Movie · 1940 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 53m · NR · English
Curator score: 9.1/10 (173.9K ratings)
Broadway's howling year-run comedy hit of the snooty society beauty who slipped and fell - IN LOVE!
Overview
When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.
Ratings
Curator score: 9.1/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 4.00/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Metacritic: 96
TMDB: 7.6/10
Director
George Cukor
Production
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast
Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young, John Halliday, Mary Nash, Virginia Weidler, Henry Daniell, Lionel Pape, Rex Evans, King Baggot, Hillary Brooke, Veda Buckland, Lita Chevret, Russ Clark, David Clyde, Robert De Bruce, Dorothy Fay
Curator Review
Verdict
A sparkling, high-wire romantic comedy of manners with immaculate star chemistry, razor dialogue, and a surprisingly sharp look at class, image, and self-knowledge. Its ending can feel of its era, but the wit, pace, and performances make it essential classic Hollywood viewing.
Best for
fans of screwball comedy and sophisticated repartee
viewers who enjoy love triangles with emotional and comic tension
classic Hollywood fans
people interested in strong star performances and chemistry
audiences who like elegant, high-society settings with bite
Skip if
you dislike old-fashioned gender politics
you need modern pacing or contemporary humor
you prefer low-key realism over heightened wit
you are not in the mood for privileged-people romantic chaos
Overview
The Philadelphia Story is one of the great American comedies of manners: polished, fast, and full of people who are smarter, funnier, and more self-deluded than they realize. George Cukor stages the whole thing like a social duel, and the movie keeps finding new ways to turn flirtation, embarrassment, and class anxiety into entertainment.
Worth noting
Katharine Hepburn is perfectly calibrated as a woman whose poise hides a lot of vulnerability, while Cary Grant and James Stewart give the film two very different kinds of masculine charm. The dialogue crackles, the entrances and exits are beautifully timed, and the movie understands that romance is often just another form of performance.
Bottom line
The ending may leave some viewers cold, especially if they want the film to fully modernize its emotional politics. But even when it lands in a place that feels conservative, the movie remains too witty, too alive, and too expertly made to dismiss. It’s a classic for a reason.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sarah (3.5★) · 4673 likes
i don't know how or why, but i feel like all the characters' problems would be solved if cary grant, katharine hepburn, and james stewart had a threesome..... just a thought
mia lee vicino (4.5★) · 2631 likes
cary grant perched on the edge of the fountain, greeting everyone with a scathingly simple “Hello, friends and enemies” … ok ME when i log into this app !
Patrick Willems (4.5★) · 2197 likes
This is like the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team of movies
joezobel (2.5★) · 2172 likes
I was liking this until the ending, which I found problematic and completely recontextualized what I thought the movie was trying to say.
So, what exactly is the message of this movie supposed to be? That you should submit to your wife beater drunk of a husband, and if you don't you're a spoiled, egomaniacal ice queen? Cary Grant spends the whole movie telling Hepburn that she's a cold hearted bitch and blaming her for his drinking problem, and yet… more
lucy (4★) · 2072 likes
jimmy stewart singing somewhere over the rainbow is something i didn't know i needed
1963 · Comedy, Mystery, Romance · 1h 53m · NR · Curator 8.5/10 (289K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, Pure Flix, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Bloodstream
Not a straight comedy, but it shares the polished banter, glamour, and star chemistry appeal.