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musings on
synchronicity
and the value of
paying attention

Although nearly 70 years old, The Philadelphia Story remains one of the most memorable of Hollywood's classic romantic comedies. The story, amazingly prescient in anticipating today's celebrity-chasing paparazzi culture, uses the backdrop of pre-wedding misadventures and a gossip magazine blackmail scheme to illustrate humans at their worst—and, maybe, best.

Jimmy Stewart plays Mike, a reporter, who, with female photographer/partner in tow, grudgingly takes a job with Spy magazine to pay the bills and get the inside scoop on the Philadelphia society wedding of one Tracy Lord, played by Katharine Hepburn. Of course, Tracy's ex-husband—C.K. Dexter Haven (the debonair Cary Grant)—stirs the pot, secretly wanting to reclaim his once-beloved-but-intolerant-and-perfectionist wife "Red." It's a comedy of manners, an exploration of class, a jab at celebrity journalism and publicity seekers, and a very human story of love and second chances.

A bit of the backstory has it that playwright Barry wrote the character for Hepburn, basing it on her public persona of the time—her split from the RKO studio was nasty, and she'd been reviewed badly in another Broadway play. After Hepburn starred in Barry's play on Broadway, Howard Hughes bought and gave her the film rights. She wanted Clark Gable as Dexter and Spencer Tracy as Mike, but because both men were involved with other projects at the time, Grant and Stewart were cast in those roles. Apparently, the choices were good ones—Stewart won the Academy Award® for Best Actor, and screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart won the Oscar® for adapting Philip Barry's play. In 1998, The Philadelphia Story was named to the American Film Institute's list of 100 Best American Films.

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