Favorite Actresses, #1: Katharine Hepburn

First Movie I Saw Her In: The African Queen (1951; on DVD March 23---finally!!!)

Three Favorite Movies: Holiday (1938); The Philadelphia Story (1940); The African Queen (1951)

Honorable Mention(s): Stage Door (1937); Woman of the Year (1942)

Favorite Movie with Spencer Tracy: Adam’s Rib (1949)

Oddly Interesting: Dragon Seed (1944)

Favorite Performance(s): Alice Adams (1935); Holiday (1938); Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962); Lion in Winter (1968); On Golden Pond (1981)

Why I Like Her: Yeah, yeah, yeah I know it’s fashionable these days to hate Katharine Hepburn but we live in a mad, mad, mad, mad world so what’s a little backlash against my favorite actress of all time?

Katharine Hepburn is probably the coolest woman that ever lived. I am in awe of her progressive, New England personality borne of a solid upbringing. I admire her feisty independent spirit and even her prickly personality.

When I watch a Katharine Hepburn movie I’m not watching it because I necessarily love that time period—though I do—but every Hepburn film I’ve seen, period piece or not, has a sense of timelessness about it. It’s her performances that remain fresh all these years later. Hepburn was the first “modern” woman in film I ever saw. Other actresses were strong-willed but were very much of their time. Hepburn’s confidence and focus is another part of what’s so great about her. Hepburn is much like Cary Grant in that her personality transcends the time in which her films were made. She’s not just a “1930s actress” or someone exclusive to any other decade.

But…

The Hepburn I like best is in the roles where she’s vulnerable and tender. It’s no coincidence that my favorite Hepburn performances: Alice Adams, Holiday, On Golden Pond, etc., all have Kate in “Tender Mode.” If you’ve only seen her in her tough, pre-feminist roles give that other side of her a try and I think you’ll be won over.

In the looks department, she’s another Golden Age actress who was not “conventionally” beautiful yet Hepburn’s distinctive speaking voice, steely stare burns with a fierce intelligence that is quite attractive. My wife and I disagree as to whether Hepburn is good looking or not—you probably know which end of that argument I’m on…

Fashion wise, Hepburn had a natural, easy style about her. No, not the “rags” as she called the Kate-uniform she wore in her later years but rather the sporty, athletic, and tastefully-casual style she had in the 1940s-50s. Hepburn had a natural glamour. One of my favorite photos of her is from 1938 with the freckled, beaming Hepburn amid the destruction of her Connecticut home that ruined 95% of her personal belongings.

Hepburn’s never had a “down period” because she didn’t work as often as her contemporaries. She endured the “Box Office Poison” tag in the 1930s something that’s long-been consigned to the realm of historical trivia. She wasn’t helpless, drug-addled, or self destructive. Hepburn was a survivor who was level-headed and who credited her parents with raising her right. I like my heroes to be long-lived, happy, and honored while they’re still among the living. Hepburn had all that. We know about the four Academy Awards, the twelve nominations, and her long affair with Spensuh; all that’s legend now.

So there you have it, Hollywood Dreamland’s Ten Favorite Actresses. Kate’s ruled the roost for a number of years in my personal top ten but I’m not above having her knocked off the top of this heap if I suddenly find a new favorite to obsess over. It may not ever happen; but I’ll have a blast looking.

One More Thing: One of my favorite Hepburn-related websites is the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Center. "The Kate" is the theatre built in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. I plan on dragging the wife up there to see The Land Where Kate Lived (how is it in Summer?). The Center has a great blog, which gave Hollywood Dreamland a plug when we were just getting started. I'm grateful for that. It was special to have something connected to Katharine Hepburn wish us well, though I'm surprised we're still around!

