Two years later ...

The opening sequence of The Philadelphia Story is much quieter than other screwball comedies. By that I mean there isn’t really any slapstick unless you count the opening scene that takes place two years before the events of the film. But even still while the scene is played for laughs, it’s without dialogue and different from the usual expectations of banter between the two leads. With the rest of the sequence, there’s plenty of dialogue and much of it funny, but the ridiculous factor is played down a bit and in turn makes it a more sophisticated opening than others of the genre.

The first scene introduces the two main leads, without naming them or talking about them, and in essence shows in a short clip the epitome of their blissful marriage together. Cary Grant as Dexter is seen as if quietly leaving the house, except he slams the door shut. And Katharine Hepburn’s Tracy is right behind him with a few things he had forgotten. Now while there’s no dialogue here, there is light, playful music, so you’re quite aware this isn’t a drama. And George Cukor has to be given credit here for balancing the comedy and drama to give it the right effect. There’s exaggeration here but Grant and Hepburn’s faces show enough comedy to make you laugh. When Tracy takes one of the golf clubs out of the bag and throws the bag on the floor, Dexter looks livid and even more so as he watches her. Tracy, with a self-assured smirk of a wife trying to get back at her husband, breaks the club in two and throws it at him. When she turns around and leaves, Dexter follows her and taps her on the shoulder. His instinct is to punch her—and we’ve seen men hit women before in the genre—buy instead he just places a hand on her face and pushes her to the floor before he storms off. Best part? Tracy’s hurt face as she lies on the floor. Again, Cukor manages to tone down the screwball factor here, but at the same time he establishes what all screwball comedies do, the couple that fights together must stay together.

Two years later, Tracy is preparing for a new wedding to George. Here we get introduced to the rest of the Lord household, but not the remaining players. It is in this scene that Tracy’s true character comes out, that of a strong independent woman that won’t hang back so easily. This scene is quiet except for the fact that Virginia Weidler’s Dinah is way too precocious and inquisitive than Tracy would like her to be. It’s Dinah really who brings comedy to the scene with her constant references to Dexter, whom she obviously adores, her theatrics for wanting something more exciting to happen. With Dinah, Tracy engages in some of the banter that happens between siblings at odds, but nothing too hateful like the Bullocks in My Man Godfrey. Tracy’s mother seems to be a more realistic version of high society mother and wife. She seems a bit ditzy but nothing like Alice Brady in My Man Godfrey. Tracy has managed to get her mother to leave her husband and Tracy’s father for his philandering ways. Here Tracy shows her strong feminist character by reassuring her mother she’s made the right decision.

When we’re finally introduced to George, Tracy’s fiancé, the scene takes place by the stables. Uncle Willie, another comic relief character, is also introduced as he reads a copy of Spy magazine. It’s quite apparent how wrong George is for Tracy. He can’t mount a horse without much hassle although he insists on doing it without help, which is a bit metaphorical of his relationship with Tracy. There’s also the fact that him and Tracy want different things when it comes to publicity. He seems to be proud of the fact that he’s worked hard for his money and position, while Tracy’s always had it and doesn’t understand the big fuss. He seems like a nice guy who’s all wrong for Tracy but of course neither realize this.

Finally we get to the end of the opening sequence and we’re introduced to the remaining players and main antagonizers. There’s James Stewart’s Mike and Ruth Hussey’s Liz, a writer and photographer respectively. They’ve been tasked to get the breaking story on the Lord wedding, even though Mike is dead-set on telling his boss that he won’t do any more style columns. Liz is more of a no-nonsense woman and is willing to do the story because they have to eat. Her character is also quite forward and feminist. She has great lines that Hussey delivers with irony. We finally get to hear Grant’s Dexter, who is willing to get Spy access to the Lord home for the wedding. While we never really find out Dexter’s true intentions from his mouth it’s assumed that he wants to get back at Tracy. Or perhaps he wants to get back together.

The pacing gets slow at times and the banter is never done as quickly as it normally does in the genre. But I think this is part of the tone that Cukor wants to set, mostly to do with Tracy’s character development throughout the film. The film is funny but the characters themselves aren’t exaggerations of typical people. And again, I think this is because Cukor's main purpose is to find that balance between comedy and drama, to look at real-life situations, without making them too long and tedious, and instead try to make them entertaining.

It's a much different approach to opening a screwball comedy, but there's no mistake that The Philadelphia Story is very much a comedy with its funny opening between Grant and Hepburn separating. It takes a bit longer than it normally would to introduce all the players, but Cukor tries to bring in a bit of sophistication without all the slapstick humor in presenting an entertaining film.