Taglines: That girl in their house spelled trouble!
Come Back, Little Sheba movie storyline. Middle aged Doc and Lola Delaney have been married for twenty years. Their life together started out with so much promise, but their marriage has not become what that promise held. Doc, a chiropractor, was to become a full fledged medical doctor, but had to drop out of medical school when they got married. And Lola, once beautiful, has let her looks go. Now, she lies around the house not doing much of anything except listen to music on the radio. Because of the many stresses in their life, Doc became an alcoholic.
Now attending AA meetings, he has just celebrated his one year AA birthday. Into their life comes university student Marie Buckholder to who they have rented out their sitting room. In so many different ways, Marie ends up being a reminder for Doc of what potential was lost in his and Lola’s life, especially in that Marie is cavorting with a local jock named Turk Fisher who only has sex on his mind (which Marie deep down is aware), all the while while having a steady boyfriend named Bruce Cunningham back home who she plans to marry. These reminders of Doc’s failed dreams, especially with Lola being the way she is, may be too much for him to handle.
Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1952 American drama film produced by Paramount Pictures. It tells the story of a loveless marriage that is rocked when a young woman rents a room in the couple’s house. The film stars Burt Lancaster with Terry Moore and Richard Jaeckel. Shirley Booth makes her film debut, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress. The title refers to the wife’s little dog that disappeared months before the story begins and that she still openly grieves for. The movie was adapted by Ketti Frings from the 1950 play of the same title by William Inge and was directed by Daniel Mann (making his directorial debut).
About the Story
“Doc” Delaney (Burt Lancaster) is a recovering alcoholic married to Lola (Shirley Booth). Doc had once been a promising medical student, but dropped out of college when Lola became pregnant with his child, marrying her because her father had thrown her out of the house. The child later died, and in the process rendered Lola unable to have any further children. Doc spent the next several years drinking away the pain, in the process ruining his career and wasting his inheritance from his parents on alcohol. He eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous and was able to quit drinking, though he still keeps a bottle in the house as a reminder of what drinking did to his life.
Marie (Terry Moore) is a young college student who rents a spare room from the Delaneys. One day she brings home a young man, Turk (Richard Jaeckel), a star on the track team. He’s wearing his track outfit, which shows off his muscles, as she intends to use him as a figure model for a poster she’s doing for a major athletic competition being held in the town. Mrs. Delaney encourages the couple in their modeling session, though Doc, who walks in to find Turk under-dressed, thinks it borders on pornography. Later, after Marie and Turk leave, it is revealed that Marie is engaged to another man, Bruce, who is away but due to return soon.
As Marie’s infatuation with Turk grows, Doc becomes agitated. Lola reminds him that Marie is much like she had been in her younger days, before she became “old, fat, and sloppy”. Doc calms down, but still voices his disapproval of Marie seeing another boy while Bruce is away.
One night, Turk and Marie return from a school dance. Marie forgot her key, so Turk enters through a window, unlocks the front door, and lets Marie in. They sneak into Marie’s room. Doc sees them together and, deeply upset, goes back to the kitchen and reaches for his bottle hidden in the cupboard. Meanwhile, Marie changes her mind about Turk and asks him to leave. He calls her a “tease” and tries to force himself on her, but is unsuccessful. He leaves, unseen by Doc, through a window.
The next morning Doc takes the whiskey he has not touched for a year from the cabinet and disappears for hours, missing the dinner Lola planned for Marie and Bruce. He returns in a drunken rage, lashing out at Lola and threatening her with a knife. She manages to call two of Doc’s AA friends to take him to the hospital. As he follows her into the parlor, Doc stumbles and drops the knife, then passes out while trying to choke her. A neighbor hears the commotion and comes running over, just as the two men come to take a raving Doc away.
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
Directed by: Daniel Mann
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Shirley Booth, Terry Moore, Richard Jaeckel, Philip Ober, Edwin Max, Lisa Golm, Walter Kelley, Virginia Hall, Kitty McHugh, Beverly Mook, Virginia Mullen
Screenplay by: Ketti Frings
Cinematography by: James Wong Howe
Costume Design by: Edith Head
Set Decoration by: Sam Comer, Ross Dowd
Art Direction by: Henry Bumstead, Hal Pereira
Music by: Franz Waxman
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: December 24, 1952
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