Hollywood Dreamland Goes Postal (Again)

Instead of a time-sensitive post reminding you to have a Happy New Year or getting on my knees like Al Jolson and begging you to watch the Thin Man Marathon on Turner Classic Movies this evening (8pm EST), I'm going to be fiercely independent in that stern, Bryn Mawr, New England way that was Katharine Hepburn and not do either of those things (oops, too late!). Kate, like Gary Cooper earlier this year, has a United States Postage Stamp with her lovely visage slapped on it, due in 2010. And did you notice how the stamp pictured above is cancelled out? If people were "basically good", they wouldn't have to do that. ;)

Getting word of Kate's postage stamp as well as seeing her this past week in one our favorite movies, Adam's Rib, has got the Kate mood flowing again, so perhaps I'll threaten you all with some Hepburn posts in the new year. I still have that 100th Anniversary DVD to watch I got for Christmas, 2008 and I'd like to do a few entries on her 1930s films, too. Hopefully, enough energy and enthusiasm can be mustered up in 2010 in order to do that.

So Happy New Year, and don't forget to watch the Nick and Nora marathon tonight, unless you have other plans, like sacking Rome with your Visigoth friends from the office.

Finding My Muse Again!

I don't look anything like the guy in the photo above, but if his musical accompaniment is inspired by the gorgeous Ava Gardner, then let this image represent the blogger and his muse! I've been taking a break from this place lately, but am finally working up a head of steam again. I haven't even touched a Golden Age movie DVD or flipped on Turner Classic Movies except once (to watch The Parallax View), and I have been pursuing other interests. But I've started work on that Thin Man overview I mentioned before as well as some Katharine Hepburn ideas. Thanks for sticking around and not getting disgusted with my lack of postings here lately.

Poll Results: It's a Tie!

The June poll question: “Who should have won the 1940 Best Actress Oscar?” has ended in a tie! Both Joan Fontaine (Rebecca) and Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story) received 15 votes. However, I don’t believe in ties, so there will be a one-week runoff to determine the winner. If by week’s end there is still no victor, I will break the tie and declare the champ. The poll has been reset with just Fontaine and Hepburn. Here are the results of the voting, with 47 votes cast.

Joan Fontaine: 15 (31%)
Katharine Hepburn: 15 (31%)
Ginger Rogers: 10 (21%)
Bette Davis: 7 (14%)
Martha Scott: 0 (‘nuff said!)

Wanted: Katharine Hepburn in a Car, Circa 1930s

Being the "odd bird" that I am--"odd bird" was a term my grandmother used to describe eccentrics--Something I've been desperately searching for is a photograph of Katharine Hepburn, from the 1930s, in California, at the wheel of a car, with a Spanish Villa-style home or building in the background. It's an image I've burned into my mind and it's imagery defines the very concept of Hollywood Dreamland. I recently managed to find the above photograph, but it doesn't look like the 1930s; maybe early-fifties and it doesn't embody that 1930s fantasy. Anyway, if someone out there knows of a Katharine Hepburn photo with her at the wheel of a convertible, please contact me! I'm sure such a photo exists and I'd love to see it.

In fact, I intend to track down pics of any 1930s/40s movie star at the wheel of or posing with their cars. It sounds like the theme for a coffee table book: Stars and Their Cars In Hollywood's Golden Age. I found this absolutely wonderful Rita Hayworth photo. It's tantalizingly close to what I'm looking for--no, please don't use Photoshop to put Kate into the image!--it captures the leisurely pace of early Hollywood and I love photographs of the stars at play, especially when it's in and around Los Angeles. The whole idea of the photo, the time frame, and that locale are all part of my shameless glorification of Hollywood's Golden Age. There's just so much about all of this that captivates me.

Classic Film Chemistry 101

It brings a smile to my face when I see the great movie couples onscreen. Every scene they have together crackles with a wonderful energy: tense, sensual yet with a sense of humor. All of these attributes go goes beyond mere flirting. I haven't a clue about what makes chemistry what it is, but I can say that it's at least a bona fide understanding of one another's tendencies. Sure, two of the three were actual couples offscreen, but even if you're new to classic film and didn't know that, you'd probably say to yourself "These two have to be married!" There are many notable movie couples in the Golden Age, but the three represented here are the best that ever were, or will likely ever be. If you want a real laugh, say aloud the names "Tracy and Hepburn" and then, if you can, pick out two of today's "big stars" and then say their names out loud. Funny how the newbies don't compare, isn't it? Actually, it's pathetic and sad. But who cares? We deal in magic and dreams here at Hollywood Dreamland, but also chemistry.

