Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: I love old movies of all kinds, but this and Singing in the Rain are as good as they get. This is a remake of the Philledalphia Story, and they make it into a musical. By addding a superb cast and fun music, it is great for the whole family. Unlike some acadamy award winning old movies (which are all very good too) High Society is good for when you are feeling serious and when you just want to relax.
The story follows Tracy, a rich society girl who is engaged. Then her ex, Dexter shows up, and he still loves Tracy. With a little help from Tarcys sister Caroline, and some mixing up from two reporters, the film is hilarious and ends spectacuraly.
Overall, excellent!
Rating: 
Summary: Grace is Great!
Review: If you're "holed up" for a long weekend (of rain, as it turns out this Memorial Day), and haven't seen it, "High Society" is a great diversion, almost as good as a Memorial Day barbecue, and maybe better.I raaaally liked the original Philadelphia Story, being a huge Katharine Hepburn fan, but I must say, Grace Kelly is just fantastic in this role and to me, even better than Kate. Probably because, Grace is Tracy, the central character in the story. Otherwise, except for the sets, including the great collection of 50's classic cars, Newport mansions, women's dresses, and the dancing, this is a lesser film than the originial. But it's worth watching for Grace Kelly alone. I didn't realize she was such a talented comedienne. The movie gets better as it goes along, stick with it. Grace Kelly makes the best tipsy, goofy, adorable woman I've ever seen! ---Wow. This alone is worth the price of a DVD. My feeling is, and this is not being a Kelly fan at all before, that the U.S. should have done something to prevent her from moving to Monaco. I was too young to follow that story as it happened, but it seems a crying shame for America's entertainment and film industry and us people. She's got something that, say, Gwyneth Paltrow tries for but doesn't have to the same degree. I now understand why people made such a big fuss about her, and this movie will help you do the same. If you don't like musicals, which I don't, you can fast forward through the frankly mediocre, ill-timed, and happily not-too-frequent musical numbers. (Sorry, I beg to differ with the other reviewers.) Even Louis Armstrong is forgettable in this. Not every movie's a musical, for Godsake. (Besides, Grace doesn't sing!!!) Except, the most enjoyable singing in the movie, to me, was Grace Kelly's drunk amateur singing! It was terrific! The great Sinatra and also Bing Crosby (whom I admit to not liking either as an actor or a ba ba ba boom singer), don't get very good songs to sing in this movie, compared to the timeless and great songs Frank got in Pal Joey, say. They should develop a button that skips through singing in 50's and 60's musicals! Some of these films woulda been fine without the singin' and with the same performers anyway. As I said, if you're in the mood for watching a great female performer, WATCH THIS, folks! Grace is TIMELESS in this film.
Rating:
Summary: Bing's Beat
Review: Given the lack of fuss made over the centenary year of Bing Crosby's birth, it appears that, as far as the public at large is concerned, Bing is little more than a Christmas period piece. This film should help set the record straight about the most influential vocalist and entertainer of the first half of the last century. His feature number with Pops ("Now You Has Jazz") is a treasure, presenting two of the most naturally gifted, closely matched American musicians simply enjoying each other's company while becoming completely caught up in the musical moment. Satchmo absolutely shines (sometimes that smile could betray traces of auto-pilot, but not in this film). And Bing's got that thing going with his head that was the hallmark of his most genuine, inspired, heart-felt performances: he's way back on his heels and everything above his shoulders takes on an animated, even "pixillated" quality. No longer is he being merely smooth and easy (and singing certainly did come easy for him), but his head is illustrating the beat, in that curious, punching, out-of-synch pattern that he had whenever he was really feeling it.
The Sinatra performance is also solid, but there's plenty of good Sinatra elsewhere on film. What's unique about this film is his "Well, Did Ya Evah?" duet with Crosby. For years they had been radio rivals, the "old pro" favoring crowd-pleasing "smooth and easy" tunes and the skinny new star emphasizing more urgent and dramatic material appealing to the personal emotions of a new generation. Crosby is the "natural," capable of all sorts of graceful vocal elocutions and tricks; Sinatra is the driven, serious modern man, executing musical material with a no-nonsense approach. At one point, when Croz goes for one of his elegant swoops, Sinatra retorts, "Don't Dig That Kind of Croonin', Chum." But despite their considerable differences, and despite Crosby's dominating screen presence (perhaps for the last time in his career), the two wind up as arm-in-arm, complementary musical partners for what indeed is one of the swellest parties in the history of film.
Rating: 
Summary: Swelligant Musical Nose Dive On DVD
Review: "High Society" is the musical remake of "The Philadelphia Story". In this version we get Grace Kelly playing the perfectly spoiled Tracy Lord. Her previous marriage to C.K. Dexterhaven (Bing Crosby)a thing of her past, Tracy embarks on engagement number two to George (John Lund) and an affair with tabloid journalist, Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra). The score by Cole Porter is an elegant bobble of hit tunes including "Now You Has Jazz", "Did you Evah?" and the immortal, "True Love."
