Another Leo McCarey film starring Cary Grant (like AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (1957)). And another Cary Grant screwball comedy in which a married man is trying to stave off his wife's (THE GRASS IS GREENER) or ex-wife's (HIS GIRL FRIDAY, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY) marriage to another man.
This movie which launched Grant into the orbit of a bona-fide Hollywood star also brought a Best Director Oscar for McCarey.
The setting is (as common to many romantic comedies shot in the '30s and the '40s) strictly uppity upper-class where almost none of the ladies have a discernible career and where smocks and gowns pass for casual dress. Jam packed with scenes where actors race with one another to squeeze in one more joke or comeback before the other party can breathe. Another sheer “talking head” flick adapted from a box-office hit stage play (of Arthur Richman) in which Cary Grant has excellent rapport with Irene Dunne. Script belongs to Viña Delmar.
Jerry (Cary Grant) and Lucy Warriner (Irene Dunne) file to get divorced within 60 days. The problems is they are cut from the same cloth – they love one another but their pride do not allow them to admit so in order not to appear weak. So they spend the next two months sabotaging each other's attempts to find new partners. They do that so well, they are again left with one another at the end.
The film starts with an overview of the New York City. Jerry has told his wife he was going to be in Florida vacationing for two weeks but he did not do that. Thus he is trying to get a suntan at a health club to cover his lie.
But when Jerry arrives home with boisterous guests, Lucy is nowhere to be seen and the still unopened day-old mail suggests that perhaps Lucy was not at home either while Jerry was “gone to Florida.” And when Jerry gives a fruit basket to Lucy as a gift “From Florida,” she discovers that the fruits are actually from California. Oops! The seeds of mutual suspicion is already sprouting.
Who is betraying whom? And who deserves what?
Is Lucy having an affair with Armand Duvalle (played by Alexander D'Arcy), her pompous French voice teacher? It certainly feels that way and Jerry has been around the block a few times too many to miss the obvious clues.
After a brief heated argument, they challenge one another for a divorce and soon a divorce filing is what they get thanks to their well-paid lawyers.
In a very funny scene, Lucy's lawyer is trying to dissuade her on the phone. He is lecturing Lucy about what a “beautiful thing” a marriage is while... he repeatedly barks at his own wife to “shut up!” because the good lady is asking him to cut the phone conversation short and come to the dinner table. Super directing.
Lucy moves out to a new apartment with her Aunt Patsy who also complains about loneliness. That's where they meet the rich oilman from Oklahoma Daniel Leeson (played by Ralph Bellamy) who lives across the hall with his mom. Very much a mommy's boy who looks out of his depth in the sophisticated Big Apple, Dan soon falls in love with Lucy and wants to marry her.
(Ralph Bellamy, by the way, plays a similar character in HIS GIRL FRIDAY as well -- Bruce Baldwin, the well-meaning but dull insurance salesman who is engaged to Cary Grant's cracker jack newspaper reporter ex-wife “Hildy.”)
Jerry visits Lucy with the pretext of visiting his dog Mr. Smith (the loveliest and highest-jumping Terrier you'll ever see) which the court gave to Lucy. When he learns Lucy's entanglement with Daniel, Jerry pretends he is very much supporting the marriage while ribbing Lucy about her “new and wonderful life” in the backwaters of Oklahoma (this is still 1937). Jerry knows that the cosmopolitan Lucy would not be happy at Dan's Oklahoma ranch and thus he gets a pervert pleasure in teasing her about her eventual move to the heartlands.
Jerry's sarcasm continues at warp speed at the night club where he bumps into Lucy and Daniel while accompanying his singer girlfriend, Dixie Bell. Soon it's Dixie Bell's turn to take the stage and display her limited talents as a singer and stage performer.
There are other scenes that apparently tickled the funny bones of movie goers back in 1937 that would fall flat on its face in 2006. Example -- Jerry hides behind the front door when Daniel enters and starts reading a corny love poem to Lucy who is pressing her back against the door in an attempt to hide Jerry. However, Jerry, instead of being grateful for the cover, finds a pencil and tickles Lucy from behind the door, causing her to explode with inappropriate bursts of laughter while Daniel is trying to complete his romantic tirade. Is that funny? May be. But back in 1937 I believe it certainly was.
Here is one scene however that is genuinely funny and made me laugh real hard (yes, in 2006): Armand visits Lucy at her apartment. When Jerry drops by unannounced, Lucy hides Armand in her bedroom because all along she denied any romantic involvement with Armand. She can't lose face now.
When Daniel and her mom also shows up, this time it is Jerry's turn to hide in the bedroom. And once in there, the two suitors find themselves nose to nose, trying to keep their presence a secret.