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn: These titans appeared in nine films together. You should watch them all, but start at the beginning with Woman of the Year (1942) and see how Tracy is the quintessential American male and how Hepburn is well into her liberated woman stage--which spanned her entire life. Still, her role as Tess Harding is among her best. She, as always, has a timeless appeal. Now skip ahead to Adam's Rib (1949) and see them as married lawyers--the two are at their peak in terms of their onscreen rapport. Finally, jump to the preachy, mawkish, and cheap-looking Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (1967) Criticisms aside, the duo are wonderful in this, Tracy's final film. I've always viewed these three movies as chronicling the beginning, middle, and end of their onscreen partnership, as if it were the same couple in all three films. That relationship is summed up by Tracy's speech at the end of Dinner. If that speech doesn't bring a tear to your eye, have someone in the room call a coroner, 'cause you're dead, pal.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall: It begins with To Have and Have Not (1944) He was forty-five and she was...nineteen??? That's no girl, that's a real woman! I still watch in amazement when I watch their scenes together. Bacall mesmerized both Bogie and director Howard Hawks, who both knew a real woman when they saw one. Bogart got the girl and they married in real life. Now take a look at Key Largo (1948) The couple barely have any dialogue with each other, but they say more with smouldering glances than any other pair I've seen. Readers of this blog should know by now how much I appreciate understatement in acting, and that what's implied and unsaid is so much more effective than the mere obvious act of just speaking the lines. Take that, Johnny Rocco!

William Powell and Myrna Loy: Of the couples here, this one is what I'd call "The Well-Oiled Machine." They hadn't the slightest romantic notion towards one another and were often involved in tragic or failed relationships while working together, but these two professionals are probably the best ever, because what they did was act. Show business pros like no other. Watch them in The Thin Man (1934), and note the scene in the kitchen, when Powell is taking a tray of cocktails out and he gives Loy a peck on the cheek as he's leaving. Her reaction looks like the bit was improvised, but the scene is perfect for Nick and Nora's characters, and both actors knew it was part of their magic onscreen. In all, Powell and Loy did fourteen films together, but this series remains their legacy.

Now, go and watch these masters at work. Or if you're already familiar with them, go and watch them again--I know you will.

TIME Will Tell

I'm surprised at how many movie stars graced TIME magazine's cover during the 1930s-50s. Considering that many who appeared on it over the years were supposed to be important yet are totally forgotten today (men of industry, government, business, etc.) makes me wonder just how "important" people in those fields actually are. They may have been essential folk back in their day, but we're still talking about the movie stars. Sorry, Clarence K. Streit...you should have preserved your life's work on film.

Ginger Rogers April 10, 1939

Bette Davis March 28, 1938

Audrey Hepburn Sep 7, 1953



Elizabeth Taylor August 22, 1949



Katharine Hepburn September 1, 1952



Ava Gardner September 3, 1951

The timing of these cover shots is interesting. Ginger and Bette were at their career peak when they made the cover. Audrey, Ava, and Liz were at the beginning of theirs; Audrey had just made her film debut in Roman Holiday and Taylor was just beginning her career as an adult after a successful run as a child actress. Kate Hepburn was still going strong-- and yes, her cover sketch is far from the most flattering I've seen of her, (it's during her Pat and Mike period, a film I've never liked all that much--considering the director, George Cukor, is revered here at Hollywood Dreamland as are the movie's stars, Spencer Tracy and Kate Hepburn).

I haven't read these issues to determine the substance of the articles, but I'll guess that they were "state of the cinema" pieces, reviews, or personal profiles. In the case of the Ginger Rogers cover, it's about Astaire & Rogers' final 1930s film, The Story of Vernon & Irene Castle and includes a Ginger profile. If a performer made the cover because of their onscreen work rather than any charitable or offscreen accomplishments, but it has gotten me interested enough in TIME's journalistic history to take a closer look at how movie stars were covered in the national, non-movie mag press.