Unfortunately, Warner Brothers DVD isn't looking quite so spiffy, via a transfer riddled with excessive edge enhancement, aliasing and fine detail shimmering. Now, no one has more respect for the efforts put forth on this DVD than I. Previously issued VHS and laserdisc versions have yielded results in the "bad" to down right "awful" catagory. So what are the pluses of this DVD?
For starters, its color has been well balanced. Previous versions have suffered from an incredible amount of color smearing and jaundice flesh tones that, on this DVD, have been, if not wholly corrected, at least greatly tempered. Also, fidelity of background detail is superb.
The minuses - plenty - unfortunately. After some pristine opening titles we get excessively grainy and digitally harsh exterior shots of New Port. Every exterior scene in the film is marred by the above mentioned. There's even a hint of tiling to be found in background details, as well as an excessive amount of pixelization in all exterior shots. Check out the chapter where Tracy comes from the garden to welcome George home. Trees and shrubs are in a constant state of movement and not from any natural breeze that might have been blowing during the film shoot!
ASIDE: I have a widescreen television and in 99% of anamorphically enhanced DVD's(this being the only exception)my viewing mode on the television is set to "Theater One" for an appropriate picture. But when I put this DVD in, the picture seemed to be suffering from some sort of minor compression default that made Bing, Grace and Frank appear unusually narrow and thin. This problem, for those with similar television displays, can be solved by viewing the DVD with your television set to its "Full" mode (usually reserved for watching full frame movies in a 1:85:1 aspect ratio, without having bars on either side of your screen - go figure!)
The audio has been remixed to 5.1 and during the musical portions of the film is nicely presented. However, within the context of the film's dialogue, musical portions sound unnaturally vibrant, leaving no doubt in the listener's mind that major dubbing was utilized long after principle photography on "High Society" had been completed.
EXTRAS: We get an all too short featurette on the making of the film, hosted by Celeste Holm (who really should look after that throat!)some featurettes that are NOT anamorphically enhanced like the movie is and the original theatrical trailer.
BOTTOM LINE: Over all, this is a very disappointing and unsatisfactory visual experience to behold and definitely not worthy of Warner Brothers previous sterling committment to DVD. One can only hope that this effort is a blip rather than a prelude of what we can expect from the studio in the months to come.
Rating:
Summary: SOME WORK STILL NEEDED TO MAKE THIS CLASSIC SPARKLE
Review: "High Society" is the witty, sophisticated, musical remake of "The Philadelphia Story". It stars Bing Crosby as C.K. Dexterhaven, a man intent on ruining his ex-wife, Tracy's (Grace Kelly) pending re-marriage. Also in the cast, Frank Sinatra, as Mike Connor, a reporter set to cover wedding number two for a tabloid, (along with Celeste Holm)but who ultimately ends up developing a crush on his subject instead. With music by Cole Porter this is one of the best musical remakes of a straight forward drama, ever - and the biggest money maker of 1956.
Previous issues of this movie to VHS and laserdisc have yielded bad to darn awful results, with an excessive amount of color fading, film grain and murky contrast levels. Although all of these deficiencies in picture quality have been considerably improved on the DVD, they continue to be very apparent.
After a near pristine main title sequence we get shots of New Port that are excessively grainy and still considerably faded. Establishing shots of exteriors throughout, register a muddy mess of browns and beiges. Tree leaves still carry an orangy beige, muddy tint to them. The set piece and rear projection are glaringly obvious. There are even several instances of color smearing.
All these problems are exaggerated by excessive edge enhancement throughout the movie and some major aliasing problems scattered here and there. Background information, particularly trees, are very pixelated, making for an unstable and wholly unflattering visual experience. Contrast levels continue to be low and disappointing.
The audio is 5.1 but considerably strident and quite obviously dated. The songs sound generally good but the dialogue is more grating on the ears, with too much treble and not enough bass to make voices sound more naturalistic.
EXTRAS: As with all of the Cole Porter Musical Discs in this offering, we get a featurette, this one hosted by Celeste Holm (the only surviving cast member). It is too short on fact and very scripted. We also get two short subjects, both shot in Cinemascope - neither presented anamorphically for 16X9 televisions, even though the film itself has been enhanced - go figure.
Bottom line: This is one of a handful of truly outstanding musical films made during the fifties. The actual print from which this DVD has been mastered is suspect - leaving me pining for the sort of restoration we saw from Warner Brothers on another of their VistaVision discs, "North By Northwest". I can't say don't buy it, I just want to be clear that the customer should not expect much for their money - unfortunately!
Rating:
Summary: Crosby and Sinatra hit it off!!
Review: This film is packed with comedy and great music. The story line is so funny and the actors portray their characters perfectly. Crosby plays a divorced man who lives next door to his ex-wife who is soon to be married and who he is still very much in love with. But with some help from a reported who is covering the wedding, played by Sinatra, the story takes a twist. This movie is a lot of fun!!
Rating:
Summary: MGM Perfection!
Review: Wonderful! If you are a fan of any of the actors in the film, you will love it. If not,you should still give it a chance. High Society is definitely in my top two. This is the story of a woman from an upper class family. She goes through the most interesting two days of confusion in her personal life all the while surrounded by a fiance, an ex-husband, and an admiring reporter. The characters are lovable, the songs are excellent, and the ending is priceless. Be sure to check out the original, The Philadelphia Story, which is equally well cast.
