Review of The Philadelphia Story (1940) by Gary T — 02 Aug 2014

Wow.....fantastic.....brillliant,.....classics......i have just seen this movie 4 the 1st time n think that this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch.......its got a good cast of actors/actressess throughout this movie......i think that cary grant (.R.I.P.), katharine hepburn (.R.I.P.), james stewart (.R.I.P.), ruth hussey (.R.I.P.), john howard (.R.I.P.), play good roles/parts throughout this movie......i think that the director of this romance/classics/comedy movie had done a great job of directing this movie because you never know what 2 expect throughout this movie.......i think that this is such a fantastic movie 2 watch.......i think that this is such a really well written/acted/directed movie 2 watch it is so beautifully directed movie 2 watch.......

The character of "Tracy Lord" was inspired by Helen Hope Montgomery Scott (1904-1995), a Philadelphia socialite known for her hijinks, who married a friend of playwright Philip Barry.

I think that james stewart was absolutley brilliant throughout this movie......i think that this is such a cult classics movie 2 watch it is so really really funny movie 2 watch......its got a good soundtrack throughout this movie.....

Box office.

The film was the 5th most popular movie at the US box office in 1941. According to MGM records it earned $2,374,000 in the US and Canada and $885,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $1,272,000.

Critical.

According to Bosley Crowther, the film "has just about everything that a blue-chip comedy should have-a witty, romantic script derived by Donald Ogden Stewart out of Philip Barry's successful play; the flavor of high-society elegance, in which the patrons invariably luxuriate, and a splendid cast of performers headed by Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and Cary Grant. If it doesn't play out this year and well along into next they should turn the Music Hall into a shooting gallery....Metro and Director George Cukor have graciously made it apparent, in the words of a character, that one of 'the prettiest sights in this pretty world is the privileged classes enjoying their privileges.' And so, in this instance, will you, too.".

The Philadelphia Story was the last of four films starring Grant and Hepburn, the others being Sylvia Scarlett (1935), Bringing Up Baby (1938), and Holiday (1938). All but Sylvia Scarlett belong to a sub-genre of screwball comedy called the comedy of remarriage described by the philosopher Stanley Cavell as Hollywood's crowning achievement.

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Nominated for six Academy Awards, the film won two; James Stewart for Best Actor and Donald Ogden Stewart for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was remade in 1956 as the musical High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong.

The film was produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1995.

James Stewart and Donald Ogden Stewart won Academy Awards.

James Stewart was not expecting to win and was not planning to attend the awards ceremony. He was called and "advised" to show up in a dinner jacket. Stewart himself said he had voted for Henry Fonda for his performance in The Grapes of Wrath, and always felt the award had been given to him as compensation for not winning the Academy Award for his portrayal of Jeff Smith in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the previous year. Donald Ogden Stewart, on the other hand, declared upon winning his Oscar: "I have no one to thank but myself!".

Hepburn won a 1940 New York Film Critics Circle Award for her performance,[18] and the film was named one of the ten best of the year by Film Daily.

In 1995, The Philadelphia Story film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

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