‘The Philadelphia Story’ returns to local theaters
Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies and Warner Bros. Entertainment are bringing the timeless classic “The Philadelphia Story” to select cinemas nationwide for a special two-day event on Sunday, Feb. 18 and Wednesday, Feb. 21 as part of the TCM Big Screen Classic Series.
Winner of two Academy Awards including best writing, screenplay (Donald Ogden Stewart) and best actor (Jimmy Stewart), “The Philadelphia Story” is a 1940 romantic comedy directed by George Cukor and starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Stewart and Ruth Hussey that was adapted from Philip Barry’s Broadway hit play of the same name.
In one of her most famous roles, Hepburn plays Tracy Lord, the daughter of a well-to-do Pennsylvania family. On the eve of her wedding, her blue-blood ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Grant), returns. C.K. discovered that a national tabloid plans to do an exposé on Tracy’s philandering father and has agreed to smuggle a reporter (Stewart) into her wedding if the magazine kills the story on the elder Lord. But C.K. never expects that the woman he still loves will suddenly fall for the undercover reporter. Now, before the evening is over, Tracy will be forced to take an unflinching look at herself and to realize which of these three men she truly loves.
Hepburn won a 1940 New York Film Critics Circle Award for her performance, and the film was named one of the 10 best of the year by Film Daily. Adapted in 1956 as the MGM musical “High Society,” starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, in 1995 “The Philadelphia Story” was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
The two-day event will also feature an exclusive commentary from TCM host Ben Mankiewicz who will give insight into this classic film.
Participating movie theaters in our neck of the woods include AMC Loews Stony Brook 17, 2196 Nesconset Highway, Stony Brook (at 2 and 7 p.m. on both days); Farmingdale Multiplex Cinemas, 1001 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale (on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. and Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.); and Island 16 Cinema de Lux, 185 Morris Ave., Holtsville (on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. and Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.).
To purchase your ticket in advance, visit www.fathomevents.com.