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''The Philadelphia Story'' is a 1940 American
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...
film directed by George Cukor, starring
Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
,
Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
, James Stewart, and Ruth Hussey. Based on the 1939 Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry, the film is about a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and a tabloid magazine journalist. The socialite character of the play—performed by Hepburn in the film—was inspired by Helen Hope Montgomery Scott (1904–1995), a Philadelphia socialite known for her hijinks, who married a friend of playwright Barry. Written for the screen by Donald Ogden Stewart and an uncredited Waldo Salt, 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 device at a time when the depiction of extramarital affairs was blocked by the Production Code. The film was Hepburn's first big hit following several flops, which had placed her on a 1938 list of actors considered to be "box office poison" compiled by Manhattan movie theater owner Harry Brandt. Hepburn acquired the film rights to the play, which she had also starred in, with the help of
Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in t ...
in order to control it as a vehicle for her screen comeback. According to a Turner Broadcasting documentary ''MGM: When the Lion Roars'', after
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
purchased the film rights, they were skeptical about Hepburn's box office appeal, so MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer took an unusual precaution by engaging two A-list male stars (Grant and Stewart) to support Hepburn. Nominated for six
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, the film won two: James Stewart for
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...
, and Donald Ogden Stewart for
Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
. MGM
remade Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is inf ...
the film in 1956 as a
musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...
, retitled '' High Society'', starring
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
,
Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kell ...
, and Frank Sinatra. ''The Philadelphia Story'' was produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
in 1995.


Plot

Tracy Lord is the elder daughter of a wealthy
Philadelphia Main Line The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line, is an informally delineated historical and Social class in the United States, social region of suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lying along the former Pennsylvania Railroad's onc ...
socialite family. She was married to C.K. Dexter Haven, a yacht designer and member of her social set, but divorced him two years prior, because, according to her father, he does not measure up to the standards she sets for all her friends and family: He drank too much for her taste, and, according to him, as she became critical of him, he drank more. Their only interaction while married, the film's opening scene, is her breaking his golf clubs and him pushing her to the ground. Now, she is about to marry ''
nouveau riche ''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ...
'' "man of the people" George Kittredge. In New York, ''Spy'' magazine publisher Sidney Kidd is eager to cover the wedding, and assigns reporter Macaulay "Mike" Connor and photographer Liz Imbrie. Kidd intends to use the assistance of Dexter, who has been working for ''Spy'' in South America. Dexter tells Kidd that he will introduce them as friends of Tracy's brother Junius (a U.S. diplomat in Argentina). Tracy is not fooled, but Dexter tells her that Kidd has threatened the reputation of her family with an innuendo-laden article about her father's affair with a dancer. Tracy deeply resents her father's infidelity, which has prompted her parents to live separately. Nonetheless, to protect her family's reputation, she agrees to let Mike and Liz stay and cover her wedding. Dexter is welcomed back with open arms by Tracy's mother Margaret and teenage sister Dinah, much to Tracy's frustration. She soon discovers that Mike has admirable qualities, and even seeks out his book of short stories in the public library. As the wedding nears, she finds herself torn between her fiancé George, Dexter, and Mike. The night before the wedding, Tracy gets drunk for only the second time in her life, kisses Mike, and ultimately takes an innocent midnight swim with him. When George observes Mike carrying an intoxicated Tracy into the house afterward, he assumes the worst. The next day, he tells her that he was shocked and feels entitled to an explanation before going ahead with the wedding. Yet, she admits she really has none, and realizes that he does not really know her at all. He has loved her as a perfect, ideal angel, an embodiment of goodness—a virginal statue—and not as a person, so she breaks off the engagement. By now she better understands her own imperfections and her criticism of others. Tracy realizes that all the guests have arrived and are waiting for the ceremony to begin. Mike quickly volunteers to marry her, but she graciously declines because she perceives that Liz is in love with him. Then, Dexter, who clearly planned to win her back all along, offers to remarry her, and she gladly accepts.


