picture’s leading roles,” reported Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (12/24/52).

“Shirley Booth has the remarkable gift of never appearing to be acting. Opposite her is Burt Lancaster, bringing an unsuspected talent to his role of the middle-aged, alcoholic husband,” observed Variety (12/3/52).

Shirley Booth Wins Best Actress Oscar

Come Back, Little Sheba garnered three Academy Award nominations: Best Actress (Booth), Best Supporting Actress (Moore) and Best Film Editing (Warren Low). On March 19, 1953, the first year the Academy Awards ceremony was televised, simultaneously from the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles and the International Theatre in New York, it was Shirley Booth who carried the day, winning Little Sheba’s lone Oscar.

“Rising from her seat in delight, Shirley Booth tripped slightly as she reached the stage of the International Theatre here last night to accept her ‘Oscar’ statuette for Come Back, Little Sheba, one of the most unsurprising awards in Academy history,” reported The New York Times (3/20/53).

Come Back, Little Sheba Box Office, Movie Memorabilia, DVD

• Come Back, Little Sheba grossed $3.5 million at the American box office, earning the #11 slot on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1952.
• Auction results for original Little Sheba movie material, courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas, Texas: one sheet poster ($40), insert poster ($11), window card ($119.50), Italian 2 folio poster ($239), set of eight lobby cards ($45).
• On DVD: Come Back, Little Sheba (Paramount, 2004).

“I don’t think Little Sheba’s ever coming back, Doc. I’m not going to call her any more,” Lola says at the end of the film.

The little dog had lost its magic, but the movie never will…