Rating:
Summary: Bubbly Musical Remake of Hepburn Classic!
Review: 'High Society', MGM's musical remake of Philip Barry's classic 'The Philadelphia Story', is a frothy, high-spirited joy! While it lacks the inestimable star power of Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart, in replacing the male leads with the greatest crooners of all time, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and offering Hollywood's Princess, Grace Kelly, in her last film role, MGM was NOT dropping the marquee value by much! Add to the mix the legendary Louis Armstrong, and one of Cole Porter's last great film scores (including the lushly romantic 'True Love'), and you have all the ingredients for a delightful movie experience! Changing the film's locale from Philadelphia to Newport, the class distinction subplot of the story becomes, at best, a minor plot point, but it does provide the 'hook' of the Newport Jazz Festival to bring in Armstrong, and to add songwriting as a hobby of millionaire C.K. Dexter-Haven (Crosby). His ex, Tracy Samantha Lord (called 'Sam' in this version, so Cole Porter could recycle his tune 'Goodbye, Amanda', as 'Goodbye Samantha'), and played by the luminous Kelly, is remarrying, to boring, wooden George Kittredge (played woodenly by John Lund). An 'Enquirer'-type scandal sheet, 'The Spy', blackmails the family into allowing a writer and photographer (Sinatra and Celeste Holm) to cover the nuptials (in an improvement on the original story, where Cary Grant 'sells out' the Lords in an attempt to disrupt the wedding). From this point on, the film follows the original version fairly closely, adding songs to 'spice up' the proceedings. Sinatra and Holm take potshots at the idle rich with 'Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?'; Crosby tosses off a sweet ditty for Sam's little sister ('Little One'), and attempts, with Armstrong, to explain contemporary music ('Now You Has Jazz'); Sinatra, smitten with Kelly, expresses his feelings ('You're Sensational' and 'Can I Make Love To You?'); Crosby and Kelly, in a flashback, recall their honeymoon ('True Love', which became a hit single, earning both stars a gold record). The film highlight is, understandably, the fabulous and funny duet between Crosby and Sinatra, 'Well, Did You Evah?' (rich with sly comments on Crosby's famous fortune, and Sinatra's 'new' style of crooning). The number is nearly always featured in MGM musical retrospectives, and is a show-stopper! As all the pieces fall into place for a 'beautiful' wedding, (which concludes both versions of the story), Louis Armstrong provides a final coda that is both charming and a reminder that Hollywood just doesn't make 'em like this any more! 'High Society' may not be in the stratosphere of 'The Philadephia Story', but it certainly has a well-deserved place in the cosmos of its own! This one's a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Elegant Stars and Shimmering Sharps and Flats!
Review: This is an absolutely shimmering musical! Grace Kelly is breathtaking and wonderful in this movie. Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby are at their best! Each Cole Porter song is divine. And Louis Armstrong! What more could you possibly want? There are so many beautiful scenes, especially Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly singing "True Love" and my favorite, the scene where Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly are elegantly and drunkenly dancing to the Rhumba "Mind If I Make Love To You?" This is such a fun movie you won't be able to stop watching it!
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant Musical Remake of The Philadelphia Story
Review: Tracy Lord is a society woman with an inflexible sense of propriety: not only has she divorced her socially liberal first husband C.K. Dexter-Haven, she has forced her mother to separate from her father over the latter's questionable behavior with a chorus girl. Now she plans to marry George Kittredge, a social climber with a sense of propriety as inflexible as her own--only to find her wedding suddenly beset by her first husband, two pesky reporters, the possibility of a paternal scandal, and a local jazz fest. If all this sounds a bit familiar, it should be no surprise. Originally written for the stage by Philip Barry under the title THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, it proved a smash hit during the 1940s on both stage and screen, and this remake follows the original very closely, only fiddling with the story and characters to the extent of introducing and rationalizing Cole Porter's musical elements. The original non-musical film cast included Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and James Stewart--a hard act to follow, to say the least. But while they don't best that teaming, stars Grace Kelly (Tracy), Bing Crosby (C.K. Dexter-Haven), and Frank Sinatra (Mike Connor, one of the reporters) carry off the roles with considerable charm. But the real strength of this film is the guest appearance of Louis Armstrong and the Cole Porter score. Only Porter would be brazen enough to write lyrics that rhyme Circe with Mercy, and while this is one of his lesser efforts it is still pretty impressive stuff, including such memorable tunes as "True Love," the satirical "Well, Did You Ever?," and such throw-away charmers as "Little One." As for Louis Armstrong, his star quality is powerful enough to put even Sinatra in the shade. The failure of the film is the fact that every one in the cast seems to play a bit too casually, and although they are all clearly having a good time they never really achieve the sparkle a truly great musical comedy requires. Even so, musical fans--particularly those of Cole Porter, Armstrong, Crosby, and Sinatra--will find it quite enjoyable, and Grace Kelly fans will find the actress as lovely as ever. Recommended.
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