Cast


Production

Broadway playwright Barry wrote the play specifically for Hepburn, who ended up backing the play, and forgoing a salary in return for a percentage of its profits. Her co-stars were Joseph Cotten as Dexter Haven, Van Heflin as Mike Connor, and Shirley Booth as Liz Imbrie. The original play, starring Hepburn, ran for 417 performances. It made over $1 million in box office sales and later went on to tour, performing another 250 times and making over $750,000 in sales. The play also originally featured another character named Sandy. However that role was eliminated for the movie to make more room for the character development of Mike. At this time, Hepburn hoped to create a film vehicle for herself which would erase the label of "box office poison" that she had acquired after a number of commercial failures (including the classic '' Bringing Up Baby''). So, she happily accepted the film rights to the play from
Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in t ...
, who had bought them for her. She then convinced MGM's Mayer to buy them from her for only $250,000, in return for Hepburn having veto over producer, director, screenwriter, and cast. Hepburn selected director George Cukor, in whose films '' A Bill of Divorcement'' (1932) and '' Little Women'' (1933) she had acted, and Donald Ogden Stewart, a friend of Barry's and a specialist at adapting plays to the big screen, as writer. Hepburn wanted Clark Gable to play Dexter Haven and Spencer Tracy to play Mike Connor, but both had other commitments. Grant agreed to play the part on condition that he be given top billing, and that his salary would be $137,000, which he donated to the British War Relief Society. The pairing of Cukor and Gable would have been problematic in any case, as they had not gotten along on the recent '' Gone with the Wind'', and Cukor had been replaced with
Victor Fleming Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were '' Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director, and ''The Wizar ...
, who was a friend of Gable's. The film was in production from July 5 to August 14, 1940 at MGM's studios in Culver City. It was shot in six weeks and came in five days under schedule.TC
Notes
/ref> At one point, Stewart slipped in his hiccuping during the drunk scene. Grant turned to him, surprised, and said, "Excuse me", then appears to have stifled a laugh. The scene was kept, and was not reshot. Stewart had been extremely nervous about the scene in which Connor recites poetry to Tracy, and believed that he would perform badly. Noël Coward was visiting the set that day, and was asked by Cukor to say something to encourage him. Stewart was also quite uncomfortable with some of the dialogue, especially in the swimming pool scene. Hepburn performed the dive into the swimming pool by herself, without the help of doubles. The film premiered in New York City on December 26, 1940, and it was shown in select theaters in December, but MGM had agreed to hold its general release until January 1941 in order to not compete with the stage play, which was no longer playing on Broadway, but was touring the country. It went into general American release on January 17, 1941. It broke a box office record at Radio City Music Hall by taking in $600,000 in just six weeks. The model sailboat that Grant gives Hepburn is based on an actual boat, the ''True Love'' (originally the ''Venona II'', based on the Malabar design by John Alden built for racing), which currently sails on Seneca Lake out of
Watkins Glen, New York Watkins Glen is a village and census-designated place in and the county seat of Schuyler County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,829. Watkins Glen lies within the towns of Dix and Reading. To the southwest of ...
, as an excursion boat for Schooner Excursions, Inc.


Reception


Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $2,374,000 in the US and Canada, and $885,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,272,000.


Critical

Writing for ''The New York Times'' in 1940, Bosley Crowther wrote that the film "has just about everything that a blue-chip comedy should have—a witty, romantic script derived by Donald Ogden Stewart out of Philip Barry's successful play; the flavor of high-society elegance, in which the patrons invariably luxuriate; and a splendid cast of performers headed by Hepburn, Stewart, and Grant. If it doesn't play out this year and well along into next, they should turn the Music Hall into a shooting gallery ... Metro and Director George Cukor have graciously made it apparent, in the words of a character, that one of 'the prettiest sights in this pretty world is the privileged classes enjoying their privileges'. And so, in this instance, will you, too." Seventy-five years later,
Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...
wrote "However stagily preposterous, George Cukor's 1940 movie ''The Philadelphia Story'', now rereleased, is also utterly beguiling, funny and romantic. ... The fun and wit rise like champagne bubbles, but there is a deceptive strength in the writing and performances." Bradshaw also notes that the film is the "most famous example of the intriguing and now defunct prewar genre of ' comedy of remarriage. The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The consensus reads: "Offering a wonderfully witty script, spotless direction from George Cukor, and typically excellent lead performances, ''The Philadelphia Story'' is an unqualified classic." The site also ranked it as the Best Romantic Comedy of all time. The film was the last of four starring Grant and Hepburn, following ''
Sylvia Scarlett ''Sylvia Scarlett'' is a 1935 American romantic comedy film starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, based on '' The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett'', a 1918 novel by Compton MacKenzie. Directed by George Cukor, it was notorious ...
'' (1935), '' Bringing Up Baby'' (1938), and ''
Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...
'' (1938).


