date watched: May 10, 2009
location: At home. My own copy of "TCM's Greatest Classics: Romantic Comedies" version.
Man. I just had a whole post ready to go, and then the server crashed on me.
Let's try this once more.
It'll be in the theme of the "comedy of remarriage," anyway.
Stanley Cavell is accredited with the phrase, used to categorize films like It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934), Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938), and The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941). It may seem silly to us now, but the genre allowed for extra-marital affairs to exist under censorship. Of course, it's technically legal, since all the affairs take place once the divorce has been settled.
But really, what better way to relax after finals with a nice romantic comedy starring my favorite stars of Hollywood? (i.e., Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn)
Katharine Hepburn was considered "box office poison," believe it or not, and nobody wanted to take their chances with her. Thank goodness Cukor did, because I don't know who else could've played a better Tracy Lord. I don't know how she gets those tears to well up, without having it run over. Amazing. Tracy is a woman who is torn between her image as goddess, and her soft-shelled interior. With the appearance of ex-husband C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) and writer/journalist Macaulay Connor (James Stewart) to put the spotlight on her mushier insides. They do it in the nick of time, too, before she makes the mistake of getting hitched to "the man of the people," George Kittredege (John Howard).
I was rooting for Dexter all along, but it was still thrilling to watch her consider the bumbling yet endearing Connor (he truly deserved the Best Actor Oscar--what a cute drunk he was!). With the right amount of distraction, and so long as you don't wander too far, you'll come back right to where you belong.
I thought that the girl cast as Dinah Lord (Virginia Weidler) was exceptional. I was sad to learn that she died of a heart attack at the early age of 47, befor she got a chance to bloom, professionally speaking. I think the author of "The Class Act" (http://www.classicmoviemusicals.com/weidler2.htm) was right in his conjecture that studios focused too much on Shirley Temple and Judy Garland to notice Weidler. Better luck in the next life, Weidler. But you did get to act with some of Hollywood's best. And for that, I envy you.
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