Successful singer-composer C.K. Dexter-Haven (the grandson of a Newport "robber baron") is divorced from wealthy Newport, Rhode Island, socialite Tracy Samantha Lord. Dexter, who lives next door to the Lord estate, remains in love with her but she is now engaged to socially prominent and snobbish George Kittredge. As Tracy prepares for her upcoming wedding, Dexter is busily organizing elements of the Newport Jazz Festival.
Meanwhile, Spy, a tabloid newspaper, possesses embarrassing information about Tracy's errant father, Seth Lord, and has coerced the family into allowing reporter Mike Connor and photographer Liz Imbrie to cover the nuptials. Tracy, resenting their forced presence, begins an elaborate charade, including introducing her Uncle Willy as her father, while Seth is passed off as "wicked" Uncle Willy.
As a wedding gift, Dexter gives Tracy a scale model of their former sailboat, "True Love," which evokes her memories about their happy honeymoon aboard it. Tracy gradually realizes George knows little about her true self and has instead created an idealized image of her. When Tracy drives Mike around Newport, he notices some neglected mansions; Tracy explains many owners have been forced to board up or sell off their properties due to high taxes. Her Uncle Willy is selling his own estate. The two form a mutual attraction, leaving Tracy to choose from three very different men during a course of self-discovery. During the wedding-eve party at Uncle Willy's house, George catches a tipsy Tracy kissing Dexter on the patio. George leaves Tracy in an empty room to sober up but, still tipsy, she climbs out the window and runs into Mike. George finds her again after she and Mike have had a swim in the Lords' pool. The next day, Tracy has hazy memories of the previous night. She initially intends to go through with the wedding, then prods George into agreeing to call it off. While informing the waiting guests the wedding is canceled, Dexter suddenly proposes that he be the groom. Knowing she loves him, Tracy accepts. Liz and Mike, who now realize they love each other, tell Tracy and Dexter that they are not writing a story about the wedding or other events to protect the family's privacy.
Filming took place between January and March 1956. The location scenes were mostly shot in and around Clarendon Court in Newport, Rhode Island, which was then owned by Mae Cadwell Hayward,[2] and later purchased in 1970 by Claus von Bülow.[3]
The location, according to Turner Classic Movies, enabled them to take advantage of the Newport Jazz Festival, established in 1954, incorporating it into the film by giving Crosby's character a background as a descendant of a Gilded Age robber baron who became a jazz composer and friend of jazz star Louis Armstrong, who plays himself in the film, and patron of the Festival.[4] As name-checked by Crosby in the song "Now You Has Jazz", where each musician takes a small solo, Armstrong's band members were Edmond Hall (clarinet), Trummy Young (trombone), Billy Kyle (piano), Arvell Shaw (bass), and Barrett Deems (drums).
This film featured Kelly's final role before she became Princess of Monaco; it was released three months after her marriage to Prince Rainier III. In the film, Kelly wore the Cartier engagement ring given to her by Rainier.[5] Sinatra was 40 and Crosby 53 while playing the love interests of Kelly, who was 26 during the filming. Sinatra biographers George Jacobs and William Stadiem claimed Crosby kept his distance from Sinatra during the production and remained strictly professional when Sinatra desired companionship, and that it "killed" Sinatra to think that Crosby considered himself a higher class singer. However, this is rejected by TCM, which states that "in spite of a rumored rivalry between Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, the two worked together very amicably during the shoot."[4]
They claim that Sinatra was fascinated with Grace Kelly – as were many of her previous co-stars – and would have loved to have an affair with her but feared rejection and embarrassment in front of Crosby, who had previously had an affair with Kelly.[6]
The sailboat used in the film, the True Love (originally the Venona II based on the Malabar design by John Alden built for racing), sails on Seneca Lake out of Watkins Glen, NY as an excursion boat for Seneca Sailing Adventures, LLC.[7]
Producer Sol C. Siegel paid Porter $250,000 for his first original film score in eight years;[8] it introduced a couple of pop standards, including "True Love" and "You're Sensational". Not only did Sinatra and Crosby collaborate for the first time,[8][9] but behind the scenes two master orchestrators– Conrad Salinger and Nelson Riddle– melded their arrangements under the baton of Johnny Green. Armstrong and his band get a couple of standout moments and Kelly has her only role in a musical.
