RomComs (2 of 2) - "Put me in your pocket, Mike."
If, for some reason, you're obsessively following this series :P, this is today's second post. I missed posting yesterday, so yesterday's movie was posted earlier today.
This is my number three favorite movie of all time, and I consider it to be THE greatest romantic comedy of all time.
The Philadelphia Story
This was originally a play, written by Phillip Barry especially for Katherine Hepburn as a comeback. Hepburn borrowed money from Howard Hughes to buy the rights to it so that no one but her could play Tracy Lord. This was a smart move, as studios were reluctant to cast her because of some recent flops she'd starred in. And this was one (perhaps the main one) of several roles that were seen by many to be Hepburn sort of apologizing for being sophisticated and distant.
So Hepburn is Tracy Lord, a daughter of high Philadelphia society who is about to be married for the second time. Her first husband was a fellow blue-blood, but they had quite a few problems (including her first husband's penchant for alcohol). Groom Number Two is a "self-made man," who started with nothing and made his own wealth and importance. And because Tracy Lord has a well-known society name, a magazine editor sends a reluctant reporter named Macaulay Connor and his trusty photographer Liz Imbrie to record the nuptial goings-on for nosy readers. They gain entry into the house under a fairly thin cover story, provided by ... wait for it ... Groom Number One. Groom Number One is C.K. Dexter Haven, who has recently given up drinking and is only going along with sneaking reporters into his ex's house because if he doesn't there's going to be a bigger embarrassment for her family than having a private wedding paraded on the pages of a national tabloid magazine.
I think perhaps the main reason I like this movie so much is because it has a somewhat European sensibility. From Seth's philosophy on why men grow wandering eyes to the finale, the movie seems to take place in a world not known by modern cinema in this country. I've been reading a series of blog posts about why romance in American cinema is dead, and one of the reasons is that romantic movies are so predictable. Not so with The Philadelphia Story. It's quite content to confuse us on the matter of who we're supposed to be rooting for. In fact, Tracy's indiscretions with a man she barely knows on the eve of her wedding are, without a doubt, the most romantic moments in the movie. But the movie doesn't feel the need to "make an honest woman" out of her. And her fiancé's attempt to condemn her behavior, even when it turns out that nothing too serious happened, could hardly be more emphasized as the wrong point of view. But his point of view would soon become the norm in other movies. It seems almost as if the George Kittredge character (Groom Number Two, that is) is a symbol of the single-minded moral clarity that Hollywood, and by extension American moviegoers, came to value in later years. There's something very telling about his parting words to the wedding party - "You're on your way out, the lot of you!" Indeed, George. I'm sad to say it, but ... indeed.
Some little things I love about this movie... I find it funny to see Jimmy Stewart singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and know that that was a very popular song at the time and had just won the Oscar for Best Original Song the year before. I also love how Dinah Lord is such a shipper ("But if she marries anyone, it's simply got to be Mr. Connor!"). Watch how she spells out her theory for Tracy in the third act. ;-)
A wonderful, wonderful, wonderful movie. If any of the movies I've posted about so far have ended up on your Netflix queue and you haven't seen this yet, I strongly recommend putting this one at the top. It's the king of the genre, as far as I'm concerned.
Great Moments in Dialogue: This is probably my favorite exchange in the whole movie, and it cracks me up every time. This happens just after George and Dexter see Tracy and Mike come back from the pool, having (apparently) gone skinny dipping.
Dexter: You don't believe it then?
George:Believe what?
Dexter: Well, uh, the implications of what you saw, let us say.
George: What else am I to believe?
Dexter: That's entirely up to you.
George: I've got eyes. I've got imagination, haven't I?
Dexter: (totally and HILARIOUSLY deadpan) I don't know, have you?
George: Oh, so you pretend not to believe it?
Dexter: Yes, I pretend not to.
George: Then you don't know women.
Dexter: That's possible.
George: And you're a fool.
