The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Written by Donald Ogden Stewart

Directed by George Cukor

1998 List Ranking: 51

2007 List Ranking: 44

If I were to sum up The Philadelphia Story in a single word, I’d use “whiplash”. While not quite as frantic as Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant’s last outing on this list, Bringing Up Baby, there is still a lot to keep track of here and, ultimately, I don’t know if it’s terribly successful.

The film’s three leads: Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and James Stewart

It’s interesting to look back and reflect on the fact that, prior to this film’s release, Katherine Hepburn was considered “box office poison”. This is an actress who, today, is considered one of the greats of American cinema, but her films prior to this languished at the box office. As a result, while developing this film, the studio decided to pair her up with not one but two leading male co-stars, and it’s this decision that makes the film stumble.

To briefly summarize, Hepburn and Grant begin the film as an unhappily married couple: so unhappily, in fact, that their first scene is Grant walking/being thrown out. Fast-forward a few years and now Hepburn is engaged to be married to stick-in-the-mud George Kittredge. The wedding being the social event of the year, Spy magazine sends James Stewart and his somewhat-girlfriend/photographer to cover the wedding in secret, being assisted by Grant, who is there to (unknowingly) win his ex-wife back. Plot happens, and Hepburn ends up in a love quadrangle with Grant, Kittredge, and Stewart.

Did you get all that? Because GOOD LORD.

Katherine Hepburn

Let’s start with Hepburn. She’s pretty great in the film, especially her first scene with Stewart, in which she knows his true identity but also can’t let him know that she knows (I am legitimately exhausted just typing that out). She and her (very) little sister do a great job of overacting in order to maintain everyone’s cover, and I’ll admit that I enjoyed the narrative hoops Hepburn has to jump through in order to make everyone’s story stick. She’s still a little on the manic side, especially towards the end, but she herself is not nearly as exhausting as she was in Bringing Up Baby.

Cary Grant

Grant is the actor who gets the most jilted in this whole ordeal. In their opening scene, the pure, unadulterated loathing between him and Hepburn (as characters) is palpable, so…why does he want to get back with her? To my recollection, the reason why is never really stated (and, indeed, even the fact that he wants to isn’t expressly stated until the final scene), so he actually comes across as a bit of a bully. It’s obvious throughout the film that their reunion as a couple is the endgame of the film, but it so clearly flies in the face of how they left things that it never felt genuine.

A drunken James Stewart

Stewart is enjoyable, although seeing his straight-laced shtick again, so soon after Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, was a bit of a drag. However, once he has some alcohol and gets drunk, he became much more entertaining. From a performance standpoint, Stewart takes the cake, as his drunken performance is absolutely fantastic, and it became very nice to see a completely different side to him than I had seen previously. The relationship that develops between him and Hepburn, however, was my least favorite aspect of the film, feeling completely shoehorned in, just there to give him something to do since the studio didn’t trust Hepburn to carry the film.

The rest of the cast basically exists, with no one being all that stellar or memorable (although Roland Young’s Uncle Willie is basically a sexual predator who rightfully wouldn’t last five minutes in the #metoo era). Likewise, the technical elements of the film aren’t anything to write home about: Cukor’s direction is adequate, and the film only really slows down when Hepburn and Stewart are both drunk and quasi-seducing each other (seriously, Stewart is a drunken yo-yo in the scene and it just DRAGS).

Overall, I don’t actually find myself with a lot to comment on. The three leads are fine, but the story they’re featured in begins to border on confusion. Luckily, this film helped secure Hepburn’s status as a star, dismissing the charge of “box office poison” once and for all.

FINAL GRADE: C+