Review of “The Philadelphia Story” (1940)

Back home and back to our Saturday pizza and bad movie. We gave the usual monster movies a break and watched the classic The Philadelphia Story, a movie neither of us could remember seeing before.

Plot:

C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) is packing the car with his worldly goods. Tracy—Mrs. C. K. Dexter Haven (Katharine Hepburn) has asked him to leave. She’s had enough of his drinking. While “helping” him, she hands him his pipe caddy, complete with pipes. It somehow lands forcefully on the ground. She sends his golf bag flying and breaks a club over her knee. Irritated at the petty destruction, Dexter pushes her back through the front door and onto the floor.

Two years later, Tracy, of the fabulously wealthy Lord family, is planning her wedding to nouveau-riche George Kittredge (John Howard). Her father (John Halliday) won’t be there. Her parents separated unofficially over the matter of a dancer. But then he does show up.

However, through the machinations of the owner of the gossip magazine Spy, reporter Macaulay “Mike” Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Elizabeth “Liz” Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) will be attending the wedding, posing as friends of Tracy’s brother, who lives in Argentina.

Providing cover for Mike and Liz is Dexter, Tracy’s ex-husband, who will also be attending.

Tracy’s little sister Dinah (Virginia Weidler) looks forward to seeing Dexter, as does their mother (Mary Nash). Dexter even refers to Mrs. Lord as “Mother Lord,” as if she were still his mother-in-law. Woah. Support much?

Tracy realizes “her brother’s friends” are reporters, which she only tolerates after a threat to expose her father’s indiscretions. Yet she sees that Mike is a serious writer, only taking this job to keep body and soul together. She admires him but accidentally-on-purpose ruins Liz’s camera.

So, the night before the wedding, she has three men circling her: her fiancé, her ex-husband, and the reporter. She gets uncharacteristically drunk after the pre-wedding dinner and goes for an innocent-enough swim with Mike. Both Dexter and George witness Mike carrying the smashed Tracy to her bedroom.

And they aren’t the only ones watching.

Thoughts:

The Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy adapted from a play of the same name written by Philip Barry. It was remade in 1956 as High Society as a musical with Louis Armstrong providing the music. In 1995, The Philadelphia Story was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Perhaps because of the film registry, the copy we got from the library was clear, and the dialogue was easy to understand, especially for a movie so old.

There are genuinely funny scenes in it. When George tries to mount a horse, the horse walks away while he has one foot in the stirrup and another in the air. He tells “Bessie” she seems worried.

“Maybe that’s because his name is Jack,” quips Dinah.

Also, the awkwardness of husband #1 inviting himself to his ex-wife’s wedding permeates the rest of the action. Cary Grant’s Dexter is so cool. He hasn’t forgotten his pipes or his golf club. He shows no animosity toward the new guy, someone he knows but considers beneath Tracy.
 
However, he has some unresolved issues with his old flame, and he—the erstwhile drunk who pushed her down—lectures her on how cold and unforgiving toward imperfection in herself or another human being she is. She wants to be worshipped from afar.

Hmm…. Is there a reason anyone, man or woman, must accept a physically abusive person who has an addiction—even if that abuse was “minor”? One might choose to do so for various reasons, but where does it say that it is a requirement?

Her father lectures her on how having an affectionate daughter keeps a man feeling young and, therefore, without a need for philandering. Huh? So her father’s stepping out with the dancer was her fault?

Tracy eventually sees the light and makes the right choice. Or something.

If I’d been writing the movie, the ending would be something like having Tracy cancel the wedding, but hey—we’ve got everyone here. The caterer and the staff have worked hard. Let’s have a non-reception party. The next day, Tracy can start looking for a job.

The movie garnered eight awards and eleven nominations, including a 1941 Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

I liked a lot about this movie. There was some sheer silliness in it that was just plain fun. But I felt an underlying vein of misogyny that I can’t ignore.




The movie can be watched on Tubi with a whole slew of ads:

or on the Internet Archive:

Part 1:

Part 2:

It can also be rented or bought at places like YouTube, Amazon, and AppleTV.

Title: The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing Credits
Donald Ogden Stewart…(screenplay)
Philip Barry…(based on the play by)
Waldo Salt…(contributing writer) (uncredited)

Cast (in credits order)
Cary Grant…C. K. Dexter Haven
Katharine Hepburn…Tracy Samantha Lord
James Stewart…Macaulay “Mike” Connor
Ruth Hussey…Elizabeth “Liz” Imbrie
John Howard…George Kittredge

Released: 1940
Length: 1 hour, 52 minutes