The Philadelphia Story (1940)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Donald Ogden Stewart (screenplay)
Philip Barry (play)
(more)

Release Date:

26 December 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Uncle Leo's bedtime story for you older tots! The things they do among the playful rich - Oh, boy!

Plot:

When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Wedding | Heiress | Divorce | Philadelphia

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Cary Grant	...	C.K. Dexter Haven
Katharine Hepburn	...	Tracy Lord
James Stewart	...	Macaulay Connor
Ruth Hussey	...	Elizabeth Imbrie
John Howard	...	George Kittredge
Roland Young	...	Uncle Willie
John Halliday	...	Seth Lord
Mary Nash	...	Margaret Lord
Virginia Weidler	...	Dinah Lord
Henry Daniell	...	Sidney Kidd
Lionel Pape	...	Edward
Rex Evans	...	Thomas
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
King Baggot	...	Extra as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Hillary Brooke	...	Main Line Society Woman (uncredited)
Veda Buckland	...	Elsie (uncredited)
Lita Chevret	...	Manicurist (uncredited)
Russ Clark	...	John - Chauffeur (uncredited)
David Clyde	...	Mac (uncredited)
Robert De Bruce	...	Dr. Parsons (uncredited)
Dorothy Fay	...	Main Line Society Woman (uncredited)
Claude King	...	Uncle Willie's Butler (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Extra as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Florine McKinney	...	Main Line Society Woman (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Hilda Plowright	...	Librarian (uncredited)
Mildred Shay	...	Main Line Society Woman (uncredited)
Joseph Sweeney	...	Butler (uncredited)
Helene Whitney	...	Main Line Society Woman (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
Donald Ogden Stewart		(screenplay)
Philip Barry		(play)
Waldo Salt		contributing writer (uncredited)

Produced by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz	....	producer

Original Music by
Franz Waxman		(musical score)

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Frank Sullivan

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
Jack Dawn	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Keith Weeks	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edward Woehler	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Wade B. Rubottom	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Tom Gunn	....	re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Loew's (produced by) (as Loew's Incorporated)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Loew's (1940) (USA) (theatrical) (uncredited)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1942) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1986) (Finland) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• DVD Magic (2005) (Russia) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Atalanta Filmes (????) (Portugal) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Theatre Guild  play produced by
• Turner Entertainment  package design

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:U (re-rating) (1998) | Finland:K-16 (1942) | Finland:S (1986) | USA:Approved (certificate #6594) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:PG (video rating) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) (2005) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Katharine Hepburn asked MGM to cast Clark Gable as Dexter and Spencer Tracy as Mike before she met either of them. Both Gable and Tracy were busy with other projects, so Cary Grant and James Stewart were cast instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mike is outside the library, there are no columns outside, but when he enters, the shot from inside the library shows one.

Quotes:

George Kittredge: [walks in on Tracy and Dexter together] Well, I suppose I should object to this twosome.
C. K. Dexter Haven: That would be most objectionable.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Philadelphia Story (#4.26)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Bridal Chorus

Dictating her own comeback

After Katharine Hepburn was one of a group of stars dictated "box office poison" by the ruling moguls of Hollywood she went east and scored a complete triumph on stage with The Philadelphia Story. But our Kate was the shrewd one, she had the foresight to buy the film rights from author Philip Barry and peddle them to the studio that would guarantee her repeating her stage role and giving her creative control.

On stage she had co-starred with Joseph Cotten, Van Heflin, and Shirley Booth all of whom became movie names later on, but meant nothing to Hollywood in 1940. She had the choice of leading men and cast in their places, Cary Grant, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey.

This was Grant's fourth and final appearance on screen with Hepburn. It's a typical Cary Grant part, witty and urbane, with a touch of the rogue in him. He's Hepburn's ex-husband, still very much in love with his ex-wife, but she's marrying stuffed shirt John Howard.

Reporter James Stewart and photographer Ruth Hussey are covering Hepburn's wedding for Spy Magazine, the National Enquirer of the day. Through a little judicious blackmail they're invited to this premier society wedding, but both feel out of place and used.

After The Philadelphia Story, Katharine Hepburn was a movie name the rest of her long life. Even with an occasional clinker no one ever questioned her about being box office poison.

James Stewart won the Best Actor Oscar in probably the most romantic he was ever on the screen. A lot felt it was a consolation Oscar for not winning it for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in 1939. Stewart himself proclaimed to all who'd listen that he voted for good friend Henry Fonda in the Academy Sweepstakes for The Grapes of Wrath. I've always felt that when Stewart talked about those hearth fires banked down low to Hepburn, he was really talking about himself. He's a cynical fellow at first and his romantic side comes as a surprise to him more than even the audience.

The Philadelphia Story has become such a classic that even the musical remake High Society doesn't try to copy it, it just presents a softer musical alternative. But I'd kind of liked to have seen Hepburn do this with her original cast as well. Oscars were in the future for Van Heflin and Shirley Booth and Joseph Cotten the following year made his debut in the biggest film of all.