Shirley Booth captured a Best Actress Oscar in Paramount's 1952 movie classic, Come Back, Little Sheba. With Burt Lancaster, Terry Moore and Richard Jaeckel.

In her motion picture debut Shirley Booth won an Academy Award for her riveting portrayal of slovenly Lola Delaney in director Daniel Mann's Come Back, Little Sheba. Burt Lancaster co-starred as the alcoholic Doc Delaney, with Terry Moore, Richard Jaeckel and Philip Ober in principal support.

Based on the Play by William Inge

Come Back, Little Sheba is based on the play by 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.

Hal B. Wallis Brings Little Sheba to Hollywood

Independent producer Hal B. Wallis secured the movie rights to Come Back, Little Sheba. Tapped to write the screenplay was Ketti Frings, with Daniel Mann -- who had staged Sheba on Broadway -- selected to direct. Come Back, Little Sheba would be Mann's first motion picture.

The Cast

Hal B. Wallis and Paramount Pictures assembled a strong cast for Come Back, Little Sheba. Actively campaigning and subsequently winning the part of Doc Delaney was Burt Lancaster (1913-1994), who wished to showcase his sensitive side. Reprising her Broadway role as Lola Delaney was Shirley Booth (1898-1992) in her first film appearance.

Rounding out the cast were Terry Moore (Marie Buckholder), Richard Jaeckel (Turk Fisher), Philip Ober (Ed Anderson), Edwin Max (Elmo Huston), Lisa Golm (Mrs. Coffman) and Walter Kelley (Bruce).

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

Alcoholism and Lost Youth

Come Back, Little Sheba opens with college art student Marie Buckholder answering a newspaper ad regarding a room to rent at the home of Doc and Lola Delaney. Doc, a chiropractor and recovering alcoholic, likes things the way they are and frets that a new boarder may 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 dog represents the Delaneys' past, the good times when Doc was a promising medical student and Lola still enjoyed her youthful looks.

Marie is seeing two men: the virile college athlete Turk Fisher and the steady, more responsible Bruce. 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, Ed Anderson and Elmo Huston, 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 marries Bruce, her beau from back home, Doc and Lola express their pleasure.

Release, Reviews, Box Office

Come Back, Little Sheba premiered at the Victoria Theater in New York City 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," reported Bosley Crowther of The New York Times (12/24/52).

Come Back, Little Sheba grossed $3.5 million at the box office, earning the #11 slot on the list of the top moneymaking films of 1952.

Academy Award Nominations

Come Back, Little Sheba garnered three Academy Award nominations: Best Actress (Shirley Booth), Best Supporting Actress (Terry 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 for Little Sheba, winning the film'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).

"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...

Additional Sources and Reviews

Catholic World (1/53), Christian Century (3/4/53), Commonweal (12/26/52), Harpers (1/53), Holiday (2/53), Library Journal (1/15/53), The Nation (11/8/52), The New York Times Magazine (11/16/52), The New Yorker (12/27/52), Newsweek (12/29/52), Saturday Review (12/27/52), Theatre Arts (12/52, 2/53), Time (12/29/52).