review by Joe
The Philadelphia Story 1940
Rewatched Jul 12, 2012
Joe’s review:
I just can't believe how good this movie is. It's less than two hours long and yet the main characters are all so well-drawn I feel like I've spent so much more time than that getting to know them. And what's another movie that manages to be as funny as this one and also as humane? The Apartment, maybe? Really incredible.
His Girl Friday, maybe? I don't know it if it's AS humane. They save a guy's life, though.
Yeah, that would be up there too. Although my memory of His Girl Friday is that it's pretty much all comedy from beginning to end. Not a complaint, I loved that movie and should watch it again soon.
His Girl Friday is probably the darkest from what I remember. Basically Grant just pulls Russell away from the happiness she might have had and puts her right back into what she was trying to get away from. I remember the humor seeming much more bitter and cynical.
Yeah. It's much darker, but I identify with that more than the stuff in The Philadelphia Story. I love both, but His Girl Friday is more my style.
That actually reminds me of something I meant to say about Philadelphia Story - His Girl Friday is definitely more my style too, and a lot of the stuff in Philadelphia Story is the kind of thing I usually can't stand, like those extended speeches about human nature, class conflict, etc. And yet through some kind of weird magic that stuff ends up being really effective and consistent with the characters in ways that I almost never see in movies.
I know what you mean. It's really interesting when stuff like that works. I tend to think of Frank Capra movies as an example of that. Or when Aaron Sorkin is actually good, haha.