Stage Struck is a 1958 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda, Susan Strasberg and Christopher Plummer in his film debut. The screenplay, by Augustus and Ruth Goetz, is based on the stage play Morning Glory by Zoë Akins, which also served as the basis for the 1933 film of the same title starring Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Adolphe Menjou.

In Times Square, Eva Lovelace arrives at Lewis Easton's office with the intent on becoming a Broadway actress. As she waits outside, she recognizes Robert Harley Hedges, an actor, sitting beside her. Eva explains her real name is Gertrude Langerfelder, but changed it to attain more confidence. When Lewis walks out, Hedges introduces Eva to him and Joe Sheridan, a young playwright.

Inside Joe's office, Rita Vernon has been offered a smaller role in a new play, although she prefers to star in Joe's latest play. After Robert signs a new contract, he encourages Eva to audition at the Actors Studio. Soon after, Eva bursts into Lewis's office to thank him in person. As she leaves, Joe invites Eva to audition for a small role as a peasant waitress. However, the audition is unsuccessful.

On the opening night of the play, Joe is pleased to see Eva outside the theatre, where the two watch the play together. As he waits around the newspaper office, Joe reads a glowing theatre review and invites Eva to an afterparty at Lewis's house. Before long, Eva drinks too much champagne and recites lines from Shakespeare's plays, including Romeo and Juliet. Her readings impress Lewis, and he invites her to his office the next day. However, Eva sleeps in a guest room and wakes up late in the night as Lewis prepares for bed. She confesses she has fallen in love with him, and Lewis kisses her.

In Central Park, Lewis meets with Joe where he decides not to become romantically involved with Eva. He hands Joe money hoping to make her leave town, and avoids her phone calls claiming he is in Jamaica. Disgusted by Lewis's disregard for Eva, Joe leaves for Virginia to finish writing his next play. After some time, he returns to New York and reconnects with Robert backstage. There, he learns that Eva is working at a night club where she recites poetry. Joe and Eva enjoy the night together, and as he walks her home, Joe believes Rita is too old for the lead role for the play he is directing, but needs her star quality.

After months of rehearsals, Joe becomes frustrated with Rita's insistence that the part be rewritten, but he refuses to recast her. Meanwhile, Joe has been secretly rehearsing Rita's role with Eva. She confronts Joe about his misdirection believing he will never cast her in the play. Lewis overhears their conversation and tries to search for Eva. The night before the play is to open, Rita realizes she has been miscast and decides to drop out. Eventually, Lewis finds Eva, who is suffering from stage fright, and encourages her to perform like a star.

The play opens, and Eva's performance is applauded by the audience. As Joe leaves the theater, Lewis returns to find Eva alone on the stage. He kisses her, and after regretting his prior behavior towards her, Lewis applauds her as she leaves.

• Henry Fonda as Lewis Easton
• Susan Strasberg as Eva Lovelace
• Christopher Plummer as Joe Sheridan
• Joan Greenwood as Rita Vernon
• Herbert Marshall as Robert Harley Hedges
• Pat Harrington as Benny
• Frank Campanella as Victor
• John Fiedler as Adrian
• Jack Weston as Frank

Filmed entirely on location in New York City, Stage Struck was produced by RKO Radio Pictures and distributed by Walt Disney Productions' distribution arm Buena Vista Film Distribution Co., Inc., which had replaced RKO as Disney's distributor.^[2]

In his review for The New York Times, A. H. Weiler unfavorably compared the film to Morning Glory, but nevertheless wrote Susan Strasberg "is competent as the determined Eva Lovelace. She is petite and fragile and sometimes expressive but strangely pallid in a role that would seem to call for fire, not mere smoldering."^[3]

• List of American films of 1958

• Stage Struck at IMDb
• Stage Struck at the TCM Movie Database
• Stage Struck at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films