Asking for details about a scandal is ill-mannered, but far be it from me to be above sticking my nose in other people’s business. After all, that is the consumption of pop culture. Here on the front page, there’s a blank space for Tracy Lord. The high-maintenance daughter of one of the oldest families in Pennsylvania and an established divorcee, Tracy’s relationship is at the plate again, ready to bat off the gossip following her soon-marriage with self-made “man of the people” George Kittredge. Pitching “The Philadelphia Story” is Spy magazine, and in the name of screwball scheming, her divorced husband C.K. Dexter Haven (a name that lurks in deviousness!) plans to sneak journalist Macaulay and photographer Elizabeth into the wedding. If that’s not enough, Dexter notifies Tracy that if she doesn’t let the story happen, Spy would then publish a sensational piece about her father’s affair with a dancer.
As kinky and conniving as this plot goes, Katharine Hepburn’s devotion to Tracy (she first played the character in the 1939 original play) should not go unnoticed. Her push for the movie may have partly been a reaction to the Independent Theater Owners of America dubbing her as “box office poison” in a Hollywood Reporter trade ad. Imagine that! In the height of WWII, where audiences had failed to draw themselves to the movies, a group of people thought it would make sense to list the (one) actor and (six) actresses that are responsible for poor turnout. It’s the sort of sexist provocation that probably wouldn’t fly in film publications, even though the term still might be used for individual reviews.
Like America, Hepburn listened. In the opening scene of The Philadelphia Story, Tracy follows Dexter out the door after a presumed alteration and angers him by snapping one of his golf clubs. He then proceeds to push her down and leaves her there. It’s alarming to watch, and the physicality of their worst is largely unresolved by the end of the movie — all of which seems weird if you were expecting Dexter to deliver an apology. Of that scene, Hepburn felt that audiences would have loved to see her “fall flat” and kept it in there. Joke’s on them; she makes the most valiant effort in aligning her character (and in extension, her public image) with pitiless admiration by the end of the film. Tracy’s haughtiness is reduced to a syrupy defeat of pride, and in allowing her mistakes to be steps forward instead of stains on record, Hepburn’s performance welcomes the public into her home and does well to treat them as respected guests.
Still, the studio decides to place two leading men in the film should Hepburn “fail” again. Shortly after His Girl Friday, Cary Grant returns to the wedding siren call of his old flame, only this time as ex-husband Dexter. A boyish Jimmy Stewart is Macaulay (or Mike), the journalist who initially believes that he is above the salacious gossip, but soon sees things differently once he spends more time with Tracy. Grant and Hepburn had worked together before and may have been supposed to be obvious endgame, but if I didn’t know any better, this film looks to be a love triangle — or quadrant, if we should include George, played by John Howard. Hepburn ambidextrously spars with Grant and serenades Stewart in their respective screen times. Suffice to say, her chemistry with both men make either relationship more plausible than Twilight‘s Jacob and Bella ever ending up together.
Despite the success of the film, critics will bounce back and forth for the majority of her filmography, in which three more Oscars were yet to come. For now, The Philadelphia Story may as well been Hepburn’s own conduction of emotion and pace. She’ll slowly learn that her high standards might seem unreasonable. Or she might also down three cocktails, each guzzling accompanied by a harp trill. As legacy goes, it’s just that.
The Philadelphia Story
1940
dir. George Cukor
112 mins
Screens at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on Saturday, May 22 @2pm!
Right now Boston’s most beloved theaters need your help to survive. If you have the means, the Hassle strongly recommends making a donation, purchasing a gift card, or becoming a member at the Brattle Theatre, Coolidge Corner Theatre, and/or the Somerville Theatre. Keep film alive, y’all.
