THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
Director by: George Cukor.
Producer by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
Written by: Donald Ogden Stewart, based on the play by Philip Barry.
Director of Photography by: P: Joseph Ruttenberg.
Edited by: Frank Sullivan.
Music by: Franz Waxman.
Released by: Warner Home Video.
Country of Origin: USA. 112 min. Not Rated.
With: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey & John Howard.
DVD Features disc one: Commentary by film historian Jeanine Basinger. George Cukor trailer gallery. English, French & Spanish subtitles. Disc two: Two full-length documentaries Katharine Hepburn: All About Me - A Self Portrait and The Men Who Made the Movies: George Cukor. “That Inferior Feeling” short with Robert Benchley. “The Homeless Flea” cartoon. Two radio adaptations featuring Grant, Hepburn & Stewart.

The Philadelphia Story is a classic example of Katharine Hepburn’s star quality. Funnily enough, it was James Stewart who won the one acting Academy Award the film received. Hepburn plays Tracy Lord, a divorced heiress preparing for her second wedding. Her first husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), returns to the Lord family estate days before the event with two undercover journalists from “Spy” magazine in tow (Stewart and Ruth Hussey). The romantic comedy observes the Lord family and their house guests in the chaotic days leading up to the nuptials. With a cast made up of Hollywood royalty, The Philadelphia Story is a DVD that belongs in your collection, especially with the accompanying Hepburn documentary.

DVD Extras: The best is the inspiring Katharine Hepburn: All About Me - A Self Portrait (1992). Addressing the camera, Hepburn recalls her past with humor and pride. (“Adorable as always,” is how she describes herself.) It follows her at age 85, capturing her playing tennis, weeding her garden, and hauling wood. Included is a screen test made before she signed with RKO and another, in Technicolor, with her as Joan of Arc, in a project which was not filmed. Hepburn disavows a romantic relationship with director John Ford, but is candid about her 27-year affair with Spencer Tracy. Among the home movies she shares is the only film of him she ever took. In The Men Who Made Movies: George Cukor, an interview with the director reveals inside information about his methods and uncovers his talent for literary and theatrical adaptations. Generous clips are provided. Both of these programs were made for the cable channel TCM.

The informative commentary by Jeanine Basinger includes background information on the cast and crew as well as scoops on the money deals and ad-libs throughout the film. An admirer of any aspect of the film will appreciate what Basinger has to offer. Of the two MGM shorts, the first comedically explores how “That Inferior Feeling” can cause one to become an object of suspicion. Cleverly written and depicted, it offers little else to the audience except maybe its short length. The same is true for “The Homeless Flea,” an animated short about the relationship between a flea and a dog (whose face inexplicably becomes fire engine red after his bottom catches on fire). Finally, two radio adaptations from 1942 and ‘47 are a bit lengthy and of poor sound quality, but an interesting listen nonetheless. Mallory Potosky
April 29, 2005