Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

It could be so easy to dismiss 1956's highly-entertaining remake of the 40s’ Philadelphia Story with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart by calling it a case of Princess Envy. After all, Grace Kelly, the incandescent female beauty of the remake, so named High Society, would forego the screen’s love affair with her for the title of Princess of Monaco after the picture and all the men in it were either infatuated or in love with her, too.

The men, who would be her still-loving ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven played smoothly and wittily by Bing Crosby, her fiancée George Kitteridge played forgettably by a stoic and inept actor and an enchanted tabloid reporter, “Mike” O’Connor, that Frank Sinatra passionately portrays, are a problem for Kelly’s character, Tracy Samantha Lord, as they all come together at her family mansion in Newport, Rhode Island for her wedding. Dexter’s excuse is the Newport Jazz Festival in which he sings and the film is blessed with Louis Armstrong’s band and his snappy vocals throughout, sometimes a Cole Porter song like “True Love” in a duet with Lord or Sinatra alone in "You're Sensational!"

However, is it really just Princess Envy? Sure, stuffy George envies his bride-to-be for her classic perfection of beauty and, er, grace, but the crux of the movie is that she rebels against the discovery that she is so untouchable and idolized. Indeed there wouldn’t be much fun in watching these characters, plus the spunky, kid sister Dinah, her alcoholic rogue of an uncle, straying father and tabloid photographer/love interest of O’Connor played honestly by Celeste Holm, if Lord didn’t fight against George’s Princess Envy.

Sinatra’s O’Connor at first also has George’s malady, but after getting to know her (especially at the pre-wedding party when she gets drunk), he instead sees a warm, accessible woman like Dexter, her ex, does.

So Tracy Lord’s valiant and character-defining battle against Princess Envy could alone make a pretty fun movie, you see, but could there be more to the movie than that? An underlying, unspeakably embarrassing current of Penis Envy perhaps? For it’s true that understanding one’s sexual identity is what’s really going on here. Not only for the beautiful, confused girl caught between the adoring men, but for the handsome, frustrated men trying to understand and win her for themselves. It takes courage for Tracy to love and to allow herself to be loved, which she may envy the mens’ ability to easily do so. Yes, she like many real-life women, may likely have had Penis Envy because sexual passion did not come as easy for her.

Hmm...

Final Thoughts

I have always enjoyed watching this fast-paced, romantic, sometimes very comedic musical and have done so many more times than the original, black-and-white Philadelphia Story. They’re both as charming and well-acted as the other, but I’m partial to musicals with wonderful jazz and harmonic duets that make me smile and laugh. They both should be watched eagerly, in my opinion.

There is, of course, no nudity or violence, only one punch thrown, and would be fine for young people. I think they’d enjoy Charles Walters'-directed High Society more, though, for the music and color. Whether it’s about Princess or Penis Envy or both, it’s a charismatic film that a person of either sex is bound to fall in love with.



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8