Hepburn, Grant and Stewart star in one of the best romantic comedies ever made!
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:45
Fresh:45
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8.5/10
Consensus: Offering a wonderfully witty script, spotless direction from George Cukor, and typically excellent lead performances, The Philadelphia Story is an unqualified classic.
Synopsis: THE PHILADELPHIA STORY boasts an incredible cast, but it's Katharine Hepburn's picture in more ways than one. Tracy Lord (Hepburn), a Philadelphia heiress, is about to marry coal-company executive... THE PHILADELPHIA STORY boasts an incredible cast, but it's Katharine Hepburn's picture in more ways than one. Tracy Lord (Hepburn), a Philadelphia heiress, is about to marry coal-company executive George Kittridge (John Howard). The wedding, promising to be the season's premier event, attracts the attention of magazine publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell), who sees it as an opportunity to break a story. Spy magazine's Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), Lord's ex-husband, is enlisted to "gain access" to the party, along with top scandal writer Macauley Connor (James Stewart, in an Oscar-winning role). However, the reporter is quickly smitten by the bride's charms--and he's not the only one. The film, based on the play by Phillip Barry, was first a Broadway sensation starring Hepburn, who acquired the screen rights, claimed the starring role, and chose the director, screenwriter, and lead cast. In addition to fine work by Grant and Stewart, notable supporting performances are delivered by Ruth Hussey and Virginia Weidler. One of nine films Hepburn made with director George Cukor, it remains one of the classics of their collaboration and of American cinema. [More]
Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey
Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young, John Halliday, Virginia Weidler, Henry Daniell, Lionel Pape, Rex Evans
Director: George Cukor
Director: George Cukor
Screenwriter: Donald Ogden Stewart
Composer: Franz Waxman
Producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Story: Philip Barry
Reviews for The Philadelphia Story
A seamless comedy about a priggish, upper-crust beauty who finally gets her comeuppance and learns some tolerance.
Its witty dialogue, romantic complications, and class-skewering satire are hallmarks of screwball comedy, but it's a more mature and humanistic social satire, a comedy of manners skewering every kind of snobbery.
It has been a long time since Hollywood has spent itself so extravagantly, and to such entertaining effect, upon a straight upper-crust fable, an unblushing apologia for plutocracy.
Today I don't think anyone really cares about the fact that this was intended to be a cunning class satire with a capital C, but it's got big stars, they say cool things, they look good, it's funny, and the right guy gets the right girl in amusing fashion
You could...fill a book with all the magical things that make this witty, swift, and wistful romantic comedy so impossibly good. Hollywood doesn't make romantic comedies like this anymore.
Hepburn at her pinnacle; Grant and Stewart at their most charming; witty, warm and wonderful. A timeless work.
If ever a production was endowed with an over-abundance of what normally represents the epitome in entertainment it is The Philadelphia Story.
Latest News for The Philadelphia Story
June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...
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