I guess appearing on TIME isn't the immortalization they'd like us to think it is. Maybe popularity is the pocket change of history, I don't know. At least not as far as these movie stars are concerned. Anyway, take a look through TIME's cover archive and see how many people you recognize-- and how many you don't.

Barbara, Bette, Joan, and Kate

In The Golden Age of Hollywood, there’s only so much room at the top, not just career-wise, but historically speaking. Memory is embarrassingly limited when it comes to the once-popular, and some of Hollywood’s most popular and beloved actresses have been relegated to bloggers’ fantasies or the occasional TCM “Star of the Month” tribute. Yes, we film buffs know and love them, but the majority of actresses aren't as well known and just don’t measure up to the four who remain the quintessential icons of their (and every subsequent) generation.When discussing the Golden Age, four actresses loom large above all others. Let’s call them The Big Four. Listing them by just their first name (though I've included their mugshots, too) is just one indication of their stature:

Barbara

Bette

Joan

Kate

…and then there’s everyone else: I might as well include 1950s & 1960s actresses in this latter category, because no matter what their achievements, those women just don’t stack up to the four, first-name basis luminaries. When looking at The Big Four’s contemporaries, I find it hard to believe that these diversely talented Golden Age “heavyweights” haven’t enjoyed the same recognition as The Big Four. I will limit them to the 1930s-40s. The notable also-rans:

Ginger Rogers- Equally adept at light comedy and melodrama. She won an Academy Award over Bette and Kate in 1940. Oh, and she danced & sang a little in ten movies with Fred Astaire. Her solo career has been largely dismissed.

Irene Dunne- Another triple threat: hilarious in comedies, effective in dramas, and sang like an angel. In fact, Dunne really wanted to be an opera singer.

Carole Lombard- She’s known more nowadays for being Clark Gable’s wife than she is for being the greatest screwball comedienne ever. She was excellent at dramatic parts, and she died young. World events “upstaged” her untimely death.

Jean Harlow- Comedic brilliance and stylistic immortality; known more for the latter than the former. Too bad.

Myrna Loy- Surprisingly modern but pretty tame, Loy was the most popular female star in 1937; she was “Queen” to Gable’s “King” title. Maybe it was playing the ideal wife in so many movies that did her in, even though she began her career playing exotic vamps. In real life she was as gutsy as The Big Four in battling studio heads for pay befitting her status.

Claudette Colbert- This Oscar winner who could charm you (Midnight) or make you cry like a baby with her dramatics (Since You Went Away). Today, people are apt to think she’s Stephen Colbert’s grandmother.

Joan Fontaine- She and hated sister Olivia De Havilland were wildly popular Oscar winners and both had long-running careers. Now just a footnote, though both are still living. Probably because both are waiting for the other to die; hatred’s funny that way.

Rosalind Russell- Four-time Oscar nominee. Roz epitomized the strong, independent career woman. But her choice of roles did her in, as she only has four or five bona fide classics to her name.

Greer Garson- Always seemed to land all the melodramatic “women’s pictures” and was a perennial contender at Oscar time.

Greta Garbo- She quit making movies by 1941 and has been reduced to a punch line for shut-ins (“I vant to be alone...")

Marlene Dietrich- Best known for her sexually ambiguous attire and being a stylistic influence on pop star Madonna.

Honorable Mentions: Norma Shearer, Janet Gaynor. Their careers reach back to the Silent Era. That probably hurts them.

What made The Big Four so great? Why does the mainstream remember them over the rest? They certainly weren’t the most beautiful, and didn’t sing or dance with any great ability. Bette and Joan weren’t comedic actresses, at least not intentionally. Barbara and Kate excelled in the few they did. Bette and Joan were raconteurs of the highest order, so it would seem that comedy came naturally to them. Was it their longevity? All four were active for at least forty years. How about their twenty-nine combined Oscar nominations? Maybe it’s just the fact that no other actresses produced that high a quality of work for such a long period of time. Maybe it’s the public’s notorious short-term memory. Perhaps it’s because their off-screen lives were infinitely more interesting than anyone else’s. It was probably all of these things, and a hundred more variables I haven't thought of yet. Or, maybe there’s just only so much room at the top. I don’t think that there’s a definitive answer, but it’s a question worth asking, and a fun one to ponder.

