How a Box-Office Poison Star Engineered Her Own Hollywood Comeback
In short: After being labeled box-office poison, Katharine Hepburn took control of her career by acquiring the rights to a Broadway play written specifically for her. She leveraged those rights to secure a dream cast and director, turning a potential failure into one of the most celebrated romantic comedies in cinema history.
In the late 1930s, Katharine Hepburn faced a professional crisis after a string of commercial failures led theater owner Harry Brandt to publicly label her box-office poison. Determined to reclaim her status, Hepburn starred in the 1939 Broadway play The Philadelphia Story, which was written for her by Philip Barry. She secured the film rights with the help of Howard Hughes, eventually selling them to MGM’s Louis B. Mayer under the condition that she retain final approval over the production team and cast.
Hepburn’s strategy was to surround herself with top-tier talent. She selected director George Cukor and insisted on a powerhouse cast, ultimately securing Cary Grant and James Stewart. Grant, who demanded top billing, famously donated his $137,000 salary to the British War Relief Society. The resulting film, released in 1941, was a massive success, earning over $3 million globally and vindicating Hepburn’s gamble. It remains a definitive example of the comedy of remarriage, a genre that thrived during an era when divorce was socially taboo.
The film’s legacy is cemented by its critical and cultural standing. It won two Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Donald Ogden Stewart, who famously wrote the script by listening to recordings of the play to ensure the funniest lines were preserved. James Stewart also took home the Best Actor Oscar, though he personally viewed the win as compensation for his loss the previous year for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Today, the film holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is preserved in the United States National Film Registry.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Philadelphia Story (film)
- Also: www.britannica.com — The Philadelphia Story | Romantic Comedy, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant | Britannica
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