NFR Project: 'The Philadelphia Story' (1940)

 

NFR Project: ‘The Philadelphia Story’

Dir: George Cukor

Scr: Donald Ogden Stewart

Pho: Joseph Ruttenberg

Ed: Frank Sullivan

Premiere: Dec. 26, 1940

112 min.

Katherine Hepburn’s career was in trouble. She was labeled “box office poison” due to the string of film flops she had starred in over the course of three years. No one was willing to cast her – in anything.

How did she solve her problem? First, she commissioned playwright Philip Barry to write a romantic comedy for her to star in. The play, The Philadelphia Story, ran for over a year. Her then-boyfriend, millionaire Howard Hughes, bought the film rights to the play and then gave them to her. She then turned around and sold the rights to MGM for $250,000, and insisted on creative control over the project as well.

She selected George Cukor as director. Cukor was by then well known for his comedic skills, as well as his ability to work with female stars. Cary Grant hopped aboard, as did Jimmy Stewart. Soon the film was off to the races – and it is now considered Golden Age Hollywood’s best romantic comedy.

It’s the story of Tracy Lord (Hepburn), a wealthy Philadelphia socialite who’s divorced her first husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Grant). (Their breakup is summarized in a single, wordless scene that’s a comedy classic.) She’s now ready to wed self-made tycoon George Kittredge (John Howard). Her household is aflutter with preparations for the wedding. Ex-husband Dexter shows up to interfere with the proceedings. The most notable development he instigates is the forced (through blackmail) invitation of tabloid reporter Mike Connor (Jimmy Stewart) and his photographer and paramour Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) to cover the event for their magazine.

Tracy finds herself torn – between affection for George, a sudden interest in the besotted Mike, and the rekindling of a torch for Dexter. The usual complications and mishaps ensue, leading to nothing but chaos and instability. This merry-go-round of possible relationships is dizzying and witty, played with extreme sang-froid by all involved.

The result is an entertaining spin through the relatively innocuous woes of America’s upper class. The film is too controlled to be truly regarded as a screwball comedy. Call it a comedy of manners. This style of narrative is as old as the ancient Greeks, and found its clearest expression in the plays of Moliere, highlighted as a genre in the English theater of the early 18^th century, and persisted to the present day through the work of authors such as Oscr Wilde and Noel Coward.

As with all good comedies of the type, almost everyone gets what they want by the end.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Pinocchio.