Talk:The Philadelphia Story (film)

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From the main page[edit]

this is a stub article, full of dry facts -- can someone who has actually seen the movie describe the characters, performances and plot, please?

Cite or remove[edit]

I'd like to remove the sentence: "Most Oscar watchers consider Stewart's Oscar the quintessential 'Should Have Won Last Year' award; after 'robbing' him for his performance in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, the Academy gave him the Oscar at the earliest opportunity."

It could be cited, but would it be necessary? PacificBoy 19:13, 28 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It should be removed. There's just no way to back it up. Clarityfiend 04:08, 29 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dexter's Motivation[edit]

"Dexter has cooked up the scheme so he can try to derail the marriage"

I don't think it's clear in the movie that this is Dexter's motivation. It's suggested that his real motivation is to prevent the publication of the article on Seth Lord's alleged philandering, which would cause embarrassment to the Lord family, as he seems genuinely fond of Mrs. Lord and the younger daughter, Dinah. Certainly, he doesn't entirely approve of the marriage, and wants to get back together with Tracy, but he might have been too much of a gentleman to cause them trouble, unless he was also trying to protect them.

So, unless the above statement can be proven with cites from the film, I recommend it be struck.

Point taken. I've deleted my sentence. Clarityfiend 22:23, 7 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You've been wrong. About 43 minutes into the movie Dexter declares his presence for the purpose of Tracy not to …remarry obviously so beneath her. There's your cite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.115.36.147 (talk) 13:54, 2 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Important differences from the play[edit]

i wonder if the following deserves mention: there is a character of significance in the play who is completely written out of the movie. alexander (sandy), tracy's younger brother. in the play, he is an editor for the saturday evening post, and as such, passingly familiar with liz and mike. the important thing here is that, in the play, the scheme is HIS idea, and he moves it forward. his mother and tracy are appalled when they learn that he has invited mike and liz for the weekend, but there is no gracious way of withdrawing the invitation. he also worked for kidd at one time. also, the magazine doing the exposé in the play is 'destiny',another of kidd's publications. ('spy' is mentioned.)Toyokuni3 (talk) 05:18, 19 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've never seen the play performed, so take these comments with a grain of salt, but I imagine that when they were adapting the play to be a film, they realized that sandy was one character too many, and not really necessary. By transferring his function (to set the whole thing in motion) to C.K. Dexter Haven it significantly strengthens Dexter's character.

Interesting, though. Ed Fitzgerald (unfutz) (talk / cont) 05:58, 19 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

trust me on the veracity. i'm currently appearing in a production of the play.also, there are numerous minor characters in the movie who aren't in the play. willie's butler, main line neighbours. this is to be expected, i think.Toyokuni3 (talk) 13:38, 19 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, I didn't mean to seem to doubt you - I believe what you say. All I meant is that I'd have to see or read the play to evaluate what effect the loss of the character had on the film. Ed Fitzgerald (unfutz) (talk / cont) 17:50, 19 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Plot[edit]

The plot section of this is unduly small, for of a film of this length and importance. It violates NOT PLOT, by being too brief to serve to convey the sifnificance ofthe film and serve as background forthe rest of the material. DGG (talk) 11:56, 18 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Cultural Impact[edit]

Maybe the article should say something about how "Philadelphia Story" is mentioned in "Double Indemnity"? I don't know what the criterion is for that, but I have seen enough "cultural impact" sections in Wikipedia articles to think that this might deserve to be included in the article. I leave it to others to go about doing that. Early in the movie, Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) says to Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) that his name has "two f's, like in Philadelphia, if you know the story." Dietrichson asks, "What story," to which Neff replies, "Philadelphia Story."

They're two movies, only four years apart in their release, but Wilder (director of Double Indemnity) decides to make a reference. Maybe there's something more behind that? Trying to make the film fit in more with the time? Showing off his awareness/familiarity with what his peers were doing? Something else? This might require some literary research.

Also, this could be included/mentioned in the article for Double Indemnity.

I've created a "References in Pop Culture" section (could be renamed). That would be a great place to add this, if you like. Jodi.a.schneider (talk) 09:49, 12 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Page move[edit]

I think this move was not a good idea. There are now hundreds of previously valid links pointing to a disambiguation page. I suggest to undo the move and place a hatnote on the film article. -- Michael Bednarek (talk) 10:16, 30 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That's not a good reason to undo a page move. The real question is whether the film is the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. I'm leaning that way, but by no means 100%; I'll have to ponder some more. Clarityfiend (talk) 00:53, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
If the move stays, the adaptations section needs to be refactored. Does some of it belong in the The Philadelphia Story (play)? Jodi.a.schneider (talk) 17:35, 31 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]


Furtive music and story from Hungary[edit]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo6gNMM9SOw —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.0.143.220 (talk) 10:19, 12 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]