The Philadelphia Story

Synopsis: Philadelphia socialites Tracy Lord and C.K. Dexter Haven married impulsively, with their marriage and subsequent divorce being equally passionate. They broke up when Dexter's drinking became excessive, it a mechanism to cope with Tracy's unforgiving manner to the imperfect, imperfections which Dexter admits he readily has. Two years after their break-up, Tracy is about to remarry, the ceremony to take place at the Lord mansion. Tracy's bridegroom is nouveau riche businessman and aspiring politician George Kittredge, who is otherwise a rather ordinary man and who idolizes Tracy. The day before the wedding, three unexpected guests show up at the Lord mansion: Macaulay Connor (Mike to his friends), Elizabeth Imbrie - the two who are friends of Tracy's absent brother, Junius- and Dexter himself. Dexter, an employee of the tabloid Spy magazine, made a deal with its publisher and editor Sidney Kidd to get a story on Tracy's wedding - the wedding of the year - in return for Kidd not publishin
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Director(s): George Cukor
Production: MGM
  Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.0
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
1940
112 min
5,532 Views


Tracy!

Tracy!

Tracy!

- How do you spell "omelet"?

- Oh, you.

Ninety-four for the ceremony

and 506 for the reception.

I don't know where

we'll put them if it rains.

It won't rain.

Tracy won't stand for it.

- Mother, how do you spell "omelet"?

- O-M-M-E-L-E-T.

- I thought there was another "L."

- An omelet's a funny wedding present.

- It was a silver dish, dear.

- Bring some of that junk off the table.

Be an angel and get these

things out of the way.

Yes, darling.

This stinks.

Don't say "stinks," darling.

If absolutely necessary, "smells."

These cards have

been changed again.

There must be a ghost in the house,

the ghost of bridegroom number one.

Don't talk about Dexter

as though he were dead.

- He may as well be, for all Tracy cares.

- Right.

I wouldn't say that.

If I never see

Mr. C.K. Dexter Haven again, I'll be...

- Isn't that awful?

- They're friends of your father's.

What are they, tap dancers

or just musical comedy producers?

That's hardly fair to your

father's interest in the art.

Art, my eye! The art of putting up

$100,000 to display the shapely legs...

- That will do, Tracy.

- I give up.

If you'd just face the facts

squarely, as I did...

We'd face the fact that neither of us

has proved to be a success as a wife.

We just picked the wrong

first husbands, that's all.

Don't let's argue about it.

You wanted me to take a stand, so I did.

It's the only stand a woman could take

and keep her self-respect.

Yes, dear, I know.

Now I have my self-respect

and no husband.

You almost talk as though

you wanted him back.

He wouldn't come back, probably.

Hey, it's better this way, really.

You'll see.

Let's forget about the past. We both

deserve some happiness, especially you.

- Darling.

- Isn't George an angel?

- George is an angel.

- Is he handsome or is he not?

George is handsome.

- I liked Dexter.

- Why don't you postpone the wedding?

- How?

- Get smallpox.

- Don't put the idea in her head.

- George isn't usually late.

- He's waiting at the stables.

- Waiting...

- lf I don't choke her before Saturday.

- It'd postpone the wedding.

It would not.

Be in the car when I get down.

She's so mean about Dexter.

He was rather mean to her.

- Did he really sock her?

- Please, Dinah.

- Did he really?

- Darling, go out and wait in the car.

- The papers were full of "innundo."

- Of what?

Of "innundo."

"Cruelty and drunkenness," it said.

Mother, why won't Tracy ask

her own father to the wedding?

Your sister has very definite

opinions about certain things.

She's sort of...

Well, you know,

hard, isn't she?

Certainly not.

Tracy sets exceptionally high standards

for herself, that's all...

and other people aren't always

quite apt to live up to them.

But don't you think it's stinking

not at least to want Father?

Yes, darling. Between ourselves,

I think it's good and stinking.

Oh, I wish something would happen.

Nothing ever possibly

in the least ever happens here.

Mother...

how do you get smallpox?

Oh, Dinah, please go. Go.

This is Uncle Willie's favorite:

Complete Surrender.

Where'd you get this

idiotic thing anyway?

Never play with fire, child,

particularly on the eve of your wedding.

You're really a wicked old man,

aren't you?

Who takes this, your cook?

I love it. It's got

pictures of everything.

It certainly has.

It certainly has.

Who is that terribly attractive man?

Can Tracy pick 'em, or can she?

- Lf you're asking me...

- I'm not.

- Hello, darling.

- Hello!

- How do you like me?

- I adore you, but you look awful.

- Awful?

- Like something out of a shop window.

Cut it out!

They're new!

They're new,

but they're not going to be.

- There, that's better.

- I don't get it.

When I was a coal miner, I wanted

enough money to buy clean clothes.

Now that I'm general manager...

Dinah, is there anything

in there about the wedding?

- What do you mean?

- I thought maybe...

you being one of the oldest

families in Philadelphia...

and me getting fairly

important myself...

it's luck, of course, but l...

What's the matter?

"An average day in the life

of a congressman.

"The congressman's wife.

The kitchen, where is prepared...

"one banana, sliced,

two fried eggs.

- "The congressman kisses his wife."

- Lots of people like publicity.

Of all the filthy ideas, coming

into a private house with a camera.

George Kittredge, you get on that horse.

What do you think of that?

What would happen if someday

I got into politics?

- You'd be elected President.

- I don't know about that.

- I mean about publicity.

- Not in my home.

You mean our home, don't you?

Sorry, darling.

I mean very much our home.

Never mind, Eddie.

I'll get up myself.

Steady, Bessie.

Whoa, Bessie. Whoa.

Steady, Bessie.

Grab the reins, George,

with the left hand.

- Put salt on his tail.

- Shut up.

Steady, Bessie.

There. Whoa, Bessie.

What's the matter, Bessie?

You act worried.

Maybe it's because his name is Jack.

Hi-ho, Silver.

That does the trick.

Hello, Joe.

- Hi, Mike.

- I won't do it, Liz.

I'm gonna tell Sidney Kidd very plainly

I'm a writer, not a society snoop.

- I'm gonna tell him just that.

- Just that.

Let Kidd fire me!

Start writin' short stories again.

That's what I should be doin'.

- I'm gonna tell him just that.

- Just that.

Come in.

- I don't think you're being fair.

- No?

You're treating me like you

Rate this script:3.5 / 2 votes

Donald Ogden Stewart

Donald Ogden Stewart (November 30, 1894 - August 2, 1980) was an American author and screenwriter, best known for his sophisticated golden era comedies and melodramas, such as The Philadelphia Story (based on the play by Philip Barry), Tarnished Lady and Love Affair. Stewart worked with a number of the great directors of his time, including George Cukor (a frequent collaborator), Michael Curtiz and Ernst Lubitsch. Stewart was also a member of the Algonquin Round Table, and the model for Bill Gorton in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. His 1922 parody on etiquette, Perfect Behavior, published by George H Doran and Co, was a favourite book of P. G. Wodehouse. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Philadelphia Story" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_philadelphia_story_15844>.

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