They can put away the applause sign. Just as Cole Porter had probably started to write the songs for the MGM musical remake of "The Philadelphia Story", "High Society" (released a year later), Westinghouse sponsored this abridged version of the Broadway play that minus commercials is probably about 40 minutes. It's a starry vehicle where all but a few cast members get entrance Applause, and ironically, the two that don't, reporter Liz and the younger sister of heroine Tracy Lord (Dorothy McGuire), that's some of the best lines. McGuire wouldn't be my first choice to play Tracy, but she's certainly closer to Katharine Hepburn as Tracy than Grace Kelly was, and thus less "top drawer". Richard Carlson and Neva Patterson are the visiting reporter and photographer from a national magazine, amused by the eccentric goings-on in the family squabbles where everybody acts over the top when first introduced but deep down is as troubled and easy going as anybody can see on the street. In other words, their image is phony. When George, the groom-to-be, refers to McGuire as some distant goddess, it really doesn't ring true although it did with Hepburn and Kelly.
Probably the easiest going member of the family, the least phony, is the plane talking mother played by the wonderful Mary Astor, who knows a thing or two about telling it like it is. She knows what her daughter is like, and she's overwhelmed with plans, and even though she calls it a small country wedding, something and Astor's eyes says she knows that it's over the top and ridiculous. Dick Foran is the fiancee, and the still sexy John Payne is the ex-husband that Tracy hates so much that makes her deeply love him. Herbert Marshall is her father, and Charles Winninger her uncle, and surprisingly for a family this wealthy, there are absolutely no servants seen. The ensemble all around is very good, but Patterson as Liz and Joan Sutherland deserve to be singled out because they did not get entrance applause. It's a pretty good production considering all the material cut out, and it should be noted that it was directed by Sidney Lumet who was not known for big-screen films like this. Pretty posh for the budget that it was filmed on in front of a studio audience. I obviously got a kinescope of the broadcast so the picture isn't the greatest but the sound is very clear. Great vintage commercials really add to it.
Probably the easiest going member of the family, the least phony, is the plane talking mother played by the wonderful Mary Astor, who knows a thing or two about telling it like it is. She knows what her daughter is like, and she's overwhelmed with plans, and even though she calls it a small country wedding, something and Astor's eyes says she knows that it's over the top and ridiculous. Dick Foran is the fiancee, and the still sexy John Payne is the ex-husband that Tracy hates so much that makes her deeply love him. Herbert Marshall is her father, and Charles Winninger her uncle, and surprisingly for a family this wealthy, there are absolutely no servants seen. The ensemble all around is very good, but Patterson as Liz and Joan Sutherland deserve to be singled out because they did not get entrance applause. It's a pretty good production considering all the material cut out, and it should be noted that it was directed by Sidney Lumet who was not known for big-screen films like this. Pretty posh for the budget that it was filmed on in front of a studio audience. I obviously got a kinescope of the broadcast so the picture isn't the greatest but the sound is very clear. Great vintage commercials really add to it.