The Philadelphia Story (1940) and High Society (1956)

Currently (circa 2018), if you heard someone speak of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, you might think they were talking about the Philadelphia Eagles winning the Super Bowl in February 2018 and the Villanova Wildcats winning the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in April 2018 The Philadelphia 76ers made the NBA playoffs for the first time in six years and the Philadelphia Flyers are playing in the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs.  It has been a phenomenal 2018 for Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.

But CrazyFilmGuy wants to discuss George Cukor's 1940 classic comedy THE PHILADELPHIA STORY and its star studded musical remake HIGH SOCIETY (1956).  Both films were made under the MGM banner.  THE PHILADELPHIA STORY falls in line with the screwball comedies of the time but also it's a comedy of manners, poking fun at the upper class of Philadelphia society. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is based on a play by Philip Barry.  Films based on plays were all the rage in the 30s and 40s when Hollywood was looking for material to turn into movies.  THE PHILADELPHIA STORY'S remake sixteen years later HIGH SOCIETY re-imagines the story as a musical comedy.  THE PHILADELPHIA STORY showcases three of the hottest rising stars at the time in Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart.  HIGH SOCIETY has musical superstars Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and in a supporting role Louis Armstrong as well as songs and lyrics by Cole Porter. Only Grace Kelly is the non-musical lead in HIGH SOCIETY.

Directed by George Cukor (A STAR IS BORN) with a superb adaptation of Barry's play by Donald Ogden Stewart, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY tells us all we need to know in the first thirty seconds. C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) and his wife Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) have a fight. He walks out with his luggage. She breaks one of his golf clubs. He (comically) puts a  hand on her face and pushes her back into the house. Jump ahead two years later.  Tracy Lord, now former wife of C.K. Dexter Haven is engaged to George Kittredge (John Howard), who started out poor, worked hard, and now manages a coal mine. Tracy just wants to find true love. Tracy's ex-husband Dexter returns from Argentina where he's been working for Spy Magazine.  Dexter offers to help Spy Magazine publisher Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell) get a scoop on Tracy's wedding. Kidd sends his top writer Macaulay "Mike" Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) to cover the wedding, pretending to be friends of Tracy's brother Junius (who we never see in the film). In exchange, Kidd promises Dexter not to run an embarrassing story about Tracy's father Seth Lord (John Halliday) and a nightclub dancer.

Dexter gives Tracy and her mother Margaret Lord (Mary Nash) a heads up regarding the reporters pretending to be Junius's guests.  Tracy and her kid sister Dinah Lord (Virginia Weidler) pretend to be eccentric to throw Connor and Liz for a loop. Tracy even pretends that her Uncle Willie (Roland Young) is really her father Seth.  But then Seth shows up at the house for the wedding. Tracy comes clean with Connor and Liz about who's who and the reporters reciprocate. Tracy begins to fall for Connor.  Liz is in love with Connor. Uncle Willie begins to chase Liz. And Dexter seems to have feelings again for his ex-wife Tracy.

Uncle Willie throw a big Wedding Eve party that night.  Upset by her father Seth's honest comments about her, Tracy drinks more than she should. She dances with George and Connor. Connor borrows a limousine to see Dexter.  Both Dexter and Connor don't want to see Tracy marry the boring and straight laced George.  Dexter's worried about Kidd blackmailing Tracy's father with the dancer story. But Connor reveals he has some dirt on his boss Kidd which he provides to Dexter. Liz and Tracy show up.  Tracy and Connor go for a late night swim.  They even kiss.  When Connor carries a passed out Tracy back to the house, they run into both Dexter and a fuming George. George storms off into the night. All three men seem to be in love with Tracy.

The next morning, almost everyone (except little Dinah) wakes up hung over and confused from the previous night's events. Dinah tells Tracy she saw Connor with her the night before. The wedding guests begin to arrive at the Lord house for the wedding.  But George sends a note that he can't marry Tracy due to her conduct the night before.  Connor clears the air that nothing happened between him and Tracy. George forgives her but Tracy decides not to marry George. But there's still the wedding guests and a priest. Who might marry Tracy now? Will it be the newcomer Macaulay Connor or her ex-husband C.K Dexter Haven?

