I tell people sometimes that this is my
favourite movie, and
invariably, whomever I'm speaking with says, "the one where
Tom Hanks has
AIDS?" I smile, and say "no, not that one - this one was made in
1940." At which point said person decides not to talk to me about movies anymore.
Understandable, I suppose.
The story is about a high-class Philadelphia family, the Lords, and the marriage of their eldest daughter, Tracy. The press desperately wants in on this wedding, because of Tracy's high status and her scandalous past - she was previously married, and divorced in a rage, one C.K. Dexter Haven. So what happens when a reporter and photographer get into the Lord household on the pretense of being friends of the family? What happens when Tracy finds out about them? What happens when C.K. Dexter Haven returns for the wedding of his ex-bride? Oh... and most importantly... What happens when they all get deliriously drunk the night before the wedding?
This is a comedy with some fairly serious undertones about class stereotypes, and media intrusion. Guess they even had it way back then. Eat your heart out National Inquirer. Other than a great story, what makes this movie so remarkable is the cast. Everyone in this movie was fantastic. Even the minor characters shone.
Katherine Hepburn - Tracy Lord
James Stewart - Macaulay (Mike) Connor (he won an Oscar for this role)
Cary Grant - C.K. Dexter Haven
Ruth Hussey - Elizabeth Imbrie
John Howard - George Kitterage
Roland Young - Uncle Willie
Virginia Weidler - Dinah Lord
John Halliday - Seth Lord
Mary Nash - Margaret Lord
Henry Daniell - Sidney Kidd
The film was directed by George Cukor
Written by Philip Barry and Donald Ogden Stewart