Summary
- Margot Robbie’s favorite classic Hollywood film is The Philadelphia Story, which she watched frequently during her childhood and continues to hold a special place in her heart.
- The Philadelphia Story is a beloved classic that features a talented cast, witty dialogue, and a well-written story about forgiveness and acceptance of human flaws.
- This 1940 film has received critical acclaim, winning awards and landing a spot in the American Film Institute’s top 100 movies list, making it an iconic and timeless classic.
Back in 2022, Margot Robbie mentioned that her favorite classic Hollywood film is The Philadelphia Story. She said she “used to watch it all the time” during childhood. It’s no surprise that Robbie took inspiration from older films during her journey into her acting career, as she’s practically an old soul herself. Her family didn’t have any connection to cinema or the industry, and she would perform movie scenes in front of them. It’s clear that movies like The Philadelphia Story impacted her for the rest of her life and career. However, it’s interesting that she picked The Philadelphia Story specifically as her favorite Hollywood classic, though.
The Philadelphia Story is one of the most popular films in cinematic history. It has a wonderful cast, witty dialogue, and an overall amazingly written story with the deeper meaning of forgiving and accepting human flaws, especially for a black-and-white 1940 film. But what makes The Philadelphia Story so special to Margot Robbie, among other classics she was inspired by? What makes the film a beloved classic today, 80 years from its initial release?
What Is The Philadelphia Story?
This classic 1940 film is a romantic comedy based on a Broadway play of the same name, written by Philip Barry. It tells the story of Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn), a socialite from Philadelphia who split with her husband of two years, C.K. Dexter (Cary Grant), due to her nature based on her family’s reputation and standards and his drinking problems. She is all set to marry George Kittredge (John Howard), a newly rich man known as a “man of the people.”
As Tracy prepares for her wedding, she crosses paths with not only Dexter but a reporter named Macaulay Connor (James Stewart), assigned by Spy magazine to report the wedding with Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) as a photographer. Now, Tracy caught herself in a love square between the three men. With her vast wedding approaching, she has to decide who she is truly in love with. Ultimately, she breaks off her engagement with George and remarries Dexter.
The play was written for Hepburn, who financially supported it. It was both a great Broadway success and helped Hepburn overturn her past box office failures. The film has only had three adaptations since its first initial release, but not in any form of a remake. The first adaptation was for a radio program in 1942 called Victory Theater, in which Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart reprise their roles for an hour-long episode.
The Philadelphia Story was adapted again in 1942 in two half-hour-long episodes for The Screen Guild Theater with different actors, but Hepburn, Grant, and Stewart returned to their roles once more for this program back in 1947. Finally, in 1956, The Philadelphia Story was adapted into a musical and renamed into High Society. The musical was directed by Charles Walters and starred familiar faces/voices such as Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Celeste Holm.
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Cinema History’s Most Critically Acclaimed Film
As stated before, Margot Robbie said her favorite classic Hollywood film is The Philadelphia Story. And who can blame Robbie for her choice of movie? It marked the return of Katharine Hepburn, who was (and still is) one of Hollywood’s greatest female actors of all time. She won a Best Actress award for the movie at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. The film was nominated several times for the Academy Awards and won twice: one Best Actor award for James Stewart and one Best Screenplay award for Donald Ogden Stewart. The Philadelphia Story also won an Online Film and Television Association Award in the Hall of Fame – Motion Picture category.
In addition, The Philadelphia Story is preserved in the United States National Film Registry. To this day, this film is one of the best examples of the comedy of remarriage, which was a popular subgenre between the 1930s and 1940s and has since evolved with the romance genre. It’s a basic plot outline of a couple divorcing and exploring other romantic opportunities, only to reconvene with one another.
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Somehow, The Philadelphia Story and its Broadway predecessor created something iconic with such a simple plot. The film is an absolute success to this day and even has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It landed in the top 100 in 1998 (#51) of the American Film Institute’s 100 Years….100 Movies list, along with various other AFI lists. It was even the number five romantic comedy film in AFI’s Top 10 list in 2008.
Given the history of the film, the plot, the characters/actors, and the awards that this movie was nominated for and won, it’s obvious why The Philadelphia Story is Margot Robbie’s favorite classic film. The Philadelphia Story is now available to stream on Tubi.
Stream on Tubi
