The philadelphia story vs. High Society: just a little bit of history repeating

The other week, whilst visiting my family in Rome, I watched one of my favourite films: "Sabrina" (1954) with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. I couldn't help thinking how much more I preferred the 1954 version better than the remake in 1995 with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond- probably because Audrey Hepburn and Bogart just ooze class and are on different levels from Ford and Ormond, but also I am always weary of remakes of films and songs etc and have always believed that the original is the best.  So, with the recent release of "The amazing Spiderman" (2012) so close to the Sam Raimi version with Tobey Maguire and Kristen Dunst, it got me thinking about how fast the turnover of similar, or a exact reproduction of the same film is distributed to the public. One benefit of these 'copies' (as they can be called I suppose) is that the audience get to see the different ways that various directors and producers adapt the same narrative. Who knows...maybe Andrew Garfield, the new Spiderman, embodies the role of the well known superhero much better than Tobey Maguire. I haven't seen the film and so am yet to judge.

Moving on, talking about remakes, the other week I watched the critically acclaimed "High Society" (1956). Safe to say, there could hardly be any room for error with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Louis Armstrong as the cast members. But as the film progressed, I slowly realised that I recognised the story, almost word for word: an upper class woman, who had been previously married to a childhood friend, about to be remarried to a self-made man, and a journalist and photographer who are both trying to get-the-scoop on the wealthy socialites wedding. After some searching it came to me, "High Society" was a remake of "The Philadelphia story" (1940), another favourite, starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

"The Philadelphia story" (1940), directed by George Cukor, is based on the broadway play written by Philip Barry. Barry originally wrote the main character, the socialite Tracey Lord, for Katherine Hepburn herself and the role suits her perfectly. The film is a classic example of the screwball comedy of the 30s and 40s. The film proves once again that the Katharine Hepburn-Grant duo can not be separated on the silver screen; not even by the charming James Stewart who plays the journalist, Macaulay Collins, who also falls in love with the socialite. Stewart uses fiery poetry to try to enchant Hepburn in the scene below:

"High Society" is the musical version of Barry's play and "The Philadelphia story", directed by Charles Waters. The film incorporates the popular songs of Cole Porter, such as "Well, did you evah! (what a swell party this is)" and "Who wants to be a millionaire?"sung by the cast members. In addition, the actors endorse the elegant fashion in the same way as the characters in "The Philadelphia story", but one can see the shift in iconic style from the 40s to the 50s- not just in the fashion but also in the grandeur of the mansions. There are some critics who claim that Grace Kelly mimicks Katherine Hepburns' take on the character far too much; but Grace Kelly, coming from a high society background herself, knows very well the airs and graces of a woman with money. A scene from "High Society" is shown in the clip below. Frank Sinatra plays the same character that James Stewart played in "The Philadelphia story". Instead of poetry, Sinatra uses his voice to sing the bewitching "You're sensational" to win Kelly over:

Both scenes are well performed and directed in their own right. Watching both films, it is clear that Charles Waters took Philip Barrys' narrative and added his own touches to this fantastic love story- that has been (and still is) repeated and/or adapted in the rom-coms of today. In addition "High Society" was Grace Kellys' final film before she became the Princess of Monaco, and this also added to the films success. Both films were distributed by MGM but, unlike the two productions of "Sabrina" where I could clearly distinguish which version I preferred, it seems to be more difficult to choose a favourite between "The philadelphia story" and "High Society". Using just the two scenes above it seems to be a choice between James Stewart reciting poetry and Sinatra admiring you and calling you 'sensational'- and I can't seem to choose! With both films being alluring for different reasons it becomes clear why they were advertised as two separate films in the first place.

The commercial success of "The Philadelphia story" and "High Society" highlights why producers and directors will continue to remake films with the same narrative- and it's not only because they can take money from a new generation who might not have heard of the original story. Narratives can be restyled and refreshed by adding different musical scores, lines adjusted by new witty scripts and changing the lineup with current celebrities of the time, not to mention improved graphics with new technology. Thus who knows...maybe fans of the old Spiderman movies will also become fans of the new "The amazing Spiderman" (2012) and appreciate both films in their own right; after all, it's just a bit of history repeating.