The Philadelphia Story (1941)

   "...one of the few non-moronic pictures of the season."

With Ruth Hussey, James Stewart and Katharine Hepburn.

The Philadelphia Story - Review is taken from 'The Films of Cary Grant' by Donald Deschner (1973):

"The movie version of Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story is years ahead of most screen dialogue.  Audiences won't know what all of it means,  but it's time that picture scripts got a little ahead of their public instead of ten paces behind 'em.  I've noticed that audiences like a certain amount of dialogue which is over their heads.  Producers ought to try it oftener.  

The Philadelphia Story is the yarn of smart and semi-smart folks trying to cure their emotional and intellectual blindnesses and frustrations with alcohol, and it's amazing how well alcohol works in this picture.  The W.C.T.U. doesn't know it, but it ought to stop this film, because it sells liquor better than any million-dollar advertising campaigns.  Tracy Lord's (Miss Hepburn's) drinking in company with that poetic guy from that New York scandal sheet, Spy, is what clears the atmosphere of her mis-planned love for John Howard and paves the way for her remarriage with Cary Grant.  It takes a binge to cure Tracy of her gosh-awful goddessness and give her a good dose of clay feet.  

Perhaps the highest honors in the picture really go to James Stewart for his souse scene in Cary Grant's library.  Mr. Grant is good as always, and deserves credit for playing subdued; he was a hell-raiser before the story opened, and is now the wiser and somewhat chastened ex-husband of the hard, too-exacting Tracy.  

The Philadelphia Story is one of the few non-moronic pictures of the season."

- Don Herald, Scribner's Commentator

New Artwork by Rebekah Hawley at Studio36 -
Number 38 - The Philadelphia Story (Lobby Card Style)

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On This Day - January 17th 2022

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On This Day...The Talk Of The Town (1942)

The Talk of the Town was Cary Grant's 41st full length feature film. It was also his second film with Jean Arthur.

Grant plays Leopold Dilg, hunted on a trumped-up murder and arson charge.

 He hides in Nora Shelley's house (Jean Arthur), which she has just rented to austere law school dean Michael Lightcap (Ronald Colman).

"In Columbia's The Talk of the Town Producer-Director George Stevens successfully manages the ticklish chore of tucking in such strange bedfellows as zany comedy and social significance, rampant melodrama and quiet humor...the film owes much to the expert playing of the three co-stars. Miss Arthur and Grant have had more rewarding roles but play these with customary finesse." - Newsweek

With Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman.

Cast:

Leopold Dilg              Cary Grant

Nora Shelley               Jean Arthur

Michael Lightcap        Ronald Colman

Sam Yates                   Edgar Buchanan

Regina Bush               Glenda Farrell

Andrew Holmes         Charles Dingle

Mrs. Shelley               Emma Dunn

Tilney                          Rex Ingram

Jan Pulaski                  Leonid Kinskey

Clyde Bracken            Tom Tyler

Chief of Police            Don Beddoe

Judge Grunstadt          George Watts

Senator James Boyd   Clyde Fillmore

District Attorney         Frank M. Thomas

Forrester                      Lloyd Bridges

With Ronald Colman

Press Kit :

Lobby Cards:

Directed by George Stevens.

Produced and distributed by Columbia.

Running time: 118 minutes.

Cast with director George Stevens.

"Lights, camera...action!" - The Directors - Part 4

So there were four directors who worked with Cary Grant on three films each.

They were, Marion Gering, George Cukor, Leo McCarey and George Stevens.

Marion Gering:

19th June 1901 - 19th April 1977

Devil and the Deep (1932)

With Charles Laughton and Tallulah Bankhead.

Madame Butterfly (1932)

With Sylvia Sidney

Thirty-Day Princess (1934)

Again with Sylvia Sidney

George Cukor:

7th July 1899 - 24th January 1983

On Grant -"One of the reasons he was so successful as an actor was that he truly just behaved like he was a normal guy and like he didn't look like that."

Sylvia Scarlett (1936)

With Katharine Hepburn.

Holiday (1938)

Again with Katharine Hepburn.

The Philadelphia Story (1941)

With George Cukor, John Howard and Katharine Hepburn.

George Cukor was awarded an Oscar for Best Director for The Philadelphia Story. He also directed many Oscar nominated performances.

Leo McCarey:

3rd October 1898 - 5th July 1969

The Awful Truth (1937)

Publicity shot with Irene Dunne and Leo McCarey.

Leo McCarey won the Oscar for Best Director.

Once Upon A Honeymoon (1942)

With Ginger Rogers.

An Affair to Remember (1957)

With Deborah Kerr.

George Stevens :

18th December 1904 - 8th March 1975

Gunga Din (1939)

On the set of Gunga Din (above) relaxing and (below) with George Stevens.

Penny Serenade (1941)

On set of the film that bought him his first Oscar nomination.

The Talk of the Town (1942)

With George Stevens, Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman.

Four directors completed two film projects each with Cary Grant...

..."Lights, camera...action!" - The Directors - Part 5