The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 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,[1] with screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart and an uncredited Waldo Salt, 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 a "box office poison". She purchased the film rights to the play, with the help of Howard Hughes,[2] in order to control it as a vehicle for her movie comeback.[3]
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
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.
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.
Background
The character of "Tracy Lord" was inspired by Helen Hope Montgomery Scott (1904-1995), a Philadelphia socialite known for her hijinks, who married a friend of playwright Philip Barry.[4]
Cast
Production
Broadway playwright Philip Barry[5] wrote The Philadelphia Story specifically for Katharine Hepburn, who ended up backing the play, and foregoing a salary in return for a percentage of the play's profits.[6] Co-starring with Hepburn on Broadway were Joseph Cotten as "C.K. Dexter Haven", Van Heflin as "Macauley Connor", with Shirley Booth as "Liz Imbrie".[1]
Hoping to create a film vehicle for herself which would erase the label of "box office poison" that the Independent Theatre Owners of America had put on her after a number of commercial failures (including the classic Bringing Up Baby), Hepburn happily accepted the film rights to the play from Howard Hughes who had bought them for her. She then convinced MGM's Louis B. Mayer to buy them from her for only $250,000 in return for Hepburn having veto over producer, director, screenwriter and cast.[3][6][7]
Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord
Hepburn selected director George Cukor, whose A Bill of Divorcement (1932) and Little Women (1933) she had acted in, and Donald Ogden Stewart, a friend of Barry's and a specialist at adapting plays to the big screen, as writer.[6]
Hepburn wanted Clark Gable for the Dexter Haven role and Spencer Tracy as Macauley 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 Fund. The pairing of Cukor and Clark 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.
The Philadelphia Story was in production from 5 July to 14 August 1940[8] at MGM's studios in Culver City.[9] The film was shot in eight weeks with no retakes, and came in five days under schedule.[3] At one point, James Stewart slipped in his hiccuping during the drunk scene. Grant turned to him, surprised, and said "Excuse me." The scene was kept and was not reshot.[10]
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 George Cukor to say something to encourage him. Coward remarked to Stewart offhandedly, "Did I mention I think you're a fantastic actor?"[citation needed] Stewart was also quite uncomfortable with some of the dialogue, especially in the swimming pool scene. He said at the time that if he had played the scene in just a swimming costume, it would have been the end of his career.[citation needed]
Hepburn performed the dive into the swimming pool entirely by herself without the help from doubles. Forty years later, during the filming of On Golden Pond, Jane Fonda was frightened to do her own dive, to which the annoyed Hepburn responded, "I did my own dive in The Philadelphia Story."
The Philadelphia Story premiered in New York City in the week of 27 December 1940 and it was shown in other selected theatres in December, but MGM had agreed to hold the film's general release until January 1941 in order not to compete with the stage play,[3] which was no longer playing on Broadway, but was touring the country.[1] The film went into general American release on 17 January 1941.[11] The film broke a box office record at Radio City Music Hall by taking in $600,000 in just six weeks.
Awards and honors
Ruth Hussey as Liz Imbrie
James Stewart received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart won for Best Adapted Screenplay. George Cukor (Best Director), Katharine Hepburn (Best Actress), Ruth Hussey (Best Supporting Actress), and producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Best Picture) received nominations.
Stewart was not expecting to win and was not planning to attend the awards ceremony. He was called and "advised" to show up in a dinner jacket. Stewart himself 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 the Academy Award for his portrayal of Jeff Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Donald Ogden Stewart, on the other hand, declared upon winning his Oscar: "I have no one to thank but myself!"[6]
Hepburn won a 1940 New York Film Critics Circle Award for her performance,[12] and the film was named one of the ten best of the year by Film Daily.[13]
In 1995, The Philadelphia Story film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
American Film Institute recognition
Adaptations
The stars of the film appeared on Lux Radio Theater's radio adaptation of Barry's play in 1942. Lux presented it again in 1943 with Robert Taylor, Loretta Young and Robert Young.[3] It was also adapted on two 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 High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, directed by Charles Walters.
References
Cary Grant and John Howard as Dexter Haven and George Kittredge
External links