But they can't do it. So while Lucy is talking to Daniel and his mom, we hear weird noises from her bedroom, noises which she tries to explain away. However, the noises soon turn into clangs and then escalate into a mini war. We hear furniture crashing, bodies being slammed, while Lucy is trying to keep a straight face and pretend that there is nobody in her bedroom at all.
At the end of this deliciously ridiculous scene, the bedroom door flies open and first Armand then Jerry shoot out of the room and head straight for the entrance door of the apartment, chasing one another like two squirrels. That's well-timed physical comedy at its best! The scene also effectively puts an end to Daniel's passion for Lucy because there is only one explanation of not one but TWO men darting out of his fiance's bedroom and it ain't pretty. Dan leaves Lucy's apartment by waxing philosophical that “Well, I guess a man's best friend is his mother.”
In the next sequence we see Jerry having a grand time with the rich heiress Barbara Vance. Now it's Lucy's turn to spoil his attempt to marry some serious money. We see a montage of Jerry and Barbara enjoying themselves at the horse races, boat racing, night clubs, etc. It is the last day before their divorce takes effect at midnight and Lucy is ready to make her move.
Lucy, pretending she is Jerry's sister, crashes the high-class party Barbara hosts for Jerry and her aristocratic family circle. By acting drunk, gross and low-class, Lucy manages to tarnish Jerry's image in the eyes of his wife-to-be. She antagonizes the whole Warner clan by pretending she is “very relieved” when her missing purse is found, implying she was worried that someone in the room might have had stolen it.
Jerry escorts a fake-drunk Lucy out of the party after she creates another scene by a suggestive dance and song number designed to shock the refined sensibilities of the “ruling class.” It's obvious she is truly enjoying her revenge on Jerry and Jerry knows that only too well.
On the way back Lucy asks Jerry to take her back to the rustic cabin where she claims her Aunt is waiting for her -- but of course there is no Aunt at the cabin and Jerry, also looking for a way back to her heart, walks gladly into her trap.
The film ends with another corny bedroom sequence in which Jerry and Lucy take up two adjoining bedrooms separated by a door that has a loose latch and the wind keeps rattling it. Both cannot sleep. Jerry keeps popping in and out of her bedroom several times with the excuse of securing the door.
At the end, they cannot keep up the the pretense anymore. Jerry closes the door behind him and moves into Lucy's bedroom just when the Swiss cuckoo clock on the wall chimes midnight, marking the “awful truth” that they were made for each other and their attempts at finding other mates in life just plain don't make sense.
Cary Grant is fantastic as usual, smooth and in control as a comedy actor with impeccable double takes and a thousand pregnant pauses. The immensely gifted Irenne Dunne, the “Meryl Streep of the WW2 era,” is an equal joy to watch. It is hard to find too many actors today with so many emotions washing through her gorgeous face almost without an effort.
A pleasant 8 out of 10.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
A romantic comedy classic directed by George Cukor and adapted to the screen by Donald Ogden Stewart from Philip Barry's Broadway hit play.
Although Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart share top billing with Katherine Hepburn, this is clearly Hepburn's movie. The story revolves around her profound transformation from an “ice queen” to a warm human being who discovers what true love is -- which proves to be her ultimate salvation.
The movie opens with a scene of marital disaster -- that legendary scene in which Cary Grant (playing the C. K. Dexter Haven), before leaving his home for good, palms Katherine Hepburn's face and pushes her down to the floor.
But that does not happen before Hepburn (playing Tracy Lord, Dexter's wife), drives him mad by throwing out his pipe set and breaking his golf club as Dexter is trying to get into his car and leave the unhappy marriage behind. It must have been such a sacrilege to break an honorable man's pipes and wooden golf clubs back in the 40s. These days real men neither smoke smelly pipes nor own wooden golf clubs. They don't shove their wives rudely on to the floor either.
Fast forward to two years later. Tracy is about to marry her new sweetheart George Kittredge (played by John Howard) who is a very proper gentlemen crazy for the appearances. Since Tracy comes from a blue-blood upper-crust family, her marriage is exactly the stuff the tabloids thrive on. Back then, the gossip-monger photo tabloid of the day happens to be the "Spy Magazine".
Spy's unscrupulous Editor Sidney Kidd decides to send a cracker jack team of photographer Elizabeth "Liz" Imbrie (played by Ruth Hussey) and the writer from the other side of the tracks with serious literary ambitions, Macaulay “Mike” Connor (James Stewart) to cover this high-society event with as many scandalous details and photographs as possible. It is interesting to note that the “Editor Sidney Kidd” character is very similar to the one Cary Grant himself has played in another film released the same year, HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940).
