Ten Days, Ten Movies, Ten Images: Day 9

“The prettiest sight in this fine pretty world is the privileged class enjoying its privileges.”

 
That is how fantasies used to be:   a big, juicy glamor sandwich --- on wry.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter (where my handle is a nod to the “wisecracking gal sidekick”) will not be surprised to see this film on my list. Seventy-nine years on, it sparkles like the finest champagne, and its stiletto-sharp dialogue continues to amuse. 

"The Philadelphia Story" (1940)
Directed by George Cukor
Screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart, from the stage play by Philip Barry
Image: John Howard (“George Kittredge”), Cary Grant (“C. K. Dexter Haven"), Katharine Hepburn (“Tracy Lord"), James Stewart (“Macaulay 'Mike' Connor")

I grew up at the end of the era of movie stars, just before the rise of the anti-hero and everyman lead. It was a glorious thing to spend a couple of hours in the dark, watching these glamorous fantasies unfold. And as a lover of beautifully crafted language, what a delight to hear this play of words.

The situations were ridiculous and impossible, but it didn't matter. 

Tracy and Dexter, a divorced couple, are brought together in the eve of her new wedding, and her fiance is impossibly unworthy of her (he is "the pill of the century" as famously phrased in another film from this era.)

"Mike", a tabloid newspaper reporter and Elizabeth, a photographer, at once contemptuous of and drawn to the monied social scene, are assigned to cover the wedding.  Instead of grabbing an exclusive, they become a part of the story themselves.

Macaulay "Mike" Connor: ...the rich, rapacious, American female. There's no other country where she exists.
Elizabeth Imbrie (portrayed by Ruth Hussey): And would I change places with Tracy Samantha Lord for all her wealth and beauty? Oh, boy, just ask me.



But, wait - are sparks still flying between Tracy and Dex? 

Dexter: Sometimes, for your own sake, Red, I think you should've stuck to me longer.
Tracy: I thought it was for life, but the nice judge gave me a full pardon.
Dexter: Aaah, that's the old redhead. No bitterness, no recrimination, just a good swift left to the jaw.

And what's going on between Mike and Tracy? 

"A magnificence that comes out of your eyes, in your voice, in the way you stand there, in the way you walk. You're lit from within, Tracy. You've got fires banked down in you, hearth-fires and holocausts."  Mike Connor (James Stewart) to Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn)

Who will she choose?

And, of course, everything works out fine before the final credits.

I loved James Stewart, I loved Cary Grant and I loved Katharine Hepburn, but I knew I wasn't a Tracy Lord. I didn't want to be, nor did I want a C. K. Dexter Haven. I've had a lifetime of fun being Elizabeth Imbrie, making rueful observations – but where's my Macaulay Connor?

Oh, well, I can always find a fine and funny romance in the dream machine. And what a madcap world can be found there!

“We all go haywire at times and if we don't, maybe we ought to.”