Oscarstravaganza: The Philadelphia Story

* * * 1/2

Winner: Best Adapted Screenplay, 1940
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart

For someone born well after Katherine Hepburn attained her status as a revered screen legend, it's hard to imagine a time when she was considered box office poison. I mean when you consider that she achieved something that very few actresses are able to do - namely that she not only continued to work but continued to be given leading roles past the age of 40 (and won 3 of her 4 Oscars after the age of 60) - it's weird to think that there was a time when no one wanted to hire her. Had it not been for The Philadelphia Story, Hepburn might have been a cinematic footnote rather than a major player.

The film is based on the play by Philip Barry, which he wrote specificially for Hepburn. She plays Tracy Lord, a socialite about to embark on a marriage to the dull but reliable George Kittredge (John Howard). Her plans are thrown off by her ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), who is the polar opposite of George and drives Tracy crazy, and Macaulay "Mike" Connor (James Stewart), a tabloid reporter who falls for her hard despite his best efforts. Watching the story play out, you kind of have to feel bad for George because the plot is centered on a love triangle and despite the fact that he's the protagonist's fiancee, he doesn't even figure into it! Poor George and poor Liz (Ruth Hussey), who is rather unceremoniously awarded Tracy's other castoff as the plot wraps up its loose ends.

At first Tracy and Mike spend a lot of time doing verbal battle, their conflict rooted in class issues. The more time they spend together, however, the more they discover that each has admirable qualities and they start to warm too each other. They warm to each other a little too much for George's comfort, though, and his suspicion that they've become more than friends ultimately puts Tracy in the odd and unenviable position of being nearly at the altar and having to decide whether to marry George, Mike or Dexter. In addition to this plot, there is also a subplot involving Tracy's estranged parents and the family's efforts to keep up appearances so as not to create a scandal in front of reporters.

Tracy is the kind of character that Hepburn excels at playing - a witty, spirited woman with a strong will and a mind of her own. Playing her against Grant, sharp as a tack here and always great with Hepburn, and Stewart, who matches both Hepburn and Grant barb for barb, works exceedingly well and allows the dialogue to come crackling off the screen. It's a very well written screenplay in terms of dialogue and the cast - leading and supporting - are perfect for it. At the same time, however, it's very much a product of its time in terms of its views on gender and women. I always find it kind of odd how when people discuss Hepburn's status as a feminist icon they often cite her film roles as a means of backing that up. Yes, she plays strong, smart women but, more often than not, those same women are set up by their plots in order to be swatted down. The Philadelphia Story is far from the most egregious example of the independent women must be punished mindset, but it doesn't entirely escape the attitude that if Tracy were a more "traditional" woman, everyone would be a lot happier. I mean, her father essentially blames her attitudes for his own philandering and the film ends with her telling Dexter that from now on she'll be easier to get along with, though in fairness to the film Dexter replies: "Be whatever you like, you're my redhead."

All told, The Philadelphia Story was nominated for six Oscars and won two, for Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Stewart which, much as I like him in this movie, I have to think that his win was at least in part a way for AMPAS to make up for not rewarding him the previous year for his performance in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Perhaps more importantly than the awards hardware it received, the film also relaunched Hepburn as a viable leading lady. How different might the cinematic landscape have been were it not for this film? She's yar, I tell ya. Real yar.

Review: Pat and Mike (1952)

* * * 1/2
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy

I watched Pat and Mike thinking it would be a romantic comedy with a little bit of sports, but found that it is instead a sports movie with a little bit of romance – and quite a good sports movie, too. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn star in their usual battle of the sexes story, one that rises above a few predictable plot points on the strength of their amazing chemistry.

Pat Pemberton (Hepburn) is engaged to Collier Weld (William Ching), a University colleague with whom she is accustomed to downplaying her natural athletic ability. After a round of golf with a perspective benefactor, Pat snaps and decides to let everyone know just how good she is. She enters a tournament and comes in second place, in the process catching the eye of sports manager/promoter Mike (Tracy). When she boasts to Mike of her prowess in sports other than golf, he tries her out in various arenas and settles on tennis. Things go well until Pat chokes during an important match and she goes back to golf, where she may have to throw the game due to Mike’s mob connections.

The thing I really liked about this movie is that it’s very much about a woman trying to balance her abilities against what she knows the men around her expect and want of her. Collier, certainly, doesn’t want her to be good at sports and every time she chokes – be it at golf or tennis – it’s because she’s looked over at the audience and seen him watching her. His presence reminds her that there’s a cultural expectation that athleticism is a masculine trait and that women, if they want to be attractive to men, should look good rather than be good. Her competitor in the tennis match is an Anna Kornicova-esque player who seems to concentrate more on posing for the photographers than her game, which she wins only after Pat catches sight of Collier and her mind begins playing tricks on her. Every time she takes a shot the net seems to get higher and higher, her opponent’s racket gets bigger, and her own gets smaller.