On the surface THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is a screwball comedy with mistaken identities, multiple love stories, and blackmail. But director Cukor explores the meaning of love and marriage through Katharine Hepburn's Tracy Lord, one of the great female roles of the 20th Century.  Early on, Tracy is compared to a goddess by her father Seth.  She expects marriage to be perfect with no mistakes.  That's why she divorced Dexter. She wasn't treated like a queen.  But marriage isn't perfect. "You have everything it takes to make a lovely woman except the one essential, " her father scolds Tracy. "An understanding heart. And without that, you might just as well be made of bronze." George compares Tracy to a statue, explains her purity is why he worshipped her from afar. "I don't want to be worshipped," Tracy replies. "I want to be loved."

Tracy's quest for true love is symbolized by the boat that Dexter designed and practically built for Tracy when they were married (Dexter gives her a small replica of the boat as a wedding present).  The boat's name is in fact True Love. Marriage is like that sail boat.  There will be calm seas at times in a marriage but there will be rough patches of water as well.  Tracy and Dexter talk about yare (pronounced yar) when reminiscing about the True Love. How the boat was easy to handle, quick to the helm. But it's also a description of Tracy during their marriage. She started out yare but later Tracy was not easy to handle or maneuver.  She was not yare.  Later, Tracy promises Dexter "I'll be yare now. I promise to be yare." Tracy will change course like her favorite sail boat in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.

When watching THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, I marveled at director Cukor's casting from the three leads Grant, Hepburn, and Stewart all the way down through the Lord family and even the Uncle Willy character.  But it's Philip Barry's characters that are the real stars. Each character is so well written and defined.  Cukor just had to pick the right actor or actress for each role which he performed brilliantly. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY would be the only film that Cary Grant and James Stewart would work on together (they are a fun pair).  Surprisingly, Stewart has the flashier role and would win the Academy Award for Best Actor as Macaulay Connor in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.  Stewart's leading man status was just beginning to take off when he went off to fight in World War II.  He would return to films in 1946. Both Grant and Stewart, already emerging movie stars, would find great success separately in some of Alfred Hitchcock's best films later on in their careers.

Katharine Hepburn is well known for having made nine films with Spencer Tracy but Hepburn and Cary Grant would work together on four films besides THE PHILADELPHIA STORY including George Cukor's SYLVIA SCARLETT (1935), HOLIDAY (1938), and Howard Hawks BRINGING UP BABY (1938).  PHILADELPHIA STORY'S playwright Philip Barry wrote the part of Tracy Lord with Hepburn in mind to play the role which she did on stage. Hepburn is luminous and beautiful as Tracy Lord. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY would resurrect Hepburn's career. All the female roles in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY are excellent.  Ruth Hussey (NORTHWEST PASSAGE) as photographer Liz Imbrie is the typical wisecracking news person but she gives Liz a vulnerability we don't often see in that role.  Young Virginia Weidler (THE WOMEN) nearly steals the movie as Tracy's kid sister Dinah.  And Mary Nash as Margaret Lord, the matriarch of the family plays the motherly role with a combination of tenderness and bemusement.

As with the supporting actresses in PHILADELPHIA STORY, the male supporting roles are equally top notch.  Roland Young (TOPPER) as the champagne loving Uncle Willie has several funny lines and scenes.  John Halliday as Tracy's philandering father Seth Lord is solid.  John Howard (LOST HORIZON) as Tracy's fiancée George Kittredge has the toughest role.  Kittredge is the most boring part in the film yet Howard plays George as both earnest and uptight.  He's handsome and you feel for George when Tracy turns him down right before walking down the aisle even though we don't want to see Tracy marry the wrong man.

