The Philadelphia Story 1940
I had seen this movie, or at least most of it, within the last ten years or so and so and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to see a Criterion edition of it released, which I got for my birthday. Watching a few of the extras, I got some good background on the movie. Katharine Hepburn’s career was in a bit of a downturn, so she bought out her contract in order to leave RKO and return to the stage. She worked on the play of The Philadelphia Story, which enjoyed a lot of success and then her former boyfriend Howard Hughes bought her the movie rights to help her comeback. The movie works a lot like a play, mostly dialogue between various characters. While I like the romantic banter and all four of the leads are very good, the movie is kind of lightweight in some ways, mostly with Hepburn as a headstrong princess with three suitors. I think that may be more appealing to women than men, but it still works. Though she plays a strong willed woman, she seems pretty indecisive and kind of weak when it comes to figuring out what kind of man she wants to be with. Otherwise it is great seeing Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant as well as Hepburn doing some of their best work (though Grant seems a little goofy at times, which doesn’t work well for him). It is fun to see this story of American royalty, and not as a period piece since the play was quite recent and set contemporaneously. The side characters are generally pretty good as well, and after taking a weird detour with Jimmy Stewart, everything turns out well. The Criterion extras are worth watching, though maybe not spectacular, but I haven’t watched the commentary track yet.
Written: 17 Nov 2018
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital