From Idea to Script to Sale
Movies from the Heart—The Philadelphia Story
Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant seemed joined at the hip after this 3rd film together in just three years. Bringing Up Baby was a screwball comedy, Holiday was a high class versus low class romance and The Philadelphia Story [1940], by Donald Ogden Stewart, was also about a romance that deals with class as well.
How this film got to Hollywood is a story in and of itself. The film was based on a play by Philip Barry. The play had starred Katharine Hepburn. At this point in her career, Hepburn was making a comeback. Having been in a failed play and some failed costume dramas in Hollywood, she had a huge success in the play. And as the playwright was a friend of hers, he’d actually written the part of Tracy Lord, Philadelphia socialite, with Hepburn in mind. So when she offered to buy the screen rights from him, he said yes.
So Hollywood—after the play was such a success—came calling and wanted to buy the rights to the play from her. And she would have made a tidy profit had she just sold them. But she insisted on selling them only if she could play the leading role.
At first, the studio balked. But the play was such a hit they figured they could stomach her in the lead and, after all, she’d gotten good reviews on Broadway in the part, so… deal.
The story focuses on Tracy Lord, who, divorced from C. K. Dexter Haven, is about to marry George—a rising politician, a man who started out a laborer and is now an executive.
The marriage is big news. And a gossip rag horns its way into the bride’s house by bribery—so Tracy and family are stuck with a reporter and a photographer, Mike and Liz.
Dexter lives next door and decides to cause a few problems—as he doesn’t think his ex-wife should be marrying George… because he’s still in love with her. And wouldn’t you know it, the reporter, Mike, is falling for her too.
Take a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCfuPPR7wnQ
I love the opening of this clip—showing you the marquee in New York where you had to pay a whole $4.40 for a seat! And movie tickets, depending on where you lived in the U.S., were anywhere from 25-40 cents. So wow! What a bargain to see the same thing they saw in New York for about a tenth of the price!!
This is a romance where the woman gets to choose between three men. And we all know she’s not going to choose George—or, as we watch the film, we hope she’s not because he’s such a stick-in-the-mud. But her first husband, Dexter, is getting real competition from Mike. And that is exactly what you want in a love story—two viable possibilities for a partner.
If you can do that in your own romantic film, if you can create two characters and put them in plausible situations where they could both be seen by the audience as viable choices… well, you’ve got an audience that’s on the edge of their seat.
Next week, another three-way romance—the classic Casablanca.
Copyright © Diane Lake
03Dec23
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Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com