Come Back, Little Sheba

1952

Come Back, Little Sheba

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

80%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,279

Super Reviewer

Come Back, Little Sheba Photos

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Movie Info

In the original Broadway production of this William Inge play, Shirley Booth played Lola Delaney, the vulgar, dumpy, less-than-bright "shotgun bride" of recovering alcoholic Doc Delaney, played on stage by Sidney Blackmer, who won a Tony award for his efforts. When time came to film the play, Shirley Booth was retained as Lola, but Burt Lancaster replaced Blackmer as Doc. Although Lancaster seems far too youthful for the role, the film is a fascinating and sometimes funny study of an unhappy marriage made unhappier by the arrival of a sexy stranger. Young Marie (Terry Moore) rents a room from Lola, a tiresome creature who never stops talking, especially about the "imminent" return of her runaway dog Sheba. Doc is having enough trouble staying away from the bottle and resigning himself to his marriage without the curvaceous Marie arousing his baser instincts. The characters interact with gloomy consequences, in the typical kitchen-sink-realism style of Inge's Fifties plays, although a tacked-on happy ending, common to Fifties movie melodramas, pretends otherwise.

Rating:

NR
Genre:

Classics, Drama
Directed By:

Daniel Mann
Written By:

Ketti Frings
In Theaters:

Dec 24, 1952 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Aug 31, 2004
Runtime:

100 minutes
Studio:

Paramount Pictures

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Cast

Shirley Booth
as Lola Delaney

Burt Lancaster
as Doc Delaney

Richard Jaeckel
as Turk Fisher

Terry Moore
as Marie Buckholder

Philip Ober
as Ed Anderson

Philip Uber

Lisa Golm
as Mrs. Goffman

Walter Kelley
as Bruce Cunningham

Edwin Max
as Elmo Huston

William Haade
as Interne

Virginia Hall
as Blonde

Anthony Jochim
as Mr. Cruthers

Peter Leeds
as Milkman

Kitty McHugh
as Pearl Stinson

Paul McVey
as Postman

Beverly Mook
as Judy Coffman

Virginia Mullen
as Henrietta

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Critic Reviews for Come Back, Little Sheba

All Critics (7) | Top Critics (1)

Come Back, Little Sheba is a faithful reproduction of the stage play, together with its assets and liabilities.

Jul 24, 2019 | Full Review…

Bob Thomas
Associated Press
Top Critic
In this adaptation of Inge's play, Daniel Mann, a specialist of melodramas, gets a good performance from Shirely Booth as a self-pitying housewife but a misguided one from Burt Lancaster.

Jun 2, 2006 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Nothing comes alive at you. Nothing roots us to the Delaneys, and in turn nothing grounds them in any world except that of Inge's creaky schemata.

Aug 21, 2005 | Rating: C | Full Review…

Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks
This is Booth's movie as was the Broadway production. Dynamic.

Oct 16, 2004 | Rating: 5/5

Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan
among the best of several booze-obsessed Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s

Jun 26, 2004 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…

David Bezanson
Filmcritic.com

View All Critic Reviews (7)

Audience Reviews for Come Back, Little Sheba

Nov 25, 2007

Burt Lancaster disappoints me sometimes but not here. Very similar in theme to Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf but this one is memorable in its own right.

John B Super Reviewer
Oct 06, 2007

Shirley Booth gives a beautiful performance in this heart breaker, Burt Lancaster is also very fine in a portrait of a sad dance of need and devotion.

jay n Super Reviewer