50 years ago: The Philadelpia Story, one of the great rom-coms of all time, released

The Philadelphia Story Released: December 1, 1940 Studio: MGM Genre: comedy/romance Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 0.4 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 215.10 Worldwide: ?

Directing: George Cukor Screenwriting: Donald Ogden Stewart Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard “George Cukor’s classic, witty romantic comedy” FS is “a delight from start to finish.” T95 It “sophisticated and screwball at once.” A07 The movie is based on a hit play by Philip Barry that was “a sophisticated romantic farce about a socialite wedding.” FS It “effortlessly transcending its stage origins.” T95 It would later be remade again in 1956 as the musical High Society. The movie had “a sublime” RS Katharine Hepburn reprise “her stage role as a haughty heiress who is about to wed a pompous self-made man” A98 (Howard). “Goofy reporter” VD Macauley Connor (Stewart) “is present to cover the wedding with a photographer Liz Imbrie (Hussey).” FS He “helps her down from her pedestal and into the arms” A98 of “her irresponsible” FS but “suave ex-husband (Grant).” VD “The film is a marvel of timing and understated performances.” T95 Hepburn “gives one of the performances of her life, while Grant and Stewart keep pace.” TV Stewart won an Oscar for his performance, but thought he was miscast and voted for Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath instead of himself. MSN Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud RS Rolling Stone (12/30/1999). “100 Maverick Movies of the Last 100 Years” T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 2 - Best Actor (Stewart), Best Screenplay Nominations: 6 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Hepburn), Best Supporting Actress (Hussey) Other Lists/Honors: First posted 5/31/2023.

 

Goodfellas released

Goodfellas Released: September 19, 1990 Studio: Warner Bros. Genre: gangster/crime drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 46.84 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 99.0 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Martin Scorsese Screenwriting: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino Review: “Another Mob picture: De Niro and Scorsese again, both in top form.” T98 “Based on Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction book Wiseguys,” FS this is a “fascinating look at the allure – and the reality – of day-to-day life in a Mafia family.” LM This is a “definitive and stylish, violent gangster film” FS “Screen murder has rarely been committed with such cocky assurance.” T98 “The violence is (necessarily) harsh and off-putting, like the film itself at times, but it’s brilliantly realized by Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.” LM The story “chronicles the passage of time through three decades of crime (the 50s to the 70s) in the life of a mid-level, aspiring mobster Henry Hill (Liotta).” FS He “dreamed as a kid of becoming a member of the glamorous mob who ran his New York City neighborhood.” A07 As an adult, “he marries Karen (Bracco) and slowly advances up and climbs the Mafioso ladder.” FS “In the end as his life unravels, after dealing narcotics and becoming hooked, Hill protects himself and his wife by testifying and becoming part of the federal witness protection program – and being left in anonymous, suburbanized exile.” FS With superb performances by Joe Pesci as meanly psychotic wiseguy Tommy DeVito, and Robert DeNiro as paranoid James Conway.” FS “Producer Nicholas Pileggi has gone on record to say real mobsters were enlisted as extras. Mystery surrounds how these men were paid, since they were unable to give Warner Bros. their Social Security card numbers.” MSN Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud T98 Time Out (1998). “Readers’ Top 100 Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 1 – Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) Nominations: 6 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Bracco), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Guillermo del Toro Roger Ebert Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Leonard Maltin First posted 8/15/2019; last updated 6/2/2023.

Today in Movie History (1940): The Grapes of Wrath released in theaters

The Grapes of Wrath Released: January 24, 1940 Studio: 20th Century Fox Genre: drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 1.6 (rentals) Worldwide: -- Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: John Ford Screenwriting: Nunnally Johnson Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Shirley Mills, John Qualen, Eddie Quillan, Charley Grapewin Review: John Steinbeck won a Pultizer Prize for his 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath about how “the poverty-stricken Joad family leaves the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma and heads out west to find a better life” VD as migrant workers in the grape fields, only to find “disillusionment upon reaching California.” A07 The movie adaptation the next year is “one of the all-time great, enduring American movies by John Ford.” MSN “The compassionate, socially-conscious film contains Henry Fonda’s greatest film role as wrongly-convicted ex-con Tom Joad, a poor yet dignified Okie farmer who refuses to be beaten down by misfortune, social injustice, oppression and capitalist greed.” FS Darwell won an Oscar for her portray as “the loving backbone of the desperate Joad family.” FS The movie “is faithful to the original story until the second half. Where Steinbeck’s story ends with a call to action to address the hardships of those in the Depression, the movie has a more optimistic ending.” MSN Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time” WK Wikipedia

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 2: Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Darwell) Nominations: 7: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Fonda), Best Sound Recording, Best Film Editing Hall of Fames: Lists: Experts’ Picks: First posted 3/4/2025.