My, She Was Yar! The Smooth Sailing of The Philadelphia Story

There is no better advertisement for good writing than that found in classic films.

And no, I'm not talking about Casablanca.

The Philadelphia Story, starring Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, is one of my top movies for many reasons. With 2 Oscars to its name, the film not only boasts superb acting, but also refreshingly precise, original and engaging writing. With every viewing, I notice another perfect line, another expertly crafted moment. After seeing it the first time, my friends and I quoted it endlessly, driving our roommates to distraction. It's a clever film: sharp and witty, but also poignant, insightful, full of scintillating banter as well as intense observations on the human existence, social class and relationships. Based on a play by Philip Barry, Hepburn actually bought the rights herself, only selling them to a studio with the caveat that she choose the screenwriter, director and cast. She originally wanted Spencer Tracy and Clark Gable to play the two male leads, but the film profited from their talents being elsewhere engaged: no one could be better than Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart in these roles. Even the musical version, High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Grace Kelly, doesn't hold a candle to the original film.

Tracy Lord (Hepburn) is a young lady of society recently divorced from C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant). She is about to marry again, this time to a self-made man, George Kittredge. However, the wedding plans are interrupted when journalist Macaulay Connor(Jimmy Stewart) waltzes in with his photographer partner to cover the wedding for a society mag.

C. K. Dexter Haven: Sometimes, for your own sake, Red, I think you should've stuck to me longer.
Tracy Lord: I thought it was for life, but the nice judge gave me a full pardon.
C. K. Dexter Haven: Aaah, that's the old redhead. No bitterness, no recrimination, just a good swift left to the jaw.

The entire movie hangs on one question: who will Tracy choose?!

George Kittredge: You're like some marvelous, distant, well...queen. You're so cool and fine and always so much your own. There's a kind of beautiful purity about you, Tracy, like a statue.
Tracy Lord: George...
George Kittredge: Oh, it's grand, Tracy. It's what everybody feels about you. It's what I first worshipped you for from afar.
Tracy Lord: I don't want to be worshipped. I want to be loved.

The film gets off to a slow start, and though the 1st half has its fair share of enjoyably quippy interactions, it is not until the 2nd half, (The Rehearsal Dinner) that the action becomes gripping, and the writing becomes both entrancing and thought-provoking.

Macaulay Connor: Tracy.
Tracy Lord: What do you want?
Macaulay Connor: You're wonderful.
There's a magnificence in you, Tracy. A magnificence that comes out of your eyes, in your voice, in the way you stand there, in the way you walk. You're lit from within, Tracy. You've got fires banked down in you, hearth-fires and holocausts.
Tracy Lord: I don't seem to you made of bronze?
Macaulay Connor: No, you're made out of flesh and blood. That's the blank, unholy surprise of it. You're the golden girl, Tracy. Full of life and warmth and delight. What goes on? You've got tears in your eyes.
Tracy Lord: Shut up, shut up. Oh, Mike. Keep talking, keep talking. Talk, will you?

I have never seen 2 actors so thoroughly convincing in their drunkenness as Jimmy Stewart and Katherine Hepburn in the above scene, and it is one of my favorites of all time, no matter the movie. Their conversation is beautiful: stimulating and exquisite.

Only one piece of advice for a satisfactory viewing: Pay Attention. As with most older films, the plot is almost impossible to follow unless the dialogue is listened to very closely. I have raved about this movie to friends, only to have them dismiss it because they prattled on during key moments and could not follow the story-line. This is no straightforward action movie. This is a film about human relationships and interactions. It is a film made up of conversations: conversations that must be listened to and understood if the plot is to make any sense at all.