Wowza!
High Society (1956)
I have always considered myself a fan of musicals, but in recent years I have discovered I am a bit choosy on that front. For instance, I cannot stand The Sound of Music or South Pacific and was fairly bored with The King and I. If Kathryn Grayson is singing in a picture, forget it. I really enjoyed Show Boat, but I literally fast-forwarded through her songs.
High Society, however, was the perfect combination of elements for me. Not only does it feature some of my favorite singer-actors, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, but offers Cole Porter songs (my favorite songwriter) and the glorious Grace Kelly in her final role before becoming Princess Grace and in her only on-screen singing spot. Add in Louis Armstrong as himself, and this had no choice but to be a favorite.
The story is a musical version of The Philadelphia Story that transplants the action to Newport News, New Jersey. The dialogue is identical in many cases, yet the roles seem to fit the respective actors perfectly. I understand that many people will side with Philadelphia Story when presented with this adaptation, but I saw High Society first, so I am biased. I definitely enjoy the original that transformed Katharine Hepburn from box office poison to gold, but why not go for the version with songs?
"Well did you eva?"
- High Society is set for 6 p.m. ET Nov. 21 on TCM
Filed under: Comedy, Musical, Romance | Tagged: Bing Crosby, Celeste Holm, Charles Walters, Grace Kelly, John Lund, Katharine Hepburn, Kathryn Grayson, Louis Armstrong, Louis Calhern, Sinatra, Wowza! |
MacGuffin Movies 
Another flaw. You don’t like westerns and now this!! We need to work on your punkin’ haid..
Hey! I’m warming up to westerns!
Don’t be so hard on her. Growing up on Newsies is a trauma you don’t ever really recover from. Besides I’ve seen bits and pieces of this film over the years, it being one of my dad’s all time favorites, and it’s fun.