Old Movie Classics: The Philadelphia Story

Monday, December 28, 2009

The Philadelphia Story

The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor, starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart. Based on a Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry

Watch The Philadelphia Story

The film is about a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist. It is considered one of the best examples of a comedy of remarriage, a genre popular in the 1930s and 1940s, in which a couple divorce, flirt with outsiders and then remarry – a useful story-telling ploy at a time when the depiction of extramarital affairs was blocked by the Production Code.

The play was Hepburn's first great triumph after several movie flops had led to movie theater owners including her on a list of actors viewed as "box office poison." She purchased the film rights to the play, with the help of Howard Hughes,in order to control it as a vehicle for her movie comeback.

The Philadelphia Story was nominated for six Academy Awards, and won two: Stewart for Best Actor and Donald Ogden Stewart for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was adapted in 1956 as the musical High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.

In 1995, The Philadelphia Story film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Plot Synopsis
Tracy Samantha Lord Haven (Katharine Hepburn) is a wealthy Main Line Philadelphia socialite who had divorced C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), a member of her social set, because he did not measure up to her exacting standards. (He was an alcoholic, and her lack of faith in him exacerbated his condition.) She is about to marry nouveau riche "man of the people" George Kittredge (John Howard).

Spy magazine publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) is eager to cover the wedding, and blackmails Dexter into introducing tabloid reporter Macaulay "Mike" Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) as friends of the family so they can report on the wedding. Tracy is not fooled, but reluctantly agrees to let them stay, after Dexter explains that Kidd has an innuendo-laden article about Tracy's father, Seth (John Halliday), who, Tracy believes, is having an affair with a dancer. Though Seth is separated from Tracy's mother Margaret (Mary Nash) and Tracy harbors great resentment against him, she wants to protect her family's reputation.
Katharine Hepburn Collection (Morning Glory / Undercurrent / Sylvia Scarlett / Without Love / Dragon Seed / The Corn Is Green [1979])

Dexter is welcomed back with open arms by Margaret and Tracy's teenage sister Dinah (Virginia Weidler), much to Tracy's annoyance. In addition, Tracy gradually discovers that Mike has admirable qualities. Thus, as the wedding nears, Tracy finds herself torn between her fiancé, her ex-husband, and the reporter.

The night before the wedding, Tracy gets drunk for only the second time in her life and takes an innocent swim with Mike. When George sees Mike carrying an intoxicated Tracy into the house afterwards, he thinks the worst. The next day, he tells her that he was shocked and feels entitled to an explanation before going ahead with the wedding. Tracy takes exception to his lack of faith in her and breaks off the engagement. Then she realizes that all the guests have arrived and are waiting for the ceremony to begin. Mike volunteers to marry her (much to Liz's distress), but Tracy graciously declines. At this point, Dexter makes his successful bid for her hand. Read More....
TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Romantic Comedies (Adam's Rib / Woman of the Year / The Philadelphia Story / Bringing Up Baby)