Apr 19
The Philadelphia story, 1940
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The Philadelphia story, 1940
One-night-only reading of Philip Barry's Holiday at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at The John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Best Best Adapted Screenplay Tournament: Preliminary Round, Group 15
The Father (2020)
The Country Girl (1954)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Gods and Monsters (1998)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Top two vote-getters will move on to the next round. See pinned post for all groups!
The Philadelphia Story, 1939
On March 28, 1939, Philip Barry’s high comedy The Philadelphia Story opened on Broadway. Barry wrote the play with Katharine Hepburn in mind. Hepburn had been a star in Hollywood, but by 1938 several of her films had flopped and she was regarded as “box office poison.” Broadway had no such prejudices. Hepburn was so eager to do the play that she backed it financially and waived a salary, settling for 25% of the profits.
Barry met with the actress, studied her mannerisms, and obtained her input. Her background, too, was similar to that of Tracy Lord, her character in the play, who was based on a friend of Barry’s.
Also in the cast were Shirley Booth and newcomers Joseph Cotten and Van Heflin. The play was a big hit and ran for over 400 performances, more than recompensing Hepburn for her decision to forego a salary (she reportedly earned $500,000 from the play).
Hollywood was now happy to welcome Katharine Hepburn back, and the play was made into a movie after the Broadway run ended. Cary Grant and James Stewart took the roles played in New York by Cotten and Heflin.
Above: Van Heflin as Macauley Conner (Mike), Shirley Booth as Liz Imbrie, and Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord.
Above: Hepburn and Joseph Cotten (as C.K. Dexter Haven).
Joseph Cotten, Van Heflin, Katharine Hepburn, and Frank Fenton (as George Kitteridge).
All photos: Vandamm via MCNY
Without Love (1945) M-G-M's Star-Hit! Spencer Tracy & Katherine Hepburn
She was a bashful bride! He walked in his sleeps! Staring Lucille Ball, Keenan Wynn, Carl Esmond, Patricia Morison and Felix Bressart. Directed by Harold S. Bucquet. Based on the play by Philip Barry. Produced by Lawrence Weingarten. Cinematography by Karl Freund. Music by Bronislau Kaper.
The Philadelphia Story premiered in 6 cities (Cincinnati, OH; Louisville, KY; Milwaukee, WI; Providence, RI; Reading, PA; Rochester, NY) on 5 December 1940 before opening wide in January 1941.
Based on Philip Barry’s hit 1939 Broadway play. Barry had written the play specifically for Katharine Hepburn (who had been tagged as “box office poison” in Hollywood). Hepburn financially backed the play, and accepted no salary for her performances, but instead took a percentage of the profits.
Howard Hughes bought the film rights to the play as a gift for Hepburn, who in turn sold the rights to MGM while retaining control over producer (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), director (George Cukor), screenwriter (Donald Ogden Stewart and uncredited Waldo Salt), and cast. Hepburn wanted Spencer Tracy to play Mike Connor (Jimmy Stewart) and Clark Gable to play Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), but both were under contract for other projects. Grant donated his salary to the British War Relief Society.
The Philadelphia Story was a critical and commercial hit (it was the highest-grossing film of 1941) and was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Outstanding Production (Best Picture), Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress (Ruth Hussey). It received 2 Oscars: Best Actor (Jimmy Stewart) and Best Screenplay.
My school is hosting a Valentine’s Day movie marathon on Saturday where we’re watching:
The Gold Rush
Holiday
Casablanca
Lady and the Tramp
The Graduate
Harold and Maude
When Harry Met Sally
Edward Scissorhands
500 Days of Summer
La La Land
Now, normally I wouldn’t give half a sh*t and just go about my weekend, but I can get 75 points of extra credit in my Film Analysis and Criticism class if I watch all of them.
