Spotlight
Spotlight Date: 9-November-03
Spoiler Rating: Medium
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Once upon a time, watching a romantic comedy didn't involve sitting back and dully absorbing images of a cute woman suddenly meeting and falling in love with a cute man in an entirely predictable way. Studios actually believed that their audiences could think as they watched complex characters wrangle with weighty issues en route to each other's hearts. (Imagine!) As a classic example of the genre, "The Philadelphia Story" requires more attention than any of its inferior kin in cineplexes today, but, interestingly enough, this doesn't always work to its favor. The movie's cleverly written and refreshingly fluff-free scenes allow the stellar actors to display their comic timing and dramatic range, yet some of the ideas they toss around seem archaic, if not downright distasteful, to the modern mind.
One of the great ensemble casts of all time features Katharine Hepburn as Tracy Lord, the regal older daughter of an extremely wealthy family who is about to get hitched to a second husband. Her first marriage to the profusely named C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) ended acrimoniously, so this time Tracy has attempted to nip trouble in the bud by engaging herself to a ponderous self-made man named George (John Howard), who possesses the pride and rectitude that make her feel secure. Two days before the wedding, however, who should reappear but good old C. K. Dexter himself, bringing with him a slew of complications, observations, and emotions that Tracy would just as soon have avoided.
The mere presence of the handsome and insightful Dexter serves to ruffle the bride, but so too does a package he delivers, namely one Macaulay Connor (James Stewart), a marginally undercover reporter who infiltrates the Lord mansion with his partner Liz (Ruth Hussey). Although the film sets up what might have been a standard love triangle (or square, if you count the groom George), it sidesteps the usual agonized hearts and undecided hormones and instead exposes a pivotal moment in the lives of each of its two principals. For Connor, this means working through some serious issues involving class prejudice and frustrated artistic potential (he's an author forced to write for Spy magazine to pay the rent). Stewart won his only non-honorary Oscar for this role, and he truly nails Connor's incipient transformation from an envious, cynical grump to a more tolerant near optimist, adding depth and humor to areas where the script, sophisticated as it is, leaves a few holes.
But the most important instance of growth and maturation in "The Philadelphia Story" belongs to Tracy, who rides an emotional, life-altering roller coaster right up to the hour of her nuptials. First she is blasted by Dexter, who informs her that the reason their marriage failed (and the lifelong friendship that preceded it) was not his addiction to drink, but rather her self-perception as a "goddess" and her rigid insistence on "find[ing] human imperfection unforgivable." The notion of her superiority complex is then echoed by her father, who actually tells her point blank that he temporarily abandoned his wife and shacked up with a dancer because she, his daughter, didn't make his home feel youthful, gay, and loving enough. (This sentiment and the assertion that his extramarital affairs are none of his wife's business are completely accepted by Tracy's mother, who welcomes him back with open arms.) Having been twice slammed for her rigid morality, Tracy takes a dip off the deep end, turning to booze and a similarly floundering Connor to figure out (or forget) what she's really all about.
Now, the concept that someone blessed by fortune and accustomed to the finer things in life would seek to avoid the mire of human frailty makes good sense, I hope, in any day and age. The lesson Tracy learns about herself and how to connect with others rings true. Yet the forms this lesson takes simply don't jibe with our current ideas about blame and responsibility, or about gender roles. Dexter may have reason to complain of Tracy's unsupportive nature, but the movie brushes aside his alcoholism as an annoying little quirk. As for her father's complete refusal to accept culpability for his own adultery and his outrageous condemnation of Tracy for its occurrence (for which the film shows no signs of ridicule), well, that makes one all the more aware of the kinds of absurd societal expectations against which Hepburn reputedly raged all her life.
"The Philadelphia Story" showcases three of Hollywood's greatest legends and offers ten times more substance than most films made today (romantic or otherwise), and as such it remains an impressive and entertaining achievement. However, in its culturally driven portrayal of how the heroine discovers her place among the race of men, it presents an unusual example of how "not making them like they used to" may have an up side.
Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.