A soundtrack album was released the year of the film's release and was a major success in both America and the United Kingdom. It has been said[citation needed] that one of the main reasons star Sinatra was drawn to the film was a mock-tipsy duet with his boyhood idol Crosby on "Well, Did You Evah!", a song from an earlier Porter show, DuBarry Was a Lady (1939), re-adapted and added at the last minute when it was noted that the two singers did not have a duet to perform in the film.[11]
The title of the song "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" gained new significance a half-century later as the title of a global game show franchise. "I Love You, Samantha" has also become a jazz favorite for improvisations.[citation needed]
Release
Critical reception
Opening on July 17, 1956, High Society garnered mixed reviews, often being compared as a lesser offering to The Philadelphia Story, a previous adaptation in 1940 of the same play starring Cary Grant in the Crosby part, Katharine Hepburn in the Kelly role, and James Stewart in an Oscar-winning turn as the reporter played in the remake by Sinatra. Variety observed: "High Society should spell high finance business all over. It's a solid entertainment every minute of its footage. Fortified with a strong Cole Porter score, film is a pleasant romp for cast toppers Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra who, tactfully, get alphabetical top billing. Their impact is almost equally consistent. Although Sinatra has the top pop tune opportunities, the Crooner makes his specialties stand up and out on showmanship and delivery, and Miss Kelly impresses as the femme lead with pleasantly comedienne overtones. This is perhaps her most relaxed performance ..."[12]
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times described it as "flimsy as a gossip-columnist's word", missing "the snap and the crackle that its un-musical predecessor had."[13] According to Time, in spite of its "Who's Who cast" the film is "simply not top-drawer"; a "good deal of the screenplay seems as dated today as the idle rich ... [Kelly] lacks the gawky animal energy that Katharine Hepburn brought to the 1939 play and the 1941 movie, [Crosby] saunters through the part rather sleepily, without much of the old Bing zing [, and] Sinatra plays the reporter like a dead-end kid with a typewriter."[8]
Box-office
Trailer for the film
At the North American box-office, High Society was a success. It was one of the 10 highest-grossing films of 1956 in the US and Canada earning $5,602,000, and $2,656,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,148,000.[1]
Awards and nominations
High Society received two Academy Award nominations, and nearly received a third. The film was initially nominated in the 1956 Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture Story, even though it was based on the 1940 film The Philadelphia Story and thus was not eligible in that category. Moreover, the nominated writers, Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds, had written not this film, but a 1955 Bowery Boys film also titled High Society.
According to the book Inside Oscar, Steve Broidy, president of The Bowery Boys home studio Allied Artists, told the press, "This just proves what we've known all along– that the Bowery Boys series couldn't have lasted this long if not for the fine writers." The joking in the press aside, Ullman and Bernds sent a telegram to the Academy Award Board of Governors, acknowledging the error and requesting that their names be removed from the final ballot.[14]
The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 American romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey. Directed by George Cukor, the film is based on the 1939 Broadway play of the same name by Philip Barry about a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and a tabloid magazine journalist. The socialite, played by Hepburn in both productions, was inspired by Helen Hope Montgomery Scott (1904–1995), a Philadelphia heiress who had married Barry's friend.
That's Entertainment! is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film That's Dancing!, and a third installment in 1994.
"True Love" is a popular song written by American songwriter Cole Porter, published in 1956. The song was introduced by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in the musical film High Society. "True Love" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Kelly's contribution on the record is relatively minor, duetting with Crosby on only the final chorus. Nonetheless, the single is co-credited to her.
That's Entertainment, Part II is a 1976 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and a sequel to That's Entertainment! (1974). Like the previous film, That's Entertainment, Part II was a retrospective of famous films released by MGM from the 1930s to the 1950s. Some posters for the film use Part 2 rather than Part II in the title.
