Movie DVD Store (UK) - High Society [1956]
![High Society [1956]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZX1YEKBBL._SL160_.jpg)
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List Price: £12.99
Our Price: £3.97
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, John Lund
Directed By: Charles Walters
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Audience Rating: Universal, suitable for all
Binding: DVD
EAN: 7321900657136
Format: PAL
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 2
Release Date: 2003-05-26
Running Time: 103
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1956-07-17
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Editorial Reviews:
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MGM's bold idea to remake George Cukor's Oscar-winning upper-class romantic farce, The Philadelphia Story, into a star-studded technicolor musical with Cole Porter tunes somehow works splendidly and remains an underrated gem. Even the plot and character names--and some bits of dialogue--all remain the same as the original. Crooning Bing Crosby replaces Cary Grant as the wealthy ex-husband trying to win back his soon-to-be-remarried ex-wife, spoiled ice queen Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly, stunning and aloof in her last film role, originated in the earlier comedy by Katherine Hepburn). Unlike Grant, however, Crosby has jazz great Louis Armstrong, playing himself, in his corner for quixotic persuasion. Frank Sinatra (cocky in James Stewart's former role) and Celeste Holm add support as the nosy reporters covering, and subsequently complicating, the upcoming wedding. Sure, High Society lacks the original's witty satire, sarcasm and character complexity; but it's assuredly paced and wonderfully acted, and contains enough romantic chemistry to keep the plot engaging. And then there's the music. Unlike the grandiose production numbers of many 40s and 50s musicals, High Society's musical sequences are considerably low-key and intimate, focusing on Porter's lyrical content and the style in which it's delivered by the charismatic performers. Armstrong kicks the film off in telling style: he sings the title track, a calypso tune outlining the plot like a Greek chorus--not as an elaborately choreographed song-and-dance number, but instead stuffed claustrophobically in the back of a limousine with his jazz band. Other musical standouts include Sinatra and Crosby playfully tossing barbs during "Well, Did You Evah?"; Crosby and Armstrong teaming up for an energetic clash of styles in "Now You Has Jazz"; the two soaring, archetypal ballads by the leads--Crosby's "I Love You, Samantha" and Sinatra's superior "You're Sensational"; and, finally, the satirical Sinatra/Holm duet, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", the closest High Society ever comes to social or class-commentary. --Dave McCoy, Amazon.com
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Pure escapist elegance
Comment: Next time you have a rainy afternoon to spend with a box of chocs and a video, you can't do better than this. If you hanker for a time when everyone was elegant, witty and blessed with a honeyed voice, this is for you. The music is, of course, the main focus; but there's some brilliant acting going on here as well.
Smashing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Sensational"
Comment: Even if you were to hate the plot (improbable), the actors (imposible) and the set (implausable) you'd LOVE the music. Songs like the Armstrong-Crosby "Now we has jazz" and even the Crosby "I love you, Samantha" warm you right to the soul.
Not many films can boast such an amazing cast with Crosby as the love-struck ex-husband, Sinatra as the distraction and Kelly as the focus of all their attention as well as Armstrong (playing himself) providing excellent music, as only he could. The characters work extremely well together as the witty dialoge flits effortlessly from one to the other allowing the audience to easily keep up with the quick-moving plot.
They certainly don't make films like this anymore,nor should they try as, in the words of Bing in the movie, they'd "never be able to follow it".
Customer Rating:
Summary: Simply Swell!
Comment: Just released on DVD format, this fabulous musical remake of George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story (1940) sees Grace Kelly in her last ever film role before crossing the pond to marry into the Monaco monarchy (she even wore her actual engagement ring in the movie). Kelly plays the spoilt heiress Tracy Samantha Lord, a rather icy perfectionist (this generation would say 'control freak'), who is due to marry the stuffy George Kitteridge (John Lund) when her ex-husband C K Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby), unexpectedly turns up... Still in love with her, he puts in place a subtle plan to win back her heart. Throw in an incorrigible little sister, a playboy dad, a couple of snoops from Spy magazine, Louis Armstrong (as himself) and buckets of champagne... and now you has jazz! With a witty script and quite the line-up (it was the first time Crosby and Frank Sinatra, playing Spy magazine reporter, appeared on screen together), the romantic comedy is carried by one of Cole Porter's best - and one of his last - musical scores which includes Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Well, Did You Evah?, Now You Has Jazz, and Kelly and Crosby's moving duet True Love. Rarely are remakes a patch on the original but in this case High Society is an exception. That said, however, The Philadelphia Story - with an equally strong cast that includes Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart - is as swell a party... Like most rereleases of older movies onto DVD, what actually makes you update your video copy are the bonus features. This version includes a short documentary on 'the making of...', narrated by Celeste Holm (born 1919, who played Spy magazine photographer). Although it makes for entertaining viewing (throwing up little snippets such as how Kelly's father warned Prince Rainier of Monaco before they got married she was a crap driver), one can't help thinking that someone cruelly substituted Holm's oxygen tank with helium. Which is slightly distracting. Other special features are a nostalgic newsreel of the film's 1956 première, the original theater trailer and, rather bizarrely, 'Millionaire Droopy', a five-minute cartoon about two dogs (Spike and Droopy) battling over an inheritance, which uh... has absolutely no relevance to High Society at all. Overall verdict? Thoroughly entertaining and an absolute must for fans of classic musicals and all that jazz...
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A very bad new edition
Comment: This underrated gem from the second Golden Age of Hollywood musicals deserves the best presentation possible, and this one is NOT it. It is blurry and unfocused, lacks definition, colours that fade into on another.
To make things even worse, the songs have no optional subtitles, which to me is a crime with musical comedy. The lyrics to this movie are great, they are sassy, they are clever, and they are the sole reason for subtitles on musicals, but here you don't get them for some reason. And neither can you skip directly into the songs.
The sound is passable, though, and the film has some of Cole Porter's most wonderful, most intimate songs, such as the rhumba 'Mind If I Make Love to You', sung by Sinatra, the spectacularly musical 'Now You Has Jazz' with Crosby and Armstrong, and the hilarious duet between Crosby and Sinatra, 'Well, Did You Evah!'.
It has always been popular to say that the comedy 'The Philadelphia Story', of which 'High Society' is a fairly obedient musical remake, is the superior film, but watch them both without prejudice,and you might find that nothing quite tops the exuberance, drunk on champagne as the characters are most of the time, of this film, the driness of Bing Crosby, commenting on a lame line from one of the others, "Oh, I wish I had said that!". Wonderful.
But, again: this is not the version that you want.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Worth re-watching.
Comment: By now you know this is a remake of "The Philadelphia Story" and may have a tendency to compare them. I did this my self at first; then I realized they each have their strong points. I even get them mixed up now and them. All you have to do is remember this is the musical. My favorite song in the list is "True Love". Of course as with everything different people are bound to have different favorites and there are plenty to chose from.
In case you are new to the story, basically C.K. Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby) and Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly) are divorced. Tracy is getting married again. The clan is gathering. We watch as they go through the motions and emotions of courting and reevaluating their lives.
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