High Society

Comedy, Musical, Romance

Bing Crosby	C.K. Dexter-Haven
Grace Kelly	Tracy Samantha Lord
Frank Sinatra	Mike Connor
Louis Armstrong	Himself
Sidney Blackmer	Seth Lord
Louis Calhern	Uncle Willie
Celeste Holm	Liz Imbrie
John Lund	George Kittredge
Margalo Gillmore	Mrs. Seth Lord
Lydia Reed	Caroline Lord
Louis Armstrong and His Band	Themselves
Bill Thompson

Director	Charles Walters; Tex Avery
Producer	Sol C. Siegel
Writer	Philip Barry; John Patrick
Musician	Cole Porter

"High Society" is a glossy Technicolor-and-VistaVision musical remake of Philip Barry's "The Philadelphia Story" (1940), decked out with million-watt star power and a Cole Porter score. Set amongst the rich and famous in Newport, RI, the story revolves around the wedding plans of socialite Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly). Tracy is all set to marry stuffy George Kittridge (John Lund), while magazine writer Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) intend to cover the ceremony. Meanwhile, Tracy's ex-husband C.K. Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby) also comes calling, ostensibly to the attend the annual Newport Jazz Festival, but actually for the purpose of winning Tracy back. In the course of events, Mike falls in love with Tracy, and she with him. The Jazz Festival subplot allows scriptwriter John Patrick to bring Louis Armstrong into the proceedings, much to the delight of anyone who cares anything about music. The Cole Porter tunes include the Crosby-Sinatra duet "Well, Did You Evah?," the Crosby-Armstrong teaming "Now You Has Jazz," the Kelly-Crosby romantic ballad "True Love," and the Sinatra solo "You're Sensational." Though it lacks the satiric edge of the Philip Barry original (Barry, incidentally, is not given any screen credit), "High Society" succeeds on its own lighthearted terms. The film represents Grace Kelly's final acting assignment before her real-life wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco.Charles Walters' generally soporific musical version of George Cukor's classic "Philadelphia Story" (1940) is enlivened by Louis Armstrong and the musical camaraderie of stars Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. The second film based on Philip Barry's enormously successful comedy of manners, it centers on the aristocratic Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly) and her imminent second marriage. The final film of Kelly's career is a distinctly leaden affair in which the boredom of the participants seems palpable. Crosby, who appears old enough to be Kelly's grandfather, seems to bond better with Sinatra's tough-guy reporter than with the woman who he supposedly still loves. The more satiric aspects of Barry's witty dialogue seems to have been sanded away; perhaps not much of a loss, since Celeste Holm's society reporter is the only one of the principals who seems capable of handling it. Nevertheless, Sinatra and Crosby shift into another gear for the Cole Porter numbers, and Crosby's joy in working with the legendary Satch is evident on "Now You Has Jazz."