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The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 romantic screwball comedy starring Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Based on a play of the same name by Philip Barry (in which Hepburn also starred), the film is about a bride-to-be whose plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and a handsome journalist.
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 came with it. Hepburn initially wanted Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy for the male leads but they were not available.
It is one of the best examples of the comedy of remarriage, a genre popular in the 1930's and 1940's, in which a couple divorced, flirted with outsiders and then remarried - a useful ploy at a time when extra-marital affairs were banned.
It was remade in 1956 as a musical titled High Society, starring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
Synopsis
Tracy Lord (Hepburn), is a wealthy "main line" Philadelphia socialite who had divorced C.K. Dexter Haven (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 (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 day before the wedding, Tracy gets drunk for the first time and takes an impromptu, innocent, late night swim with Mike. When George learns about it the next day, he thinks the worst, that his bride-to-be has disgraced herself. 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. Mike volunteers to marry her (to Elizabeth's distress), but Tracy gratefully declines. At this point, Dexter makes his successful bid for her hand.
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). Most Oscar watchers consider Stewart's Oscar the quintessential "Should Have Won Last Year" award; after "robbing" him for his performance in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, the Academy gave him the Oscar at the earliest opportunity.
The film was deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
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
External links
1940 films | Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award winning performance | Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award nominated performance | Best Picture Academy Award nominees | Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominated performance | Comedy films | Screwball comedy films | MGM films | United States National Film Registry | Films directed by George Cukor
Die Nacht vor der Hochzeit | Historias de Filadelfia | Indiscrétions | En skön historia (1940)
"The Philadelphia Story"