And if you don’t think I’m going to go out of spite, liveblog my film nerd and a-spec self, and still get extra credit for a class I’m already sailing through, you are mistaken.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Sometimes the best comedies are not the ones that you laugh the hardest over. In George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story, the film’s situational wit leaves pleasant aftertastes from scenes – comedic and otherwise – that draw an unsuspecting viewer in, making them care about the central characters (who live comfortably in socioeconomic settings few experience) in unexpected ways. Constant belly laughs are not what one will get from this movie, but instead middling chuckles and smiles realizing the ridiculousness of the plot, the sincerity in what the movie wishes to say. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and based on the stage play of the same name by Philip Barry, The Philadelphia Story is one of the great comedies from classic Hollywood – in no small part due to its source material and adaptation, but most importantly its three central performances.
As the daughter of a Philadelphian socialite family, Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn; labeled “box office poison” by the Independent Theatre Owners of America after the financial failure of the now-beloved Bringing Up Baby and other films) is engaged to the fabulously wealthy, but uptight and overly content coal baron George Kitteridge (John Howard). Tracy divorced her first husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) two years ago for not meeting her lofty standards. But Dexter is about to make a surprise reappearance in Tracy’s life, as he is acting as a family liaison between the Lord family to Spy magazine reporter Macaulay “Mike” Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey). Mike and Liz are there to cover Tracy’s wedding – part of an elaborate blackmail scheming involving the magazine’s publisher (Henry Daniell) and the Lord patriarch’s (John Halliday) brush with adultery. As the hours pass, Tracy begins to question whether she is marrying George for the right reasons, all while finding herself attracted to Mike and pondering whether her standards were indeed too inflexible for Dexter.
Despite Hepburn being an unwanted commodity among Hollywood executives, she still exerted significant influence in choosing George Cukor as director and Donald Ogden Stewart as screenwriter. Hepburn even chose her co-stars, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. This arrangement was made possible because Hepburn – through Howard Hughes – held the rights to the original stage play, selling them to MGM’s Louis B. Mayer at a discount of $250,000. The discount came with stipulations: that Hepburn have final say in the film’s producer (Joseph L. Mankiewicz... the man responsible for the scene’s opening minutes that involve a broken golf club and a facial shove less invidious than James Cagney’s), director, screenwriter, and cast. Female Hollywood moguls were more common in the silent era, and here was Hepburn making decisions as one, albeit for only one film.
These decisions result in an outstanding ensemble performance, particularly from the leads. It is difficult to talk about each performance in isolation, given the richness of Donald Ogden Stewart’s dialogue and how each lead has a different approach to another. For Hepburn, the snootiness that must come with having an obscene amount of money is broken quickly once Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Ruth Hussey arrive. She is a forceful personality, who believes she knows what she wants, then arriving – upon further reflection made impossible by John Howard’s character – to conclusions that make her question not only what she wants, but what she needs (surprise, surprise... these things are distinct!). Screwball circumstance has dissolved pretense. In her vulnerability, she grows and comes to greater understanding. Hepburn’s exchanges with Grant are irresistible. Though the two are not as funny here as in Bringing Up Baby, the scenario and their characters in this film are less (using a word from my Bringing Up Baby review) “airheaded”; the proportion of loving overtures here is reversed (Hepburn piled on a vast majority of the romantic flirting in Baby; Grant is more restrained here but it is he who talks of his love most). There is a sense of loss that defines both Grant and (eventually) Hepburn – especially the former. Grant plays Dexter as a wiseass here for a job and resolution. He argues with Hepburn, but never does it devolve to fighting. Love is not safe, states Dexter. Few actors other than Cary Grant could argue with a fellow romantic lead, roll their eyes during dialogue, and make arguments funny without being demeaning.
Jimmy Stewart and Ruth Hussey have an understated chemistry that gradually reveals itself. Stewart, lucky he, is charmed off his feet by the entire lead cast – and yes, that includes Grant in one of the rare instances he makes someone of the same gender starstruck (not sexually, of course, because one couldn’t do that in a ‘40s movie... if you’re a romantic fanfiction writer, this movie is for you!). Some of Stewart’s interactions with Grant seem borderline flirtatious, threatening to overshadow a hilarious off-screen swimming quasi-tryst that occurs in the film’s final third. For Jimmy Stewart, this would be one of the last times playing a youthful romantic lead – a type of role he would dabble less frequently in after returning from his wartime Air Force service. On the sidelines according to film’s billing but not in the film’s functions, Ruth Hussey – as Liz – seems to be the only one who has everything figured out. Liz is The Philadelphia Story’s most neglected character in the film’s love pentagon, and Hussey portrays the character as being the least uncomfortable in this complicated emotional puzzle playing out in swanky surroundings. But just because Liz is neglected by the characters does not mean she is inessential. She prevents The Philadelphia Story from lifting off to flights of comical and narrative fancy – grounding the film for those who do not see themselves in any of the other main characters. Just as an actor need not be sensational to be effective, Liz demonstrates that love need not be sensational either.
