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Master Rank #194

The Philadelphia Story

1940

GCML Total8.9840% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by George Cukor

CastCary Grant · Katharine Hepburn · James Stewart

USAEnglishComedy / Romance112 minNot Rated
AFI 100Narrative FeatureModerate pace
Find Where to Watch
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Oscar · 2

Spoiler-free premise

Heiress Tracy Lord's wedding is disrupted by her former husband and two magazine reporters sent to cover the private ceremony.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

On the eve of Philadelphia heiress Tracy Lord's second marriage, former husband C. K. Dexter Haven arrives alongside reporter Macaulay Connor and photographer Liz Imbrie. Their presence turns the family wedding into a contest of judgment, performance, and unresolved affection.

Why it belongs

George Cukor lets Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart frame class judgment and romantic history as champagne-light verbal and physical comedy.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Katharine Hepburn's shifting poise, Cary Grant's restraint, and James Stewart's looseness keep every alliance in motion. Elegant rooms, doors, pools, overlapping entrances, and precisely paced dialogue give the adapted stage comedy cinematic flow.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Academy Awards2 wins1941 · official ceremony record ↗
Actor1941 · James Stewartofficial ceremony record ↗Writing (Screenplay)1941 · Donald Ogden Stewartofficial ceremony record ↗

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
Date NightFilm Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

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