However, the Editor needs a ruse to slip Liz and Macaulay into the Lord mansion in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia (hence the name of film) in the eve of Tracy's marriage. Enter Dexter, who is itching to get back even with Tracy.
Tracy's brother Junius is employed by the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. With Kidd's direction, Dexter introduces himself to Mike and Liz as the Spy Magazine's Buenos Aires Bureau Chief and a friend of Junius. That will be their cover story to slip into the Lord estate.
Questionable plot point: Dexter is actually coerced into this role by Kidd's blackmail. If Dexter refuses to cooperate, Kidd threatens to publish the full story of a potentially damaging illicit affair involving Tray's father Seth Lord (John Halliday).
So why should a divorced man care about the reputation of his ex father-in-law? Is it because Dexter has not lost faith in his eventual reunion with his ex-wife and thus tries to protect the reputation of a family that he hopes to rejoin in the near future? Could be. Otherwise the blackmail does not really make sense.
Both Tracy and her parents are surprised to see Dexter back in their house and Mike and Liz's cover are soon debunked. However, due to an unexpected development Mike is not chased right away from the Lord estate – Tracy and Mike are drawn to one another in a summer romance that does not go further than a few kisses and a midnight dip in the swimming pool. But it is enough to propel the story towards both Dexter's and George's reactions.
The Tracy-George-Mike-Dexter love quadrangle evolves within the larger context of Tracy's personal transformation. No less than three men (Dexter, her father Seth and Mike) tell her in no uncertain terms the kind of royally spoiled and controlling personality she has. The indictment, issued by different parties but delivered the same way, forces Tracy to rethink who she is and where she is heading in life. She wants to be happy but doesn't know quite how and now realizes that her “ice queen” attitude and sense of entitlement might be a part of her misery.
Cary Grant's Dexter is portrayed with much gentle humor (as usual with almost all Grant roles). But this Dexter fellow is nothing if not persistent and self-assured. He is like a farmer waiting for the golden fruit to fall into his lap when its ripe. Nothing fazes him – neither Tracy's upcoming marriage with George, nor her brief involvement with Mike. He is a character who mostly listens, observes, and reacts with a know-it-all snicker that I have not seen in any of his other movies.
When George pulls out of the marriage at the last moment, Tracy proposes to Mike. Dexter still keeps his cool as a guy who has seen the future and the future belongs to him. When Mike turns her down because he feels their brief fling (and the immense social gap between the socialite Tracy and the working stiff Mike) is not a good enough reason for marriage, Dexter is the only groom candidate left standing.
At the end of the movie, Tracy's character transformation is complete. She realizes the number of hearts she has broken in the past with her tempestuous temperament and decides what matters most in life is love and living in peace with the one who truly loves her and has never forgotten her – Dexter.
The following scene in which she makes full peace with her father Seth pretty much summarizes the gist of her transformation:
Tracy Lord: How do I look?
Seth Lord: Like a queen - like a goddess.
Tracy Lord: And do you know how I feel?
Seth Lord: How?
Tracy Lord: Like a human being.
Seth Lord: Do you know how I feel?
Tracy: How?
Seth Lord: Proud.
Given the reputation of this film as one of the classics of Hollywood history one wonders why a slightly above average romantic comedy with some smart and funny dialog is accorded such privileged status.
My answer is, yes, there are many films out there shot during the 40s that are equally funny (and equally removed from the daily concerns and background of an average middle class movie fan) but rare indeed is the one in which we see such a touching character arc. It is Katherine Hepburn's fantastic performance that speaks to us at an emotional level and makes us root for her “deliverance from herself.”
If it weren't for Hepburn, this is a 5-out-of-10 product. But Hepburn's scintillating and convincing performance lifts it to a solid 8.
Although Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart share top billing with Katherine Hepburn, this is clearly Hepburn's movie. The story revolves around her profound transformation from an “ice queen” to a warm human being who discovers what true love is -- which proves to be her ultimate salvation.
The movie opens with a scene of marital disaster -- that legendary scene in which Cary Grant (playing the C. K. Dexter Haven), before leaving his home for good, palms Katherine Hepburn's face and pushes her down to the floor.
But that does not happen before Hepburn (playing Tracy Lord, Dexter's wife), drives him mad by throwing out his pipe set and breaking his golf club as Dexter is trying to get into his car and leave the unhappy marriage behind. It must have been such a sacrilege to break an honorable man's pipes and wooden golf clubs back in the 40s. These days real men neither smoke smelly pipes nor own wooden golf clubs. They don't shove their wives rudely on to the floor either.