Awards and honors

The film was nominated for six
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
s, winning two (
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...
and
Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...
). At the 1940 ceremony, James Stewart did not expect to win and was not planning to attend the ceremony, but he was called and "advised" to show up in a dinner jacket. He said he had voted for Henry Fonda for his performance in '' The Grapes of Wrath'', and always felt the award had been given to him as compensation for not winning for his portrayal of Jefferson Smith in ''
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' is a 1939 American Political drama, political Comedy drama, comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra, starring Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and featuring Claude Rains and Edward Arnold (actor), Edward Arnold. ...
'' the previous year. Donald Ogden Stewart, on the other hand, declared upon winning ''his'' Oscar: "I have no one to thank but myself!" The film was named the third best of the year by ''Film Daily''. In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
, and was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
. The film was included in various
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...
lists: * 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #51 * 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #15 * 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #44 * 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #44 * 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10 – #5 Romantic Comedy Film


Adaptations

The stars of the film appeared in a one-hour radio adaptation on the premiere episode of the War Office's special ''Victory Theater'' summer series, airing July 20, 1942. This episode was specially produced by '' Lux Radio Theatre'' volunteer personnel as their donation to the ''Victory Theater'' series, and it aired under government, not Lux, sponsorship. ''Lux Radio Theatre'' produced a second adaptation for its own use on June 14, 1943, with Robert Taylor, Loretta Young, and
Robert Young Robert, Rob, Robbie, Bob, or Bobby Young may refer to: Academics * R. A. Young (Robert Arthur Young, 1871–1959), British physician * Robert J. C. Young (born 1950), British cultural critic and historian * Robert J. Young (born 1942), Canadian h ...
. The film was also adapted for two half-hour episodes of '' The Screen Guild Theater'', first with Greer Garson, Henry Fonda, and Fred MacMurray (April 5, 1942), then with Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart reprising their film roles (March 17, 1947). The film was adapted in 1956 as the MGM
musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...
'' High Society'', starring
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
,
Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kell ...
, Frank Sinatra,
Celeste Holm Celeste Holm (April 29, 1917 – July 15, 2012) was an American stage, film and television actress. Holm won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and was nominated for her roles in '' Come to ...
, and Louis Armstrong, directed by Charles Walters.


See also

* List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregator website


References


Sources

*


External links

* * * * *
Historic reviews, photo gallery at CaryGrant.net
*
"''The Philadelphia Story'': A Fine, Pretty World"
an essay by Farran Smith Nehme at the
Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...


Streaming audio


''The Philadelphia Story''
on Lux Radio Theater: July 20, 1942
''The Philadelphia Story''
on Lux Radio Theater: June 14, 1943
''The Philadelphia Story''
on Screen Guild Theater: March 17, 1947 {{DEFAULTSORT:Philadelphia Story, The (film) 1940 films 1940s English-language films 1940 romantic comedy films 1940s screwball comedy films American romantic comedy films American screwball comedy films American black-and-white films Comedy of remarriage films Films scored by Franz Waxman Films about social class Films about tabloid journalism Films about weddings American films based on plays Films directed by George Cukor Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award-winning performance Films set in Philadelphia Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award United States National Film Registry films Films set in country houses Articles containing video clips Films produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films with screenplays by Waldo Salt Films with screenplays by Donald Ogden Stewart Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1940s American films