Philly cream without the cheese

It's fascinating to watch Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant interplay and parry with comedic banter, verbal wit and facially expressive playfulness. Throw James Stewart into the mix and you've got fireworks amplified to the third power. Such are the undeniable charms of "The Philadelphia Story," one of the grand big star romantic comedies of Hollywood's Golden Age. In dissecting this light drama masquerading as a screwball comedy, here are the conclusions our CineVerse group reached:

WHAT ARE IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS SHARED BY SCREWBALL COMEDIES? WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES THAT MAKE THEM “SCREWBALL”?

• Farcical stories and situations—where the film pokes fun at stereotypical characters, such as fatcat filthy rich fathers and spoiled rotten daughters (“My Man Godfrey”)

• Fast pacing in the humor and repartee, direction, editing and dialogue delivery (“His Girl Friday”)

• Physical humor, including slapstick (“Bringing Up Baby”), pratfalls (“The Lady Eve”) and sight gags (“To Be Or Not To Be”), are often used to elicit major laughs and make dignified characters look ridiculous

• A plot centered on courtship and marriage (“The Philadelphia Story”) or remarriage (“The Awful Truth”)

• Themes highlighting the differences between upper and lower socioeconomic classes, with many of the settings taking place among the high society but involving a likeable male love interest from the other side of the tracks (“Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” and “It Happened One Night”)

• The female lead is often strong-willed, determined and sometimes tomboyish, commonly depicted as stronger and even smarter than her male counterpart (“Bringing Up Baby”, “The Lady Eve”)

• A story involving a mistaken identity, misunderstanding, keeping of an important secret, occasionally involving cross-dressing or masquerading (“Some Like it Hot” and “Bringing Up Baby”

• A classic battles of the sexes between a man and a woman, with the male lead’s masculinity often challenged by a strong female love interest (“The Awful Truth”)

• Colorful supporting characters with quirky personalities (Barry Fitzgerald’s gardener in “Bringing Up Baby”, Mischa Auer’s protégé Carlo in “My Man Godfrey”)

• Often, there’s a secondary character (such as a third wheel male suitor) who is more prim, proper and boring (Ralph Bellamy in “His Girl Friday” and “The Awful Truth”)

• The golden period of screwball comedies was between 1934 and 1944, bookended somewhat between “It Happened One Night” and “Miracle of Morgan’s Creek”

“THE PHILADELPHIA STORY” IS TYPICALLY CATEGORIZED IN THE SCREWBALL COMEDY SUBGENRE. HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM MANY OTHER SCREWBALL COMEDIES, HOWEVER?

• Instead of a comedic love triangle, it depicts a love rectangle, with three different men vying for Tracy’s attention.

• There is a somewhat dark undercurrent running through this film, as evidenced by Grant’s character: we learned that he is an alcoholic, is not above physically reprimanding his wife and raising his fists to her, and making comments like “I thought all writers drink to excess and beat their wives. You know, at one time, I secretly wanted to be a writer.” You could also make the case that grant plays more of a straight man to the other more comedic characters, which gives credence to the belief that Grant’s is the most challenging role in the picture.

• This movie also defies your expectation for a formulaic conclusion, which logic would dictate as her ending up with the newspaper reporter, with whom Tracy appears to have great chemistry and a lot of fun. Instead, she reconciles with her formerly alcoholic and arguably abusive ex-husband. The “getting back together with your ex” screwball comedy plot has been used before in past films, including “The Awful Truth,” but here it’s not as anticipated an outcome.

WHAT THEMES ARE EXAMINED IN THIS FILM?

• The trials and tribulations of the idle rich in the privileged class, which can seem petty and trivial to some but are sickly hilarious and escapist to other viewers.

• How men venerate women and put them on a pedestal. Consider that Tracy is called a “Citadel,” “virgin goddess,” “distant Queen,” “statue,” “your Majesty,” and “made of bronze” and one man promises to build her an ivory tower.

• The unpredictability of love, as demonstrated by the fact that Tracy chooses her ex-husband in the end.

• Masquerading, playacting and impersonating.

DOES “THE PHILADELPHIA STORY” BRING ANY OTHER MOVIES TO MIND?

• Its remake, “High Society” (1956)

• “Holiday,” also starring Grant and Hepburn

• “ The Awful Truth,” slightly similar in plot and also featuring a well-intentioned but dull love interest who you know won’t end up with the girl at the end

• “Bringing Up Baby,” another screwball comedy starring Hepburn and Grant

• “Notorious,” also featuring Grant playing in acid-mouthed character who comes across as a jerk at first

OTHER FILMS DIRECTED BY GEORGE CUKOR

• Little Women (1933)

• Dinner at Eight (1933) 

• David Copperfield (1935) 

• Holiday (1938)

• Gaslight (1944)

• Adam's Rib (1949)

• Born Yesterday (1950)

• A Star Is Born (1954)

• My Fair Lady (1964)