The Philadelphia Story

This is a paste diamond with more flash and sparkle than a true one. The director, George Cukor, has never been more heartlessly sure of him- self.

Miss Hepburn has accomplished the thing she set out to do with both movie and stage play. She has made the showmen who labeled her boxofrice poison eat their words and rue the day they were ever so uncomplimentary.

Barry's sprightly lines and the almost equally bright additional Stewart dialogue, of course, make the play the thing. But, frankly, it would be hard to imagine The Philadelphia Story without Katharine Hepburn.

The Hepburn genius, long left a-smouldering in oblivion, blazes forth brightly in the screen version of the Phillip Barry stage play.

Katharine Hepburn gives the finest performance of her career.

In its 112 minutes' running time, The Philadelphia Story offers brand-new ideas on the upper classes, brand-new laughs at the expense of everybody, delicately detailed characterizations, full of human warmth and reality, and superb direction.

a dream cast, great movie

It’s an irresistible and painfully funny film, bolstered by one of the best love triangles you’re going to get in a romantic comedy. This one practically wrote the book on how the screwball comedy functions at its peak. It’s a must-see.



Hepburn is a goddess, Stewart understands Connor’s purpose in the story, and Cukor masterfully pulls everything together.

Without its trio of legends and a few well-placed zingers, it would be long forgotten, lost in a mist of ideas that have aged like a banana in the sun.