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is about the affluent in Philadelphia and director Cukor makes sure to provide the right ingredients for the tale.  We have lavish homes, butlers, swimming pools, sherry and champagne available at any time, and chauffeurs to take you wherever you want to go.  Tracy and Dexter represent the upper class.  George has worked his way up from the bottom but still feels slightly inferior with the elite. Connor is the everyman between the two classes, observing both sides.  In the end, Cukor reminds everyone that it's not whether you're rich or poor that makes the person.  It's what's inside that counts.

So why would MGM remake a nearly perfect film like THE PHILADELPHIA STORY sixteen years later with HIGH SOCIETY? Because musicals and color film were all the rage in the 1950s. MGM was the King of Musicals.  They were probably looking for a new story to put music to and Louis B Mayer (or his assistant) remembered THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.  "What if we made it into a musical?" someone might have said.  There was no reason to try to top it as a straight comedy.  Have Cole Porter write some songs and turn it into a musical comedy.  The 1950s were full of entertainers who could sing, dance, and act.  Crooners Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra inherit the roles of C.K. Dexter Haven and Mike Connor that Grant and Stewart played previously.  Add one of the most beautiful and talented actresses in the 50's Grace Kelly in the Katharine Hepburn role as Tracy Lord. HIGH SOCIETY is born.

But all the music and Cole Porter songs come at the expense of the plot and dramatic framework of the story.  HIGH SOCIETY is like a cliff notes version of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.  Screenwriter John Patrick lifts some of best lines from the original but much of the subtext and plot gets pushed aside to fit in the melodious vocal chords of Crosby and Sinatra.  HIGH SOCIETY director Charles Walters (LILI) specialty was musicals but he's not George Cukor.  He shoots much of HIGH SOCIETY in wide shots which was typical for a musical. HIGH SOCIETY is colorful and sumptuous yet it feels more like a stage play than a film.

HIGH SOCIETY moves the location of the story from the blue blood suburbs of Philadelphia to the mansions of Newport, Rhode Island. C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby) is now a famous composer/singer. Dexter welcomes jazz trumpet great Louis Armstrong (playing himself) and his band to the Newport Jazz Festival. The weekend festival just happens to coincide with the second wedding for Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly) and coal miner owner George Kittredge (John Lund) that same weekend. Tracy's first husband C.K. Dexter Haven lives next door. This time, it's Uncle Willie (Louis Calhern) who's trying to keep Tracy's father Seth Lord's (Sidney Blackmer) infidelities out of Spy Magazine. Spy Magazine promises to not run the story if two of their staff, writer Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) can get a scoop by covering Tracy's wedding. Tracy's mother Mrs. Lord (Margalo Gillmore) reluctantly agrees.

The film follows the plot of the original for the most part except for cramming in numerous musical duets. We get Crosby and Kelly, Sinatra and Holm, Sinatra and Kelly, and Crosby and Armstrong. Neither Dexter nor Tracy's kid sister Carolyn Lord (Lydia Reed) like Tracy's fiancée George. Tracy and her father Seth trade barbs over their ideals about marriage and fidelity. Peeved by the reporters intrusion, Tracy takes Mike for a drive among the Newport mansions, showing him the true image of wealth - empty mansions and homes donated to become Boys Schools. Mike begins to fall for the upper crust Tracy.

Uncle Willie hosts a pre-wedding party for Tracy and George and all their guests.  Dexter and Louis Armstrong and his band entertain the crowd. Tracy drinks too much and kisses Dexter.  George tries to lock her in a room to sober up but Tracy escapes through a window and runs over to her house with Mike.  They drink some more and go for a moonlight swim.  Dexter and George show up at Tracy's house looking for her.  When Mike carries a passed out Tracy back from the pool, George storms away, fuming.

Tracy, Mike, and Uncle Willie all wake up the next morning hung over.  Tracy doesn't recall much of the night's events.  When George returns thinking Tracy's done more than just swim with Mike, Mike sets the record straight.  He put Tracy to bed and returned to be punched by Dexter (before George could floor him).  Mike and Liz agree to kill any Spy magazine story about Tracy's wedding.  George forgives Tracy it's too late. Tracy decides not to marry George in the end. But with all the wedding guests waiting for the wedding, will Dexter or Mike step in and marry Tracy?

