Viewing with DVD commentary from Jeanine Basinger

I’ve managed to view The Philadelphia Story a couple of more times and this last time I did so with audio commentary, which is an option that hasn’t been available for most of the films I’ve been watching and it’s a shame. While the commentary could be lame, it could also turn out quite enlightening as this commentary by film scholar Jeanine Basinger turned out to be.

There was plenty of film trivia and behind the scenes information but one bit of information that I got out of this confirmed what I’ve suspected of George Cukor: what a master of balance he truly was in directing films. Basinger made a comment of how Cukor directed films with the right pacing so by the time it made it to the cutting room, the editing was easy.

Basinger also points out how well Cukor was able to translate the stage play into film. And in this he shows how good he is at balancing the comedy with the drama. For a film that is heavy on the dialogue and has quite an ensemble, Cukor always manages to get the right reaction shots from the different characters to give you an idea of what they are feeling or thinking. This is most important for Cary Grant, whom I began to notice had little to do in this film. He basically sets up the conflict and stand backs and watches. James Stewart is the one who does the most action of trying to get Tracy to dump her fiancé. But Basinger points out that Grant is given a harder role instead, he observes and makes comments when asked to and when needed, such as in the end, he takes charge.

Much is said about Tracy Lord being modeled after Katharine Hepburn. Basinger comments that playwright Philip Barry followed Hepburn around and basically molded Tracy after her by copying her mannerisms and dialogue. This is how you get the best acting out of performers, when you write specially for an actor, accentuate their strengths and downplay their weaknesses. In Hepburn’s case, audiences tended to see her as a goddess, almost arrogant. Barry uses this trait and humanizes Hepburn before our eyes. She was no longer box-office poison after this film.

One interesting comment Basinger makes that I took interest in is the fact that this film is a transitional film. It came out at the turn of the decade when screwball comedies were coming to an end and human comedy became the norm as it was more appropriate for the times to come with WWII. There are many examples of this, like the role of the Other Man is played by John Howard for example and not a more comedic actor. There isn’t any slapstick comedy. And in fact, as I’ve noted before, the film seems more sophisticated. Whereas in a screwball comedy you would know that Hepburn would end up with Tracy right away, it’s quite true that you don’t know that here. When Mike proposes to Tracy you think she might say yes. And it might confuse you a bit until you see the reaction out of her when Dexter more or less proposes. For them it’s true love.

There’s plenty of insightful information, in case you’re curious, in the audio commentary of The Philadelphia Story that ends up being a wonderful film lesson. I truly enjoyed listening to it and learned from it. And while this might not be considered a true screwball comedy, which after more viewings it didn’t seem as such, it’s still a wonderful romantic comedy, complex and well-executed. But how is it like a screwball comedy? In the beginning and ending. As Basinger points out, the last scene plays like a punchline to the opening scene. Starts on a funny note and ends on an even funnier note.