Director: Charles Walters
Screenplay: John Patrick
Based on the play: The Philadelphia Story (1939) play by Philip Barry
Starring: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, John Lund, Louis Calhern, Sidney Blackmer, Louis Armstrong
Country: United States
Running Time: 111 Min
BBFC Rating: U
The Philadelphia Story is one of the great comedies of all time, a fantastic 1940 classic, directed by the great George Cukor and starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. The screwball comedy was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two, Best Actor for Stewart and Best Adapted Screenplay.
So, it was a brave, potentially folly, move by MGM to remake the movie, which had started life as Broadway play, as a musical 16 years later: High Society. It mostly succeeded, though not reaching the heady heights of the earlier film version of the play.
Directed by Charles Walters, MGM certainly stacked the movie with stars, as it is headlined by Bing Crosby, features what would become a final big screen performance for Grace Kelly who retired at the age of 26 to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco, and also stars Frank Sinatra.
High Society moves the setting from high class Philadelphia to wealthy Newport, Rhode Island, keeping the basic plot but incorporating songs by Cole Porter, and even a role for Louis Armstrong and his band.
The plot sees socialite Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly) engaged to marry George Kittredge (John Lund), but still living next door to her ex-husband, singer-songwriter C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby), who is still besotted with her.
The divorcees are both preparing for major events, Tracy her wedding and Dexter the Newport Jazz Festival. Meanwhile, tabloid newspaper Spy has dispatched reporter Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) to cover the nuptials.
Tracy is forced to reluctantly allow the journalists to cover her wedding as Spy has some dirt on her father (Sidney Blackmer), and she creates an elaborate charade. A romantic musical comedy plays out as Tracy has second thoughts about her future husband and feelings for Dexter come back to the fore, in a ‘will they, won’t they’ get back together story, that also injects a third potential suitor for Tracy in Sinatra’s Mike.
First and foremost for a musical is to look at whether the songs and score are any good, and here they absolutely are. There are some fantastic songs written by Cole Porter, including Well, Did You Evah?, which was actually written by Porter for another musical, Du Barry Was A Lady, but wasn’t used for that film and was added at the last minute to allow Sinatra and Crosby to perform together. Other standouts include True Love, You’re Sensational, Now You Has Jazz and the High Society Calypso that opens the film and is performed by Louis Armstrong and his band.
The cast are all on fine form, with Grace Kelly a particular delight, with some fabulous comic timing and a great voice for her songs. Bing Crosby is as likeable as ever and has a wonderful screen presence, and it is a pleasure to see him sing alongside Frank Sinatra.
The film also features some terrific smaller performances from the supporting cast, including Sidney Blackmer as Tracy’s father and Louis Calhern as Uncle Willie, who switch roles for a chunk of the film thanks to the aforementioned ruse Tracy plays on the journalists who are looking to cover her wedding.
The film looks tremendous thanks to Paul C. Vogel’s cinematography in VistaVision, helped no end by beautiful sets, production design and breathtaking costumes, particularly for Kelly, by Helen Rose. Some of Kelly’s gowns are to die for.
It all comes together for a very entertaining film, which admittedly doesn’t quite click as well as the film that it’s based on, but is a fun watch nonetheless thanks to its leads and songs.
And because of those songs and the aforementioned beautiful production and costume design, it is a feast for the senses, looking and sounding sublime. It’s a sumptuous film.
A final note, I occasionally roll my eyes at how different in age actors are to the characters they play on screen, but props to the filmmakers here: Grace Kelly was 26 when she made High Society. Her character’s age? 26.
The Philadelphia Story is a perfect film for me and one of the best comedies of all time. The musical remake, High Society, never reaches the highs of that film, but is still a classic thanks to excellent music by Cole Porter and infectious performances by its stars, not least Grace Kelly in her final big screen performance.
Film: 
High Society is available now on 4K UHD in a steelbook and will be released on 23rd November 2026 in a standard 4K edition. I reviewed the steelbook. The film looks outstanding. Shot in VistaVision, a high definition wide-screen format, the restoration and presentation means the picture quality is among the best I’ve seen on 4K. Colours pop, there’s perfect clarity and the level of detail is astonishingly good. Just check out Grace Kelly’s costumes, the detail in the suits the male stars wear, and how astonishing the drawing room looks where Crosby and Sinatra have their landmark first duet together. It’s one of the best transfers I’ve seen.
The audio also sounds brilliant, every note of the music and toe-tapping songs coming through clearly, and the dialogue and sound effects given room to breathe. All in all, it is a fantastic audio visual presentation.
There are no extras at all on the steelbook. The US edition had a piece on Cole Porter, a Droopy cartoon, trailers, audio promotional clips and a newsreel but these are all missing here, at least from the steelbook edition.
So, Warner Bros may have provided no extras for their steelbook 4K edition of High Society but thankfully the phenomenal transfer, which is one of the best I’ve seen on 4K, and first class audio mean the film itself is presented in the best way possible. The steelbook packaging is also gorgeous.
Disc/Package