Mike picks up on the effect that Collier has on Pat and banishes him, which has as much to do with his effect on Pat’s game as it does with the fact that Mike is starting to fall for her. However, despite the fact that Mike appreciates and celebrates Pat’s abilities, they eventually encounter the same problems as Pat has with Collier. When Mike refuses to let Pat throw the game so that his mob connections can make a buck off of her, they decide to teach him a lesson by roughing him up. Pat comes to his rescue by literally grabbing one of the mobsters (Charles Bronson) by the ankles and upending him, succeeding in saving Mike but also in emasculating him. Now she has to find a way to put the balance back in their relationship.

Pat and Mike is a really great movie that defies expectations in a lot of ways. As a romantic comedy, it isn’t about one person always being right and another always being wrong, but about two people who want to be equals and who celebrate the fact that they are. As a sports movie, it isn’t about whether or not Pat wins the big game, but about whether Pat can overcome her greatest competitor – herself.

Review: Woman of the Year (1942)

* *
Director: George Stevens
Starring: Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy

I should start by stating that I have mixed feelings about this movie. There are parts of it that are so good and other parts that are so frustrating. This is the first film in which Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy starred together and the chemistry between them is immediately apparent. Watching them together is a delight - it’s the story that drags it down. The beginning is great, the ending is fine, but the middle is incredibly problematic.

Sam Craig (Tracy) is a sports writer who finds himself in a war of words with fellow columnist Tess Harding (Hepburn) after she makes some disparaging remarks about sports. When the two finally meet in person, the spark is instant. After a quick courtship they marry, but Tess’ way of life proves incompatible with Sam’s and soon the marriage is suffering under the strain. Just as Tess is named Woman of the Year for her professional achievements, her personal life collapses from underneath her and she must find a way to prove to Sam that what they have is worth saving.

From the beginning, there are signs that the relationship between Sam and Tess is going to be troubled. For one thing, Sam doesn’t really fit in with Tess’ high class friends. For another, Tess is always busy, running around from place to place as a foreign affairs correspondent with barely a moment for Sam. Once they marry, their problems are exacerbated by the fact that Tess’ busy schedule tends to marginalize Sam and, for lack of a better term, turns him into the “wife” in the marriage. Later, and without consulting Sam, Tess adopts a Greek refuge named Chris, mostly in an effort to further inflate her Everywoman image. The way that Tess relates to both Sam and Chris prompts Sam to declare that she’s “no kind of woman” and leave her.

I’m in no way going to argue that Tess isn’t a selfish and inconsiderate character, because she most certainly is (especially during the Chris subplot). However, the film goes out of its way to suggest that these character defects are a symptom of her feminist leanings, and that’s where the film begins to lose me. Tess is intelligent and driven and ambitious. I think these are all admirable traits but the film, obviously, does not – at least as far as women are concerned. Tess’ aunt (Fay Bainter) is a famous and celebrated suffragette but when she finally gets married, she tells Tess that she would have traded it all for a traditional life. Feminism as depicted here is selfish and empty.

In her attempt to win Sam back, Tess tries to get in touch with her womanly “roots” by making him breakfast. This sequence, which I liked in spite of myself, accidentally reveals the real problem with Tess. Only a person who has lived a privileged life survives well into their thirties without having learned how to make themselves a simple cup of coffee and an even simpler piece of toast (hell, I know how to make coffee and I don’t even drink coffee). The problem with Tess isn’t that she`s a feminist; it's that she’s a spoiled brat.

The breakfast sequence won me over a little, but then quickly lost me again. Sam tells Tess that he doesn’t want her to be just “Mrs. Craig,” he just wants there to be room for him in Tess Harding’s life. That’s fine (it’s great, in fact, albeit as another example of how Sam is always right and Tess is always wrong), but the film itself consistently tells us that to be a Tess Harding is a bad thing, something which can only lead to unhappiness. By having Sam tell Tess that he doesn’t want her to change, the film is trying to have it both ways and that just doesn’t work.

Woman of the Year isn’t a bad movie, but it’s a movie that frustrated me enough that I can’t quite bring myself to call it good. It did give me cause to reflect, though, on how Hepburn is often held up as a kind of feminist icon despite the fact that she consistently played strong women who get put in their “place.”