HIGH SOCIETY is a more lighthearted romp than THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (which is saying something as STORY is very funny). The remake is as smooth as Bing Crosby's velvety voice. But it loses some of its serious undertones with changes from the original. The most glaring in HIGH SOCIETY is Crosby's C.K. Dexter Haven is no longer connected to Spy Magazine. There's no sleazy editor Sidney Kidd. There's no hint that Dexter might want to undermine Tracy's wedding to George to get back at her. Dexter is left to making wisecracks about George.  HIGH SOCIETY loses some dramatic effect with this change and Dexter some of his importance in a key role.

Cole Porter's songs, although catchy, come at the expense of some of the plot and character development. The songs relate to the story like True Love (which would become a platinum best seller for Crosby and Kelly) and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? The filmmakers had to use a previous Cole Porter song Well, Did You Evah? when they realized they had no song for Crosby and Sinatra to sing as a duet. Louis Armstrong is like a Greek Chorus throughout the film, laying down the background story in the opening title song High Society Calypso and providing commentary throughout the film.

But make no mistake, HIGH SOCIETY is a big time musical for MGM even if it's a remake.  Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were huge stars at the time.  Crosby was coming off the beloved musical WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) and some fine dramatic work in THE COUNTRY GIRL (also 1954) in which he co-starred with Grace Kelly.  Crosby's C.K. Dexter Haven is more easy going, glib than Cary Grant's humorously prickly portrayal.  Not to be outdone, Sinatra proved he was a serious actor, winning the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award in 1953 for FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.  Sinatra had also done musicals already appearing in ON THE TOWN (1949) with Gene Kelly and GUYS AND DOLLS (1955) opposite Marlon Brando. Sinatra's Mike Connor is more streetwise than Stewart's folksy take on the character. But Sinatra has fun with the role.

Grace Kelly is radiant as socialite Tracy Lord in HIGH SOCIETY.  I had only seen Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW (1954) and TO CATCH A THIEF (1955). I had never seen Kelly in a comedy before and she relishes the opportunity to be funny, tipsy at times, and flawed.  Katharine Hepburn was a red head in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. Grace Kelly is blonde which helps her to break free from Hepburn's imprint on the role.  Kelly plays the part a bit like the princess she would soon become in real life.

The supporting actors in HIGH SOCIETY do not stand out as much as their predecessors did in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.  The one exception is one of my favorite character actors Louis Calhern (NOTORIOUS, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE) who gets the juicy role of Uncle Willie.  Calhern slightly resembles the rich guy on the cover of the Monopoly board game with his tuxedo and top hat. The least flashy role in both films is George Kittredge, Tracy Lord's fiancée. It has to be a rather dull character for Tracy to want to cancel the wedding to be with either the more interesting Dexter Haven or Macaulay "Mike" Connor. In HIGH SOCIETY, John Lund plays the George role as more of a prude than John Howard in the original. It's a thankless role but important to the story.

For Grace Kelly and Louis Calhern, HIGH SOCIETY would be their last motion picture appearances but for different reasons. Grace Kelly had become engaged to Prince Rainier of Monaco before filming began.  HIGH SOCIETY would be her last performance on the big screen before becoming Princess of Monaco.  For Louis Calhern, he would die of a heart attack in Japan filming THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON (1956). His role in that film would be recast.  HIGH SOCIETY would be his final film appearance.

For movie audiences, which film is their favorite is probably split 50/50.  HIGH SOCIETY is a big time musical comedy with A list stars (Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Celeste Holm were all Academy Award winners) and punctuated with Cole Porter songs. It's a glossy remake of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. But I think HIGH SOCIETY loses some of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY'S dramatic undertones with its lightheartedness. For CrazyFilmGuy, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is very funny comedy but with some key dramatic observations sprinkled in.  The trio of Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and James Stewart is cinematic nirvana. In the movie universe, we are lucky to have two film versions of a great play to compare and contrast and ultimately, enjoy.