Joseph Ruttenberg’s (1940′s Waterloo Bridge, 1944′s Gaslight) cinematography lends sensuality to the nighttime scenes. His camera moves slowly, gracefully through the interior of the Lord household and its grounds. Soft lighting is used once, in a moment of intoxication and innocence that seems like genuine romance at that given time. Cedric Gibbons’ (MGM’s premier art director) work, as it almost always is, is stellar. But technical achievements aside, it is the strength of the writing that powers The Philadelphia Story.
Certain readings of the film criticize The Philadelphia Story as undermining Tracy – her agency and desires – as soon as Dexter makes his entrance. Take these lines between Tracy and George:
GEORGE: You're like some marvelous, distant, well, queen, I guess. You're so cool and fine and always so much your own. There's a kind of beautiful purity about you, Tracy, like, like a statue. TRACY: George... GEORGE: Oh, it's grand, Tracy. It's what everybody feels about you. It's what I first worshipped you for from afar. TRACY: George, listen – GEORGE: First, now and always. Only from a little nearer now, eh, darling? TRACY: I... I don't want to be worshipped. I want to be loved.
The introspection Tracy delves into forms the heart of The Philadelphia Story – not Tracy’s father and his infidelities, not the precocious, farcical comedy from Tracy’s teenager sister Dinah (Virginia Weidler). In this introspection she never abandons her independence, sophistication, or ferocity. Donald Ogden Stewart’s verbose, uncharacteristically (for a screwball comedy) long screenplay allows time to better understand the masculine chaos revolving around her. Being with George – suffocating her with his worshipping ways – has prevented her from understanding her past and (to reiterate an above point) the difference between what she wants and what she needs. She is not settling nor bending to anyone else’s demands, all while realizing love is never zero-sum. It requires generosity of spirit, a commitment to understanding. What Tracy undergoes is not sacrifice, but personal growth.
While negotiating with Katharine Hepburn for his appearance in this film, Cary Grant demanded that he receive top billing for this film. Hepburn acquiesced, but Grant’s intentions were more honorable than you might think. His entire $137,000 salary (a hefty wage in 1940... ~$2.47 million in 2018′s USD) was donated to the British War Relief Fund. A charming rascal though Grant might have been on-camera, his motivations to appear in The Philadelphia Story were always honorable. And with The Philadelphia Story, Katharine Hepburn – defying MGM’s expectations and proving her former employers at RKO wrong – delivered a critical and popular hit. Her negative reputation was behind her, with the Time Magazine review reading: “Come on back, Katie, all is forgiven.” An MGM contract awaited. So did one of the most lauded acting careers in Hollywood history.
For those reading to this final paragraph and are still skeptical of The Philadelphia Story, I offer a personal note. Being an ardent fan of Turner Classic Movies (TCM), The Philadelphia Story makes frequent appearances on TCM’s schedule – given the size of TCM’s library, “frequent” means three to six times a year). Having heard so much praise for the film and being high on my watchlist, this was one of those handful of movies I had been putting off for years. The timing of my first viewing has inspired mixed feelings: I’m glad I waited, into my mid-twenties (because I would’ve dismissed this as saccharine ten years ago), but I also wish I had known how much I needed this film earlier. There’s that word again, “need”. This is a shining example of the best of Old Hollywood’s approach to romantic comedies – nothing cruel or insulting in its humor. It may not be the funniest comedy either, but comedies are more than just inspiring laughter. Step away from your expectations. From there, you, like Tracy, might just be able to see those less visible things than mean the most.
My rating: 10/10
^ Based on my personal imdb rating. The Philadelphia Story is the one hundred and forty-fifth film I have rated a ten on imdb.