Here's an offer you can't resist: a romantic comedy starring Katherine Hepburn as a strong-willed heiress named Tracy Lords who must choose between three men: her prim and proper fiancé, George Kittridge, her ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), and a wry, sarcastic journalist, Mike Conner (James Stewart). Of course George is almost immediately out of the question, and Hepburn must choose between Grant and Stewart. She isn't gonna get a bad deal either way, that's for sure.

But at the outset, none of the men really love her for who she is. Dexter left her because he thought her frigid and unforgiving of faults; George loves her precisely because she's cold and far-off, like a statue, or a goddess;…

While not as frantic as Bringing Up Baby, Howard Hawks pairing of Grant and Hepburn, The Philadelphia story certainly has a giddy–up pace, and is even more voluminous in the infectious charm department.

There is a confluence of stars at the top of their game, an incredible script adaptation, and a sharp as nails director who understood the material that formed a perfect storm of romantic comedy. I’ve read every scene was a single take, and the shooting schedule was a scant six weeks.

Of course, Katherine Hepburn knew the role inside out, as she had played it on Broadway, and her Tracy Lords is the backbone of the picture. Flawed, yet strong .. confident, yet vulnerable, she choreographs the…

I watched this today for the second time with my mother, and found myself going huh? far too many times for my liking, because I remembered absolutely loving The Philadelphia Story the first time around. I still do have some qualms with the idea that Tracy is to blame for taking a stand against her ex-husband's alcoholism and her father's extramarital affair, but perhaps that's exactly the point... forgiveness as an essential virtue of the true woman and all that sort of stuff? But I feel like such a conclusion doesn't really do a film so witty and brilliant proper justice.

The three leads (and Ruth Hussey) are stunning in every way. I could watch them spar back and forth…

Letterboxd Season Challenge 2018-19
Week 13: Katharine Hepburn Week

I have to admit I went into this without particularly high expectations, thinking it might not really be my sort of comedy. And while I rarely found myself actually laughing (but there were a few times!), I was quite pleasantly surprised nonetheless.

The key word with The Philadelphia Story is absolutely charm. This film nails the sort of tone I would want from a lighter, more pleasant watch, without becoming insubstantial or forgettable. Katharine Hepburn is wonderful throughout, such a strong onscreen presence. I'm really glad the season challenge made me look into her (this is the first film I've seen of hers), as she sounds like such an impressive, independent…

Letterboxd Season Challenge 2018-19
Week 13: December 2nd-8th
Katherine Hepburn Week

The Philadelphia Story is perhaps the best known of the 'comedy of remarriage' genre that was popular in the 1930s and 40s. At the time depictions of extramarital affairs were blocked by the Production Code so divorce was a necessary plot device.

Here Katherine Hepburn plays Tracy, a socialite three years divorced from husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant). She is now due to marry the respectable nouveau riche George Kittredge (John Howard). When journalist Macaulay 'Mike' Connor (James Stewart) turns up to cover her wedding, she finds herself drawn to him...

I had mixed feelings about the film. The comedy of remarriage thing feels very dated and at…