Fast forward to two years later. Tracy is about to marry her new sweetheart George Kittredge (played by John Howard) who is a very proper gentlemen crazy for the appearances. Since Tracy comes from a blue-blood upper-crust family, her marriage is exactly the stuff the tabloids thrive on. Back then, the gossip-monger photo tabloid of the day happens to be the "Spy Magazine".
Spy's unscrupulous Editor Sidney Kidd decides to send a cracker jack team of photographer Elizabeth "Liz" Imbrie (played by Ruth Hussey) and the writer from the other side of the tracks with serious literary ambitions, Macaulay “Mike” Connor (James Stewart) to cover this high-society event with as many scandalous details and photographs as possible. It is interesting to note that the “Editor Sidney Kidd” character is very similar to the one Cary Grant himself has played in another film released the same year, HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940).
However, the Editor needs a ruse to slip Liz and Macaulay into the Lord mansion in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia (hence the name of film) in the eve of Tracy's marriage. Enter Dexter, who is itching to get back even with Tracy.
Tracy's brother Junius is employed by the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. With Kidd's direction, Dexter introduces himself to Mike and Liz as the Spy Magazine's Buenos Aires Bureau Chief and a friend of Junius. That will be their cover story to slip into the Lord estate.
Questionable plot point: Dexter is actually coerced into this role by Kidd's blackmail. If Dexter refuses to cooperate, Kidd threatens to publish the full story of a potentially damaging illicit affair involving Tray's father Seth Lord (John Halliday).
So why should a divorced man care about the reputation of his ex father-in-law? Is it because Dexter has not lost faith in his eventual reunion with his ex-wife and thus tries to protect the reputation of a family that he hopes to rejoin in the near future? Could be. Otherwise the blackmail does not really make sense.
Both Tracy and her parents are surprised to see Dexter back in their house and Mike and Liz's cover are soon debunked. However, due to an unexpected development Mike is not chased right away from the Lord estate – Tracy and Mike are drawn to one another in a summer romance that does not go further than a few kisses and a midnight dip in the swimming pool. But it is enough to propel the story towards both Dexter's and George's reactions.
The Tracy-George-Mike-Dexter love quadrangle evolves within the larger context of Tracy's personal transformation. No less than three men (Dexter, her father Seth and Mike) tell her in no uncertain terms the kind of royally spoiled and controlling personality she has. The indictment, issued by different parties but delivered the same way, forces Tracy to rethink who she is and where she is heading in life. She wants to be happy but doesn't know quite how and now realizes that her “ice queen” attitude and sense of entitlement might be a part of her misery.
Cary Grant's Dexter is portrayed with much gentle humor (as usual with almost all Grant roles). But this Dexter fellow is nothing if not persistent and self-assured. He is like a farmer waiting for the golden fruit to fall into his lap when its ripe. Nothing fazes him – neither Tracy's upcoming marriage with George, nor her brief involvement with Mike. He is a character who mostly listens, observes, and reacts with a know-it-all snicker that I have not seen in any of his other movies.
When George pulls out of the marriage at the last moment, Tracy proposes to Mike. Dexter still keeps his cool as a guy who has seen the future and the future belongs to him. When Mike turns her down because he feels their brief fling (and the immense social gap between the socialite Tracy and the working stiff Mike) is not a good enough reason for marriage, Dexter is the only groom candidate left standing.
At the end of the movie, Tracy's character transformation is complete. She realizes the number of hearts she has broken in the past with her tempestuous temperament and decides what matters most in life is love and living in peace with the one who truly loves her and has never forgotten her – Dexter.
The following scene in which she makes full peace with her father Seth pretty much summarizes the gist of her transformation:
Tracy Lord: How do I look?
Seth Lord: Like a queen - like a goddess.
Tracy Lord: And do you know how I feel?
Seth Lord: How?
Tracy Lord: Like a human being.
Seth Lord: Do you know how I feel?
Tracy: How?
Seth Lord: Proud.
Given the reputation of this film as one of the classics of Hollywood history one wonders why a slightly above average romantic comedy with some smart and funny dialog is accorded such privileged status.
My answer is, yes, there are many films out there shot during the 40s that are equally funny (and equally removed from the daily concerns and background of an average middle class movie fan) but rare indeed is the one in which we see such a touching character arc. It is Katherine Hepburn's fantastic performance that speaks to us at an emotional level and makes us root for her “deliverance from herself.”
If it weren't for Hepburn, this is a 5-out-of-10 product. But Hepburn's scintillating and convincing performance lifts it to a solid 8.
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