The Philadelphia Story
Directed by George Cukor
Tabloid reporters crash a society marriage.
1940 1h 52m Comedy TV-G
Expires: Invalid date
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![James Stewart, Macaulay [Mike] Connor](https://prod-images.tcm.com/Master-Profile-Images/JamesStewart.jpg?w=200)
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The wealth and position of the socially prominent Lord family of Philadelphia has made Tracy, the eldest daughter, into an imperious and haughty shrew. Tracy's attitude causes a marital rift with her childhood sweetheart, sportsman and recovering alcoholic C. K. Dexter Haven, leading to a divorce. Two years later, Tracy is poised to wed the pompous and politically ambitious self-made man George Kittridge when Dexter returns from an extended absence accompanied by scandal sheet reporters Macaulay "Mike" Connor and Elizabeth Imbrey. Because Sidney Kidd, the powerful publisher of the scandal magazine Spy , has embarassing information on Tracy's father Seth's affair with a dancer, Dexter agrees to allow Mike and Liz access to Tracy's wedding in exchange for not printing the story on Seth. Although Dexter introduces Mike and Liz as old friends of Tracy's brother Junius, who is living in South America, Tracy realizes that Mike and Liz are reporters. She allows them to stay, however, and puts on an exaggerated performance of a society girl for them when Dexter tells her about Kidd. Tracy is angry at Dexter for coming back after two years, but her mother Margaret and sister Dinah are delighted at his presence, complicating Tracy's attempts to have a dignified wedding. Because Tracy is angry at her father for his affair and doesn't expect him at the wedding, she pretends that her uncle Willie is her father, hoping to make Mike and Liz think that everyone is happy. ...
According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, Clark Gable was originally to have played the role of C. K. Dexter Haven. Another item in Hollywood Reporter states that the film was completed five days under schedule. The Variety review notes that in order to avoid competition with the stage play, M-G-M agreed not to put the film into general release until January 1941, although it was screened at selected theaters in December 1940. Hepburn revised the role she starred in on Broadway. James Stewart won an Academy Award for Best Actor and Donald Ogden Stewart won the award for Best Screenplay for their work on this film. The film also received the following Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn), Best Supporting Actress (Ruth Hussey) and Best Direction (George Cukor).
In an interview, Cukor confirms that Katharine Hepburn, who was considered "box office poison" at the time, had purchased the screen rights to the play, which was written with her in mind, in hopes of reviving her flagging film career. As hoped, the film's success revitalized Hepburn's standing in Hollywood. According to modern sources, because she had purchased the screen rights before the play opened, she was able to chose her director and co-stars. In 1942, the Lux Radio Theatre presented Philip Barry's play featuring the film's stars, and in 1943, presented another version starring Robert Taylor, Loretta Young and Robert Young. In 1956, Charles Walter directed Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in High Society, M-G-M's musical version of the Barry play.