"Little One" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, where it was introduced by Bing Crosby.
The Complete Capitol Singles Collection is a compact disc box set by the American singer Frank Sinatra, released on Capitol Records in 1996. The four-disc set contains all 45 singles released by Sinatra during his tenure at the label between 1953 and 1961. Of those, 25 made the Top 40 on the Billboard singles chart. It does not include releases specifically for jukeboxes or for extended play singles, with one exception. The original tapes were digitally remastered by Bob Norberg.
The Edsel Show was an hour-long television special broadcast live on CBS in the United States on October 13, 1957, intended to promote Ford Motor Company's new Edsel cars. It was a milestone in the long career of entertainer Bing Crosby and is notable as the first CBS entertainment program to be recorded on videotape for rebroadcast in the western part of the country following a live performance for the east coast. Crosby arranged for this ‘live’ program to be ‘produced’ by his alma mater Gonzaga University in order that the profits could go to them in a tax efficient way. The program won the Look Magazine TV Award for ‘Best Musical Show’ and was nominated for an Emmy as the “Best Single Program of the Year”.
"Pennies from Heaven" is a 1936 American popular song with music by Arthur Johnston and lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was introduced by Bing Crosby with Georgie Stoll and his Orchestra in the 1936 film of the same name.
"But Not for Me" is a popular song originally written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the musical Girl Crazy (1930).
George Abel Van Eps was an American swing and mainstream jazz guitarist.
High Society is a 1956 soundtrack album, featuring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Grace Kelly. This was Crosby's fifth LP album, and his first recorded for Capitol Records. It was the soundtrack for the MGM feature film High Society, also released in 1956. Initially issued on vinyl either in mono or stereo format, the album has been issued on CD by Capitol in Japan in 1991 and by Capitol in the UK in 1995. The album was also included in a 3-CD box set called "Original Soundtrack Recordings" issued by the EMI Music Group Australasia
"(Love Is) The Tender Trap" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn.
High Society is a musical comedy with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Some updated or new lyrics were provided by Susan Birkenhead. The musical is based on Philip Barry's 1939 stage comedy The Philadelphia Story and the subsequent 1956 musical film adaptation, High Society, which features Porter's songs. The musical includes most of the music featured in the movie, along with several songs selected from other Porter musicals. It premiered on Broadway in 1998 and has since been revived. Another musical adaptation of the story had opened in London in 1987 with a different book by Richard Eyre.
"I've Got a Crush on You" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It is unique among Gershwin compositions in that it was used for two different Broadway productions: Treasure Girl (1928), when it was introduced by Clifton Webb and Mary Hay, and Strike Up the Band (1930), when it was sung by Doris Carson and Gordon Smith. It was later included in the tribute musical Nice Work If You Can Get It (2012), in which it was sung by Jennifer Laura Thompson. When covered by Frank Sinatra he was a part of Columbia Records.
"I Love You, Samantha" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, where it was introduced by Bing Crosby.
"It's All Right with Me" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for his 1953 musical Can-Can, where it was introduced by Peter Cookson as the character Judge Aristide Forestier.
"I've Got My Eyes on You" is a popular song by Cole Porter, published in 1939 and written for the Hollywood musical film Broadway Melody of 1940 where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. Later that year, it was included in Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1940) where it was sung by Kathryn Grayson.
The Philadelphia Story is a 1939 American comic play by Philip Barry. It tells the story of a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist. Written as a vehicle for Katharine Hepburn, its success marked a reversal of fortunes for the actress, who was one of the film stars deemed "box office poison" in 1938.
"I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" is a 1926 popular song and jazz standard composed by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Clarence Gaskill.
After Bing Crosby's long-term Decca Records contract was up, he signed many short-term contracts with a wide variety of labels. These included many popular labels such as Reprise, RCA, Verve, Decca (again), United Artists, Capitol and more.
References
1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
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