Woman to Woman: Bing vs. Cary
By Erin Ellison
Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby sing Cole Porter songs. Louis Armstrong blows the horn. Grace Kelly warbles in stunning gowns and sports her real Monaco-sized engagement ring. It’s still a conspicuous consumption portrayal of a socialite’s wedding to her second husband. And it’s High Society — in my opinion, it’s the more charming adaptation of The Philadelphia Story play.
Here’s why.
Screwball comedy, something the original does excel at, isn’t my genre. I struggle to get through the previous Hepburn-Grant movies without getting a toothache from the sappiness. So, I’m already biased towards the musical version of the tale.
Also, the 1939 Philip Barry play benefits from the addition of some swingin’ songs in High Society. The explanation for the random singing comes largely from the Newport Jazz Festival (now internationally known) being in town along with a host of musicians. And even though Kelly isn’t known for her singing, she holds her own with two of the best-known and best-loved crooners of the era. Pre-The Philadelphia Story, Sinatra and Crosby had a little friendly rivalry going as cross-generational singers with Sinatra as the young upstart — and I love the reference they make to that in this movie.
High Society won the Academy Award for Best Story and Best Original Musical for 1956. It also has Celeste Holm — a truly delightful actor and signer who never got her full due in my opinion. And as much as I love her, this isn’t even my favorite movie pairing with Sinatra + Holm. That’s The Tender Trap with Debbie Reynolds and David Wayne. You should watch that musical too. But I digress.
High Society has charm, wit, and style. It’s practically effervescent as it swings and sways. It lets us hear Grace Kelly sing and offers up delightful duets with nearly every duo possible among the leads. And we get to attend Tracy Samantha Lord’s delightful engagement party as if we’ve suddenly become wealthy Newporters or Monegasques.
What a swell party it is.
By Jena Dunham
I love musicals, and I’ll bet anyone in any room that I’ve seen more of them than you have. I particularly love musicals of the 1940s and 50s, so if ol’ Bing and the gang are there, I am too. But here’s the truth: the musical version isn’t always better, beautifully illustrated by High Society and The Philadelphia Story.
Some things are classics. Some things are sacred. You can’t recreate the chemistry of Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, with their jabbing wits and a palpable, storied intimacy. And when you try, you land in a territory of the very sweet, very pretty Grace Kelly. She’s got nice gams and the wardrobe is smashing, but her performance is almost difficult to watch. Is someone feeding her lines offset? There’s a reason Bosley Crowther called this adaptation “as flimsy as a gossip-columnist’s word.”
With Hepburn, you get that perfect combination of stoic strength and heartbreak. I’ll confess, perhaps what we see in Philadelphia is just Hepburn being Hepburn — but it was magic! If you’ll allow me a little liberty, she was really quite yar.
Plus, I’m a sucker for that transAtlantic accent.
The greatest shortcoming of the musical adaptation to me, aside from the choice of music itself (Cole Porter ain’t no Irving Berlin), is the direction. The success of Philadelphia, I believe, is due largely to the thoughtful direction of George Cukor. He allows the camera to move with the characters, and in contrast, High Society is a very sedentary film, featuring mainly medium and long shots. The lack of close-ups and camera movements keep the spectator distant from the narrative; it feels more like a play.
And let’s be clear, Cukor isn’t a guy afraid of a musical. [Enter My Fair Lady] But you don’t need it here. He has developed an elitist’s dream of scale and fabrics, soft light and flowers and clothing. It’s all champagne glasses and white drapes, lapel boutonnieres, and table settings. Plus, it’s hysterically funny.
Join in the raucous, beautiful, star-studded glamor of The Philadelphia Story and enjoy the high society of it all.