And I apologize for having put Bette and Joan adjacent to one another, given their history...

The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center

It made my day when Ann from The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center commented on how much she enjoyed Hollywood Dreamland. There's even an entry at their site with a favorable review of our humble corner of the blogosphere:

"A blogger down in Florida writes about old Hollywood and he has several posts about Katharine Hepburn. His is called 'Hollywood Dreamland; Musings on the Golden Age of Hollywood.' This is right up our alley right?
He muses about “The Philadelphia Story,” “Holiday,” and one of Hepburn’s favorite directors, George Cukor.
“Hollywood Dreamland” is a fun blog for you to bookmark if you like the old days in Los Angeles."

I was impressed with the effort going into constructing "The Kate" in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. The KHCAC details the progress in the theater's construction and is scheduled to open in Summer, 2009.

Cary Grant in The Philadelphia Story (1940)

I’ve changed my name. Why? Because C.K. Dexter Haven was one of Cary Grant’s greatest characters. You could say his performance was…Yar. Yar is defined in The Philadelphia Story as something---in the movie, a boat—that's easy to handle and moves along smoothly. The same could be used to describe Cary Grant’s performance in the film.

1940—there’s that year again-- was stellar for Cary Grant. Grant starred in My Favorite Wife, His Girl Friday, and The Philadelphia Story. When approached for the role, Grant would demand-- and get-- top billing. Plus a $100,000 salary, which he donated to British War Relief. And while fellow cast members Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, and Ruth Hussey all received Oscar nominations, the former Archibald Leach would get snubbed come Oscar time. Knowing this as I became enamored with the film, I found myself concentrating on Grant’s understated performance as C.K. Dexter Haven. His was a thankless role, as he’s sandwiched between Hepburn’s persona-defining character, Tracy, and Stewart’s funny, Oscar-winning role as writer Macaulay “Mike” Connor. Grant must achieve a fine balance. He must be likable enough for the audience to want Hepburn to go back to him, but at the same time display some flaws and be annoying enough for Hepburn to wage a war of words with him for most of the film. These thankless, unheralded performances are the types of roles I’ve always liked. In fact, other leading men like Glenn Ford and Dana Andrews made entire careers out of solid, dependable, yet seemingly unnoticed performances.

About C.K. Dexter Haven: He’s a recovering boozer, and he and Tracy split two years before (memorably depicted in the film’s immortal opening sequence). Now that Tracy is about to marry self-made schlub George Kittredge (John Howard), Dexter comes barging back into her life and brings two reporters from Spy magazine (is that where that 1990s rag got its name?) to cover her impending wedding. C.K., however, would appear to be blackmailing his ex-wife (whom he calls “Red”) by forcing her to allow the unsavory Spy to cover her wedding or else Dexter will reveal the “dirt” he has on Tracy.

I was so impressed with Grant’s performance. It’s something I can’t quite explain. Grant’s subdued brilliance in TPS demonstrates an onscreen confidence that I hadn’t seen from him before. Sure, there were similarities with Grant characters like Walter Burns in His Girl Friday, but as C.K. Dexter Haven there’s little of that other character's arrogance. Dexter sometimes comes off as cynical, but he’s wiser now that he’s “dried out.” He knows exactly how to push Tracy’s buttons. His role here was not showy like co-star Stewart’s. Grant never got credit for being a great actor, but as Dexter, he reveals a duality of character, which Grant would bring to fruition in 1946’s Notorious. And while Grant doesn't reach the level of darkness as he does in the Hitchcock film, Dexter has his demons; he’s been a drunk and he lost the woman he loved, and to get her back, he must deal with two rivals: Tracy’s fiancé, George, and even the man Dexter himself brought into this affair, Macaulay Connor. Grant was emerging as a classic leading man and I find his performance to be real, with a subtle, biting wit that makes this and many other Cary Grant performances mesmerizing. It does wonders in his rapport with Katharine Hepburn. Grant displays a confidence that is downright appealing. He’s the kind of character I’d like to emulate! In the classic drunk scene with Stewart, Grant underplays and makes Stewart look even better. The scene’s humor succeeds because of Grant’s performance as it does with Stewart’s. There’s an awkwardness in Dexter’s reactions to the pixilated Macaulay and the improvisation by the two actors only adds to the scene’s charm.

