Another selection from the good ol' movie cabinet, The Philadelphia Story. It is not going to surprise any of you when I say I love this movie! Another classic black and while film staring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart among others. This film is an adaptation of a successful play. Some say it reignited Katherine Hepburn's career. It was also remade into another film, High Society in 1956. I have yet to see that one but it is on my movie viewing wishlist.
Tracy (Hepburn) is getting married...again. Her first husband shows up with a plan to avoid some embarrassing family blackmail that forces Tracy to agree to let her ex, C.K. Dexter Haven (Grant) , and some reporters to cover her wedding for the society pages. Then it seems that everyone falls in love with her! C.K. Dexter Haven still pines for her, Macaulay Conner (Stewart) the reporter thinks shes wonderful, and her most recent fiance George Kittredge is also in love. Shenanigans ensue and the movie explores socio-economic classes, alcoholism, and some self discovery. Poor Tracy! But in the end the movie works out just as you wanted from the very beginning.
This movie has wonderful style. From the clothes and hairstyles to the kissing! I love old movie kissing. It looks like it hurts. There is a lot of arm squeezing and face smashing that makes me giggle. But I suppose all of that is to convince the viewer that it is a passionate embrace. I just think that my arms would be bruised and my lips swollen after a kiss like that. I also think that older movies put so much more dialog into their films. They never stop talking and they talk so fast! Perfect for me since I myself am quite the fast talker. My brain is used to comprehending much faster. There is something special about movies with no CGI or even color to enhance the experience. They are just pure entertainment.
I think the sets in films like this are also pretty great. The black and white of the film makes for lots of contrast in the background and I like that. This movie was portraying how the rich society lives so it was pool houses and grand ballrooms and lots of silver wedding gifts being displayed. The sets in movies and on stage can be so impressive. They play as important a role in the film as the actors.
The media plays a bit of a role in this film. The "Spy" magazine that covers the society pages and the reporter and photographer who are sent to cover Tracy's wedding for the magazine in exchange for not publishing an embarrassing story about Tracy's father. It would be publicly humiliating for the Lord family if Tracy's father's affair with a dancer became public.
I think an RA program could take that angle. The obsession that we have with the media's opinion of how we should look, feel, act, etc. could pair nicely with this film. First I would start with a big pile of magazines. Then have your residents find pictures of healthy relationships in those magazines. They can see pictures of two people and describe why they think that relationship is healthy. It could be because of how they are looking at each other, how they are positioned in the picture, who else in the picture, the expressions on onlookers faces, anything that they can see that tells them why that relationship is healthy. For some residents this will be very difficult. Maybe they will only find pictures of couples making out or in positions like that and it will be hard for them to determine if it is healthy or not. Or maybe they will find two people with their family and come to the conclusion that is a healthy relationship. Regardless, you will start the conversation about what is healthy and what is not in your residents' minds. Tie that back into how Tracy looked with Macaulay, Dexter and George in the movie and you have a program!
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