The Philadelphia Story, and The Shop Around the Corner
None of the usual suspects seemed interested in going to see movies at the Stanford tonight (meaning, I guess, that they were all busy; Subrata was Bridge-ing, for instance), but I wanted to go, mainly in order to see The Philadelphia Story, which is one of those films regarded as a true classic.
I went up to Palo Alto for dinner and sat reading Foucault's Pendulum while I waited for the hour (half hour, actually) to approach. Yes, reading has been going very slowly. It's a hard book to get into, and although there are points of interest, overall I can't say I'm enjoying it so far. I'm about 200 pages into it (of about 520 pages).
Usually Subrata and I have dinner and get to the theater just in time to buy tickets. This is never a problem; there's never any line to speak of. Tonight, though...
Well, the line went down the block, around the corner, and most of the way down the next block. When I got in line, I chatted with the other people there wondering why it was so long. Okay, it's Labor Day Weekend. Okay, The Philadelphia Story is a classic, but is it any more of a classic than It Happened One Night or Breakfast at Tiffany's? Much less this much more of a classic?
I also soon discovered that the line I was standing in was the line for seating, not for tickets. Fortunately, the folks in line with me said they'd save my place when I went to get my ticket. Even more fortunately, it turned out not to matter: Despite the line, the theater was still not full, and there were plenty of good - albeit slightly more crowded - seats available.
I must admit that I would not put The Philadelphia Story on the same level as other classics like It Happened One Night or even The Adventures of Robin Hood. The acting - especially by Stewart - is fine, and there are lots of clever witticisms in the film, but the story didn't entirely work, for me. Hepburn's character, in particular, seemed a little too contrived: A rich woman who maintains absolute perfection and independence, whose walls come crumbling down in the space of a day and a half when she meets Stewart's writer character, who one supposes is supposed to be more down-to-earth and human and Grant's upper-class character, but who only comes off that way in his sarcastic remarks. (Contrast with Clark Gable in It Happened One Night.)
The relationship between Grant and Hepburn also takes a rather sharp turn near the end of the film which doesn't seem entirely warranted, and the relationship between Stewart and his photographer/girlfriend (one supposes she is, anyway; she's played entertainingly by Ruth Hussey) is left rather dangling at the end. As all of this is at the film's core, it left me feeling like the film hadn't really illustrated whatever it wanted to illustrate.
I was also a little put off by the film's title. What is it about this story that makes it essentially Philadelphian? It is, after, all, "The" Philadelphia Story, not just "A" Philadelphia Story. At least Meet Me in St. Louis had a tie to a particular historical event, the World's Fair.
So, compared to what I was expecting, I was disappointed in this film. It's still a fun film, though.
The Shop Around the Corner (also 1940) is another Jimmy Stewart film, with Margaret Sullavan (whom I've heard of but not - that I recall - ever seen before) as the female lead. It takes place in Budapest, Hungary (!) in the 1920s. Stewart plays Alfred Kralik, the longest employee of Matuschek and Company, a little store just off a main street. Matuschek hires Klara Novak (Sullavan) as a new employee, and she and Kralik dislike each other. The twist is that they'd started corresponding anonymously through the mail a few weeks earlier and in that medium have come to like each other very much.
Adapted from a play, Shop is a series of vignettes following the store employees, starting with Klara's hiring. There's a lengthy sequence resulting in Kralek being fired on the eve that he and his correspondent have agreed to meet for the first time. Kralek can't meet her under those circumstances, but does go to the cafe where they're to meet to see what she looks like, and is astonished to see that it's Klara, which sets up the basic tension for the rest of the film: Will they or won't they get together?
Stewart plays Kralik rather stiffly (though I must admit I've never been a big Jimmy Stewart fan). The rest of the cast is fine but doesn't particularly stand out (except perhaps for William Tracy as Pepe, the messenger boy, who hams it up at every opportunity - quite appropriate, for the role). The story is clever and keeps the viewer on his toes, wondering why Kralik was let go, and how Kralik and Klara's correspondence will resolve itself. It's a nice little film.
(I must admit I got a little sad during the scenes on a snowy Christmas eve. Having moved from Wisconsin to California, I am a bit apprehensive about spending my first Christmas without the prospect of snow. Wonder if I'll buy a Christmas tree this year?)
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