The Philadelphia Story [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

The Philadelphia Story [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: George Cukor Cast: Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
, James Stewart
James Stewart
, Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey
The Philadelphia Story [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

The Philadelphia Story [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: George Cukor Cast: Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
, James Stewart
James Stewart
, Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey

Blu-ray

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Overview

We open on Philadelphia socialite C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) as he's being tossed out of his palatial home by his wife, Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn). Adding insult to injury, Tracy breaks one of C.K.'s precious golf clubs. He gallantly responds by knocking her down on her million-dollar keester. A couple of years after the breakup, Tracy is about to marry George Kittridge (John Howard), a wealthy stuffed shirt whose principal recommendation is that he's not a Philadelphia "mainliner," as C.K. was. Still holding a torch for Tracy, C.K. is galvanized into action when he learns that Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell), the publisher of Spy Magazine, plans to publish an exposé concerning Tracy's philandering father (John Halliday). To keep Kidd from spilling the beans, C.K. agrees to smuggle Spy reporter Macauley Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) into the exclusive Lord-Kittridge wedding ceremony. How could C.K. have foreseen that Connor would fall in love with Tracy, thereby nearly lousing up the nuptials? As it turns out, of course, it is C.K. himself who pulls the "louse-up," reclaiming Tracy as his bride. A consistently bright, bubbly, witty delight, The Philadelphia Story could just as well have been titled "The Revenge of Katharine Hepburn." Having been written off as "box-office poison" in 1938, Hepburn returned to Broadway in a vehicle tailor-made for her talents by playwright Philip Barry. That property, of course, was The Philadelphia Story; and when MGM bought the rights to this sure-fire box-office success, it had to take Hepburn along with the package -- and also her veto as to who her producer, director, and co-stars would be. Her strategy paid off: after the film's release, Hepburn was back on top of the Hollywood heap. While she didn't win the Oscar that many thought she richly deserved, the little gold statuette was bestowed upon her co-star Stewart, perhaps as compensation for his non-win for 1939's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Donald Ogden Stewart (no relation to Jimmy) also copped an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. The Philadelphia Story was remade in 1956 with a Cole Porter musical score as High Society.

Product Details

Release Date: 11/07/2017
UPC: 0715515205719
Original Release: 1940
Rating: NR
Source: Criterion Collection
Language: English
Time: 1:52:00
Sales rank: 8,407

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Katharine Hepburn Tracy Lord
Cary Grant C.K. Dexter Haven
James Stewart Macauley Connor
Ruth Hussey Liz
Roland Young Uncle Willie
Virginia Weidler Dinah
John Halliday Lord
Mary Nash Margaret
Henry Daniell Sidney Kidd
Lionel Pape Edward
Rex Evans Thomas
Russ Clark John
Hilda Plowright Librarian
Lita Chevret Manicurist
Lee Phelps Bartender
David Clyde Mac
Claude King Willie's Butler
Robert de Bruce Dr. Parsons
Veda Buckland Elsie
Dorothy Fay Mainliner
Florine McKinney Mainliner
Helene Whitney Mainliner
Hillary Brooke Mainliner
John Howard George Kittredge
Franz Waxman Composer
Claudette Colbert Actor

Technical Credits
George Cukor Director
Donald Ogden Stewart Screenwriter
Philip Barry Playwright
Joseph L. Mankiewicz Producer
Waldo Salt Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer Sound Effects
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