Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in High Society (1956)
Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 3015. Photo: MGM. Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in High Society (Charles Walters, 1956).
High Society (Charles Walters, 1956) is a glossy Technicolor-and-VistaVision musical remake of George Cukor's classic The Philadelphia Story (1940), starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and James Stewart. Both were based on Philip Barry's enormously successful stage comedy of manners. Set amongst the rich and famous in Newport, RI, the story revolves around the wedding plans of spoiled heiress Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly). Tracy is all set to marry stuffy social climber George Kittridge (John Lund), while undercover Spy magazine reporter 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), a successful popular jazz musician who lives next door, also comes calling. Ostensibly, he is there to attend the annual Newport Jazz Festival, but actually, he wants to win Tracy back. In the course of events, Mike falls in love with Tracy, and she with him. Tracy has to choose between the three men. The Jazz Festival subplot allows scriptwriter John Patrick to bring Louis Armstrong and his band into the proceedings. Minus points are the casting of Crosby who appears old enough to be Kelly's grandfather and obviously misses the looks and the class of Cary Grant, and the fact that the more satiric aspects of Barry's witty dialogue seem to have been sanded away. But we love these Cole Porter tunes like 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.' Oh yes, and High Society was Grace Kelly's final screen appearance before her real-life wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Michael Costello (AllMovie) and IMDb.
Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in High Society (1956)
Dutch postcard by Takken, no. 3015. Photo: MGM. Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in High Society (Charles Walters, 1956).
High Society (Charles Walters, 1956) is a glossy Technicolor-and-VistaVision musical remake of George Cukor's classic The Philadelphia Story (1940), starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and James Stewart. Both were based on Philip Barry's enormously successful stage comedy of manners. Set amongst the rich and famous in Newport, RI, the story revolves around the wedding plans of spoiled heiress Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly). Tracy is all set to marry stuffy social climber George Kittridge (John Lund), while undercover Spy magazine reporter 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), a successful popular jazz musician who lives next door, also comes calling. Ostensibly, he is there to attend the annual Newport Jazz Festival, but actually, he wants to win Tracy back. In the course of events, Mike falls in love with Tracy, and she with him. Tracy has to choose between the three men. The Jazz Festival subplot allows scriptwriter John Patrick to bring Louis Armstrong and his band into the proceedings. Minus points are the casting of Crosby who appears old enough to be Kelly's grandfather and obviously misses the looks and the class of Cary Grant, and the fact that the more satiric aspects of Barry's witty dialogue seem to have been sanded away. But we love these Cole Porter tunes like 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.' Oh yes, and High Society was Grace Kelly's final screen appearance before her real-life wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Michael Costello (AllMovie) and IMDb.