The Philadelphia Story
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| The Philadelphia Story | |
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| Directed by | George Cukor |
| Produced by | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Written by | Philip Barry (Play) Donald Ogden Stewart (Screenplay) |
| Starring | Cary Grant Katharine Hepburn James Stewart |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | December 1, 1940 |
| IMDb profile | |
The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 romantic screwball comedy starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart. Based on a Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry, the film is about a bride-to-be whose plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and a handsome 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 ploy at a time when extra-marital affairs were banned. The film was a great success.
The play was Hepburn's first great triumph after several movie flops (including the classic Bringing Up Baby), which had led to her being labeled "box office poison". Howard Hughes bought the rights to the film as a gift to Hepburn. When Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer decided to make a movie out of it, she stipulated in her contract that the film could not be made unless she was allowed to reprise her stage role. Hepburn initially wanted Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy for the male leads but they were not available.
It was remade in 1956 as a musical titled High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra.
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[edit] Synopsis
Tracy Lord (Hepburn) is a wealthy Main Line Philadelphia socialite who had divorced C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) and is about to marry nouveau riche George Kittredge (John Howard). Wedding preparations are complicated when she is blackmailed by publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) into granting an exclusive story to tabloid reporter Macaulay "Mike" Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey). In exchange, Spy magazine agrees to refrain from exposing the antics of Tracy's philandering father Seth (John Halliday). Dexter has cooked up the scheme so he can try to derail the marriage--he still loves his ex-wife. As the wedding nears, Tracy finds herself torn between Mike, Dexter and George.
The night before the wedding, Tracy gets drunk for only the second time in her life and takes an impromptu, innocent swim with Mike. When George sees Mike carrying an intoxicated Tracy into the house afterwards (both of them wearing only bathrobes), he thinks the worst, that his bride-to-be has disgraced herself. The next day, 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 Elizabeth's distress), but Tracy graciously declines. At this point, Dexter makes his successful bid for her hand.
[edit] Cast
- Cary Grant as C. K. Dexter Haven
- Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord
- James Stewart as Macaulay Connor
- Ruth Hussey as Elizabeth Imbrie
- John Howard as George Kittredge
- Roland Young as Uncle Willie
- John Halliday as Seth Lord
- Mary Nash as Margaret Lord
- Virginia Weidler as Dinah Lord
- Henry Daniell as Sidney Kidd
[edit] Awards and honors
The film won Academy Awards for James Stewart (Best Actor), and screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart (Best Adapted Screenplay). It also received Academy Award nominations for George Cukor (Best Director) Katharine Hepburn (Best Actress), Ruth Hussey (Best Supporting Actress), and Best Picture (Joseph L. Mankiewicz - producer).
The film was deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1995.
The American Film Institute ranked The Philadelphia Story #51 in its list of the 100 best movies in American cinema, #15 among the 100 best American comedies and #44 in the 100 best American romances.