Dexter: That's quite possible.
"Awwww!" Moment: Hearthfires and holocausts.
This is my number three favorite movie of all time, and I consider it to be THE greatest romantic comedy of all time.
The Philadelphia Story
This was originally a play, written by Phillip Barry especially for Katherine Hepburn as a comeback. Hepburn borrowed money from Howard Hughes to buy the rights to it so that no one but her could play Tracy Lord. This was a smart move, as studios were reluctant to cast her because of some recent flops she'd starred in. And this was one (perhaps the main one) of several roles that were seen by many to be Hepburn sort of apologizing for being sophisticated and distant.
So Hepburn is Tracy Lord, a daughter of high Philadelphia society who is about to be married for the second time. Her first husband was a fellow blue-blood, but they had quite a few problems (including her first husband's penchant for alcohol). Groom Number Two is a "self-made man," who started with nothing and made his own wealth and importance. And because Tracy Lord has a well-known society name, a magazine editor sends a reluctant reporter named Macaulay Connor and his trusty photographer Liz Imbrie to record the nuptial goings-on for nosy readers. They gain entry into the house under a fairly thin cover story, provided by ... wait for it ... Groom Number One. Groom Number One is C.K. Dexter Haven, who has recently given up drinking and is only going along with sneaking reporters into his ex's house because if he doesn't there's going to be a bigger embarrassment for her family than having a private wedding paraded on the pages of a national tabloid magazine.
I think perhaps the main reason I like this movie so much is because it has a somewhat European sensibility. From Seth's philosophy on why men grow wandering eyes to the finale, the movie seems to take place in a world not known by modern cinema in this country. I've been reading a series of blog posts about why romance in American cinema is dead, and one of the reasons is that romantic movies are so predictable. Not so with The Philadelphia Story. It's quite content to confuse us on the matter of who we're supposed to be rooting for. In fact, Tracy's indiscretions with a man she barely knows on the eve of her wedding are, without a doubt, the most romantic moments in the movie. But the movie doesn't feel the need to "make an honest woman" out of her. And her fiancé's attempt to condemn her behavior, even when it turns out that nothing too serious happened, could hardly be more emphasized as the wrong point of view. But his point of view would soon become the norm in other movies. It seems almost as if the George Kittredge character (Groom Number Two, that is) is a symbol of the single-minded moral clarity that Hollywood, and by extension American moviegoers, came to value in later years. There's something very telling about his parting words to the wedding party - "You're on your way out, the lot of you!" Indeed, George. I'm sad to say it, but ... indeed.
Some little things I love about this movie... I find it funny to see Jimmy Stewart singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and know that that was a very popular song at the time and had just won the Oscar for Best Original Song the year before. I also love how Dinah Lord is such a shipper ("But if she marries anyone, it's simply got to be Mr. Connor!"). Watch how she spells out her theory for Tracy in the third act. ;-)
A wonderful, wonderful, wonderful movie. If any of the movies I've posted about so far have ended up on your Netflix queue and you haven't seen this yet, I strongly recommend putting this one at the top. It's the king of the genre, as far as I'm concerned.
Great Moments in Dialogue: This is probably my favorite exchange in the whole movie, and it cracks me up every time. This happens just after George and Dexter see Tracy and Mike come back from the pool, having (apparently) gone skinny dipping.
Dexter: You don't believe it then?
George:Believe what?
Dexter: Well, uh, the implications of what you saw, let us say.
George: What else am I to believe?
Dexter: That's entirely up to you.
George: I've got eyes. I've got imagination, haven't I?
Dexter: (totally and HILARIOUSLY deadpan) I don't know, have you?
George: Oh, so you pretend not to believe it?
Dexter: Yes, I pretend not to.
George: Then you don't know women.
Dexter: That's possible.
George: And you're a fool.
Dexter: That's quite possible.
"Awwww!" Moment: Hearthfires and holocausts.