It's time for the quiz show, Name That Movie! A 1940 film starring Cary Grant, based on a play, in which he tries to break up his ex-wife's next-day marriage to a man who isn't right for her. "His Girl Friday"! Bzzzzt, wrong answer. Let's try again. This comedy co-stars Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Their romance is threatened by a next-day marriage by one of them to a third party. "Bringing Up Baby"! Bzzzt, wrong again.
The correct answer is "The Philadelphia Story".
This film asks the question, should Katherine
Hepburn cancel the wedding with uptight John
Howard, and instead marry awkward writer Jimmy
Stewart, or perhaps meddlesome ex-husband Cary
Grant? Anyone who has a seen a film before can
safely answer, YES.
With famous names like Stewart, Grant, and
Hepburn, and with well-regarded director George
Cukor in control, how could the film go wrong?
The problem isn't so much the familiar storyline,
which is complicated by the addition of humble
secondary love interest Ruth Hussey, and numerous
extraneous and stereotypical family members. The
problem is with the script, which isn't nearly as
funny as the writers believe it to be. The effect
is one comic scene after another that falls
short, like the routine of a mediocre comic that
messes up all his jokes. How, then, does one
account for the great critical and commercial
success of the film? Perhaps the impressive cast
helped, and perhaps folks caught in the
continuing Depression enjoyed laughing at the
foibles of the well-to-do set. Or, perhaps I have
simply misinterpreted the film.
James Stewart won Best Actor for his performance.
Perhaps he deserved it, for surviving the lines
that he had to deliver. His character rapidly
changes from caustic to shameless in his devotion
for Hepburn. They have a "drunk" scene together
which perpetuates the myth of the funny drunk who
can't stop hiccupping.
Somehow, Donald Ogden Stewart won the Academy
Award for Best Screenplay, despite competition
from films such as "The Grapes of Wrath" and
"Rebecca". Cukor was nominated for Best Director,
Hepburn for Best Actress, Hussey for Best
Supporting Actress, and the film for Best
Picture. (57/100)
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY boasts an incredible cast but it's Katharine Hepburn's picture in more ways than one. Tracy Lord Hepburn a Philadelphia heiress...More at Family Video
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