Philadelphia Story, The (1940)



Director: George Cukor

Honors:

Katharine Hepburn officially revives her cinematic career with her appearance in the romantic comedy The Philadelphia Story, a picture that would be brought to the silver screen because of her own prowess within the motion picture industry. Co-starring two of the biggest leading men in MGM stable of seemingly endless stars, this feature would not only remove Hepburn from the list of “box office poison,” but would become one of the most beloved comedies of all time.

The Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy about a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the arrival of her ex-husband and a tabloid journalist. Member of Philadelphia’s social elite, Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) has plans to wed the wealthy man-of-the-people-type gentleman in George Kittredge (John Howard), which is sure to be one of the biggest pieces of news in the city. A magazine publisher wants to cover the news and events of the wedding, enlisting Tracy’s ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) to help get reporter Mike Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Liz (Ruth Hussey) close to the family on the big day.

Tracy and Dexter share an abrasive reunion when he arrives as he attempts to play Mike and Liz as friends of the family. However Tracy quickly recognizes the ruse and efforts to ruin their possible tabloid story. Conversely to the plans Mike and Tracy begin to grow close, while at the same time Dexter gives Tracy reminders of why they originally fell in love, making Tracy warm up a little towards him as well. All these actions make George incredibly suspicious, and rightfully so. When George calls out Tracy she takes exception to George’s lack of faith in her and calls off the wedding the morning of the event. As wedding guests have already arrived Dexter reminds Tracy of their love for each other and to two remarry to the film’s happy ending.

The feature is witty, creative, and very funny with wonderful comedic timing and ingenious use of staging and actors to supply audiences with a marvelous comedy that is enjoyed by multiple generations of movie lovers. Katharine Hepburn is at a new peak in her career with a performance that was literally meant for her. Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart were in their primes and as two top men in romantic comedies it is dream team of actors in this motion picture for its time. Premiering at the tail end of 1940 and releasing in 1941 this film was easily one of the best pictures for either year.

The beginning and end of this film from writing to release completely revolves around the film’s central star in Katharine Hepburn. After multiple financial flops in the movie theaters recently, including the future classic Bringing Up Baby, Hepburn was deemed “box office poison” by the independent movie theater owners, refusing to play her features as they failed to bring in money. Playwright Philip Barry had written the play “The Philadelphia Story” for Hepburn to star in, a production she helped to finance to get produced, forgoing a salary for a percentage of the box office profits, which was a huge business move on her part. With the play a hit on Broadway Hepburn was determined to make the play into to comeback vehicle in the movies. With the help of her good friend the famous Howard Hughes she would acquire the rights to the play and shopped it to MGM with her as the star.

With the mega movie studio MGM producing the film adaption studio head Louis B. Mayer wanted to assure a box office success and cast both Cary Grant and James Stewart to star as the film’s two male leads. Both men were marquee names for MGM, Stewart being an Academy Award nominate from the previous year, and Cary Grant having major box office appeal. Cary Grant would join the picture with the condition that his name be given top billing along with a larger salary. Interestingly his complete salary would be entirely donated to British War Relief Society to help his home country with the war effort.

George Cukor was one of Katharine Hepburn’s favorite directors. Common known for working well with actresses, Hepburn had worked with the filmmaker in the past, knowing he would get the best performance out of her for the screen. Hepburn was pulling most of her strings to get the best people in this film to make it the best picture it could possibly be.

The result would be one of the most entertaining feature films and some of the best performances from all three of the picture’s stars. Critics loved the picture and the film came out of 1941 as the fifth highest grossing feature film in the box office. “Hepburn” would no longer a bad word in movie theaters.

At the Academy Awards The Philadelphia Story was nominated in six categories, including five of the big six categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Stewart), Best Actress (Hepburn), and Best Supporting Actress (Hussey). At the end of the night the film received two wins, one for the film’s screenplay, and the second for James Stewart, his first and only Oscar win of his illustrious movie career.

The closing image of the picture at Dexter and Tracy's wedding.
The Philadelphia Story would be a much beloved motion picture for years to come. The story would be remade in 1956 as the musical comedy High Society starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra, all major names in their own right. Critics through the years would continue to praise the original film, with the American Film Institute littering the motion picture with praises on a multitude of their “Top” lists including naming it to their Top 100 all-time lists in both 1998 and 2007. In 1995 it would be preserved forever in the National Film Registry as a resemblance of national cinematic treasure.

Comments

Popular Posts