When acerbic critic Sheridan Whiteside slips on the front steps of a provincial Ohio businessman's home and breaks his hip, he and his entourage take over the house indefinitely.
Four of the leading characters are based on real-life personalities. Sheridan Whiteside was inspired by celebrated critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott, who eventually played the role on stage; Lorraine Sheldon, by musical stage actress Gertrude Lawrence; Beverly Carlton, by playwright and renowned wit Noël Coward; and Banjo, by Harpo Marx.
Whiteside comes off as a cross between WC Fields (with his witty remarks) and the Simpsons' Comic Book Guy (with his mocking condescension). He is both a joy to watch, and simultaneously a wretched monster to be reviled. The romance is really the thread that ties everything together, but it hardly carries the film the way Whiteside does.
Four of the leading characters are based on real-life personalities. Sheridan Whiteside was inspired by celebrated critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott, who eventually played the role on stage; Lorraine Sheldon, by musical stage actress Gertrude Lawrence; Beverly Carlton, by playwright and renowned wit Noël Coward; and Banjo, by Harpo Marx.
Whiteside comes off as a cross between WC Fields (with his witty remarks) and the Simpsons' Comic Book Guy (with his mocking condescension). He is both a joy to watch, and simultaneously a wretched monster to be reviled. The romance is really the thread that ties everything together, but it hardly carries the film the way Whiteside does.