A movie custom-made to fit the personality of an arrogant but headstrong movie star, a play with dialog that sizzles with so much ferocity that it threatens to leap out the confines of its own frame, performances that could not have and have not have been excelled ever since, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is one of the best screwball comedies ever made and the third to pair her with Cary Grant with whom she worked so completely well. Hepburn had asked that Tracy and Gable be her leading men but looking at this film, for all the chemistry that Tracy and Hepburn ever had and all the talent Gable had for acting in comedic farce, I can't imagine either of them playing any of the two leading males that are after Tracy Lord's love. That Grant plays C. K. Dexter "Dex" Haven so perfectly well, and his opening scene with Hepburn is the stuff of movie history, only rectifies that. That Stewart embodies the essence of MaCauley Connors as if he were in fact the character just proves how strong an actor he was, and one who didn't have to resort to extreme emoting to make his point. That the three make for the most memorable romantic triangle in film history is probably an understatement.
Of course the story is old. Of course the character motivations are dated. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY belongs perpetually in its own time, the late 1930s (when it was written and performed on stage), when sensibilities towards the rich were much different than they are today. The whole bit of the society princess being humbled to become a better person is really a thinly disguised fable that tells the story of how Hepburn, who had made such a powerful debut in film with her appearance in A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT, quickly established a personality so abrasive (she wouldn't do interviews or cheesecake, it is rare to find a Hepburn picture from the 30s where she is dolled up) that it translated into box-office bomb after bomb and by 1938 she was all but washed up. Tracy Lord's return to humankind is really the story of Hepburn's return to the world of acting even if she retained her abrasiveness to her last days. And of course, who better suited for this role than Hepburn herself, who had done the role on stage and by the time Hollywood came (reluctantly) calling -- they wanted Norma Shearer, who in my opinion could have carried it off but differently -- knew the part in and out (and owned the rights to the play in a shrewd move). We can't imagine anyone else playing this role, which is why when the inevitable musical remake was made in 1956 with Grace Kelly in the lead, it misfires, and no amount of Cole Porter could save it even if it was a commercial success.
But regardless being dated, maybe too talky for some, what a movie. To see the utter craziness of the plot which backfires at least twice and creates a sense of really not knowing what will happen next (even when we know on a certain level Hepburn and Grant will wind up in each other's arms) is the stuff romantic comedy is made of. Oscar nominated in almost every major category, it won two -- Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay -- but over the years it's grown beyond statuettes and remains as one of the greatest films of the 20th Century.
Of course the story is old. Of course the character motivations are dated. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY belongs perpetually in its own time, the late 1930s (when it was written and performed on stage), when sensibilities towards the rich were much different than they are today. The whole bit of the society princess being humbled to become a better person is really a thinly disguised fable that tells the story of how Hepburn, who had made such a powerful debut in film with her appearance in A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT, quickly established a personality so abrasive (she wouldn't do interviews or cheesecake, it is rare to find a Hepburn picture from the 30s where she is dolled up) that it translated into box-office bomb after bomb and by 1938 she was all but washed up. Tracy Lord's return to humankind is really the story of Hepburn's return to the world of acting even if she retained her abrasiveness to her last days. And of course, who better suited for this role than Hepburn herself, who had done the role on stage and by the time Hollywood came (reluctantly) calling -- they wanted Norma Shearer, who in my opinion could have carried it off but differently -- knew the part in and out (and owned the rights to the play in a shrewd move). We can't imagine anyone else playing this role, which is why when the inevitable musical remake was made in 1956 with Grace Kelly in the lead, it misfires, and no amount of Cole Porter could save it even if it was a commercial success.
But regardless being dated, maybe too talky for some, what a movie. To see the utter craziness of the plot which backfires at least twice and creates a sense of really not knowing what will happen next (even when we know on a certain level Hepburn and Grant will wind up in each other's arms) is the stuff romantic comedy is made of. Oscar nominated in almost every major category, it won two -- Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay -- but over the years it's grown beyond statuettes and remains as one of the greatest films of the 20th Century.