The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Whiteside slips on the icy steps of the Stanleys' house while arriving for a dinner engagement and injures his hip. Rather than leaving, he decides to recuperate there during the Christmas holidays. The real reason he stays is to avoid a potential $150,000 lawsuit, he claims the injury could be blamed on the Stanleys' negligence, and having Thomas E. Dewey as his attorney, he'd rather settle quietly than risk a court case.

Foreshadowing: The icy steps that cause his initial injury also trigger his final fall at the end of the movie.

• Sheridan Whiteside
• hip injury
• ice
• Stanleys
• Christmas lawsuit

Maggie Cutler is Whiteside's nurse and aide, and she is extremely efficient at managing his demanding household. When Maggie announces she will quit to marry local newspaperman Bert Jefferson, Whiteside realizes he cannot easily replace such a competent assistant. To prevent losing her, he orchestrates schemes to keep her occupied and sabotage her romance, including involving actress Lorraine Sheldon to distract Bert.

Foreshadowing: Early in his stay, Whiteside notes how indispensable Maggie is to running his affairs.

• Maggie Cutler
• Bert Jefferson
• Whiteside sabotage
• romance

After his initial scheme to set Lorraine up with Bert fails, Whiteside and his cohorts devise a more elaborate plan. They trick Lorraine into entering an Egyptian sarcophagus under false pretenses, then ship her off to Nova Scotia to remove her permanently from the picture. This outlandish scheme represents Whiteside's extreme measure to ensure Maggie has no reason to leave his service.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Whiteside and Beverly Carlton impersonate Lord Cedric Bottomley to lure Lorraine, showing his willingness to use deception.

• Lorraine Sheldon
• sarcophagus
• Nova Scotia
• Whiteside scheme

When Mr. Stanley finally loses patience and obtains a warrant ordering Whiteside to leave within 15 minutes, Whiteside reveals he knows that Harriet, Mr. Stanley's sister, was once an infamous axe murderer. He threatens to expose this dark family secret unless Stanley drops the warrant. This blackmail effectively gives Whiteside additional leverage to remain in the house.

Foreshadowing: Early in his stay, Whiteside remarks that Harriet looks 'right out of the Hound of the Baskervilles,' hinting at her sinister past.

• Harriet
• axe murderer
• blackmail
• Mr Stanley
• warrant

Whiteside uses the Stanleys' telephone to place long-distance calls to famous figures like Winston Churchill and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. These calls serve no practical purpose, they simply feed his enormous ego and allow him to brag about his connections. The calls also run up significant bills for the Stanleys, adding to the disruption he causes in their household.

Foreshadowing: His grandiose sense of self-importance is established from the moment he arrives and immediately takes over the best rooms.

• Winston Churchill
• Haile Selassie
• phone calls
• celebrity
• ego

Whiteside arranges a luncheon at the Stanleys' house that includes convicts from the state penitentiary, who are part of his fan club. The event is purely a publicity stunt designed to demonstrate the far-reaching extent of his celebrity status. He revels in the absurdity of hosting criminals as guests, using it to further inflate his reputation and entertain himself at the family's expense.

Foreshadowing: His pattern of using the Stanleys' home for self-aggrandizing events begins with taking over the best rooms.

• convicts
• penitentiary
• luncheon
• celebrity stunt

Whiteside persuades the local doctor to stretch out his recovery timeline by promising to read the doctor's unpublished magnum opus. This is a deliberate manipulation to prolong his stay at the Stanleys' house, he has no intention of actually reading the manuscript. The doctor, hopeful that Whiteside's connections might help publish his work, goes along with the exaggerated recovery reports.

Foreshadowing: The scheme allows Whiteside to remain in control of the household while appearing helpless.

• doctor
• magnum opus
• recovery
• manipulation
• stay

As Whiteside finally prepares to leave the Stanleys' house, he receives a phone call from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. While he is distracted by this important call, he steps onto the icy front steps again, slips, and re-injures his hip. He is carried back inside, and the call from Eleanor Roosevelt is left unheard and unanswered. This ironic ending shows that Whiteside cannot escape the Stanleys' house despite his many attempts to manipulate everyone around him.

Foreshadowing: The movie began with Whiteside slipping on the icy steps, establishing this as his fatal flaw.

• Eleanor Roosevelt
• phone call
• icy steps
• fall
• ending

Whiteside and his friend Beverly Carlton orchestrate a ruse where they impersonate Lord Cedric Bottomley, a wealthy patron pursuing Lorraine Sheldon. They create a fake proposal and promise of a life in Palm Beach to lure Lorraine away from Bert. The scheme is part of Whiteside's broader effort to redirect Bert's romantic attention toward Lorraine, thereby keeping Maggie single and dependent on her job.

Foreshadowing: This deception follows Whiteside's pattern of manipulating people through elaborate theatrical tricks.

• Lord Cedric Bottomley
• Lorraine Sheldon
• impersonation
• ruse
• Beverly Carlton

Prominent naturalists send Whiteside live penguins and an octopus as gifts, which he accepts and keeps in the Stanley household. He uses these unusual animals to entertain his guests and satisfy his whimsical desires, further imposing his will on the family. The menagerie creates additional chaos and comic disruption to the household routines.

Foreshadowing: His pattern of accepting extravagant gifts and imposing his preferences on the Stanleys is consistent throughout his stay.

• penguins
• octopus
• gifts
• naturalists
• household chaos

Upon arriving injured, Whiteside immediately commandeers the most prominent rooms in the Stanley house, essentially taking over the living space. He forces Mr. Stanley and his wife to relocate to the upper story of their own home. This power grab establishes the reversed dynamic of the household, where the guest becomes the master and the hosts become subordinate in their own home.

Foreshadowing: His commanding personality and sense of entitlement are evident from his first moments in the house.

• Stanley house
• rooms
• upper story
• takeover
• dominance