YMMV / The Philadelphia Story

• And You Thought It Would Fail: The film was released at a time when Katharine Hepburn was considered "box office poison". The film became a resounding success and subsequently restored Hepburn's reputation.
• Award Snub: It was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two (Best Actor for James Stewart and Best Screenplay), yet Cary Grant was snubbed.
• Consolation Award: Although the film is often seen as one of the greatest comedies of the 1940s, with the acting of all three leads earning consistent praise over the years, it's generally held that the Best Actor prize that James Stewart won was partly a make-up for losing the prize for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the year before. Stewart himself thought as much, saying that the prize he won should've gone to Henry Fonda for The Grapes of Wrath.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Dinah isn't a protagonist and doesn't appear in that many scenes, but her Little Miss Snarker tendencies and magnificently hammy trolling of the reporters make her a real scene-stealer. Her actress Virginia Weidler was never a star on the level of Shirley Temple or Margaret O'Brien, but she had a strong dedicated fanbase.
• Genius Bonus: When describing Sydney Kidd, Dexter says, "The world's his oyster with an 'R' in every month." This is a reference to the long-standing belief that oysters are only safe to eat during months with the letter R in their name.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Mike's Anguished Declaration of Love to Tracy, in which he says she's lit from within by "hearth fires and holocausts." The word "holocaust" has become a much more loaded term since 1940.
• Heartwarming Moments: Who'd have thought the rejection of a marriage proposal could prove to be the sweetest moment in a movie.
  Tracy: No, Mike. Thanks, but... Mm-mm, no.
• One True Threesome: If you happen to be watching for the first time (or the first time in a while) after having spent any time at all in fandom, it's hard not to wish the answer to "Mike or Dex?" were "Yes."
• Signature Scene:
  • Dexter shoving◊ Tracy.
  • The other famous scene is Dinah's Large Ham performance of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" to troll Mike and Liz.
• Values Dissonance:
  • Tracy's father tells her the reason he's cheating on her mother with a younger woman is because she (Tracy) is too much of a wilful, frigid bitch. And at the end of the movie, Tracy thanks him for saying it. Moreover, the movie seems to be inviting us to parallel the two scenes, and to see both Tracy and her father's indiscretions as the simple product of human weakness. Still, one has a hard time imagining Seth being as calm about it if Mother Lord had cheated on him.
  • Tracy is painted as being selfish and cold for not wanting her own father at her wedding. The father who, once again, cheated on her mother and got involved in a scandal with a chorus girl.
  • The characters treat alleged abuse between Dex and Tracy rather casually - Dinah even saying she hopes she sees some of it in action. While the most that happens is Dex just shoving Tracy to the floor in an argument at the beginning (while drunk, mind you) and there's no reason to believe it was an abusive marriage - it still raises eyebrows.
  • Uncle Willie and his Roman hands are played for laughs, something that would cause much more controversy in an age more aware of issues around sexual harassment.
  • Mike and Tracy driving from Haven's house to the Lord estate while both are extremely drunk

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