1940 was a watershed year for Grant, he appeared in four films altogether, three of them classics, and solidified the Cary Grant Persona. In discussing his role in The Philadelphia Story, I realized that I could have been talking about almost any Cary Grant performance. He was that good. So was he just playing himself in all those films? There's that conundrum: if acting is defined as becoming the role one is playing, and-- knowingly or not-- providing elements of one’s own personality into a role, and a Movie Star is defined as “merely” injecting the various nuances of an established persona, then when does an actor “end” and a movie star begin? I really don’t care. Whatever one wants to call him, Cary Grant was yar in The Philadelphia Story.

Katharine Hepburn: Holiday (1938)

Holiday (1938) was Katharine Hepburn’s first film based on a Philip Barry play and followed her roles in the ensemble hit Stage Door and the overlooked (and eventual classic), Bringing Up Baby, both from 1937. These films came in the midst of Hepburn’s “Box Office Poison” period when in the spring of 1938, Hepburn (along with Joan Crawford, Fred Astaire, and Mae West) was listed by Harry Brandt, president of the Independent Theater Owners of America, as being among the stars whose films guaranteed poor box-office sales. Holiday also had the misfortune of getting overshadowed by Hepburn’s “comeback” effort, the most-famous Philip Barry play, The Philadelphia Story, a successful 1939 Broadway stage hit and a popular film in 1940, earning The Great Kate her third Academy Award nomination. Holiday doesn’t quite reach the heights of The Philadelphia Story, but it comes tantalizingly close.

(Virtually) Spoiler-Free Synopsis: Holiday concerns free spirit and nonconformist Johnny Case (Cary Grant). Johnny comes from a humble family in Baltimore but has the potential to become a successful businessman. However, he feels that there is more to life than earning money. He meets Julia Seton (Doris Nolan) at a Lake Placid ski resort just before Christmas. The two begin a whirlwind romance and plan to marry the following January. Unbeknownst to Johnny, Julia is from a wealthy and influential east coast family. Julia brings Johnny to the family’s stately mansion to meet her family. Her father, Edward is a chronically straight-laced businessman who is so organized and controlling that he owns the tobacco plantation the cigars he smokes come from. Julia’s brother, Ned (Lew Ayres; who's great here), is a heavy drinker disinterested in his duly-appointed position at the family investment firm. And then there's Linda (Hepburn), Julia’s elder sister who acts as madcap and carefree as Johnny, but who has a sad, tragic aspect to her. The Seton children’s mother, who was the heart of the family, died some years before. The movie chronicles Johnny’s attempts at convincing Julia and her father that he needs to explore life before sacrificing his freedom for a successful, but stultifying business career.

What makes Holiday (aka: “Unconventional Linda”; so the film is about her!) so rewarding is Katharine Hepburn’s performance as the idealistic, romantic Linda. She’s clearly the black sheep of the family. She has romantic ideals, but doesn’t possess the will to go through with them. She’s occasionally melodramatic and melancholy but also possesses a quick wit, trading humorous barbs with Johnny--the amusing “sheep and goat” routine typifies their great rapport. Linda and Johnny also share the same negative view of money worship (Linda: “Don’t you know that money is our God?”). Yet underneath it all, Linda suffers from emotional problems, which are explained away by Edward and Julia as Linda having one of her “headaches”, an excuse used when her proposed engagement party for Johnny and Julia’s engagement is rejected in favor of the formal affair her father organizes. Linda has preserved the family’s upstairs play room, where she reflects on those long-lost days. Linda's internal suffering is effectively and sympathetically realized by Hepburn. She is nostalgic, the playroom is preserved like a shrine. It is was once the center for family activity: her late mother played piano, Ned began work on his concerto and Linda painted. The room ceased to flourish after the Seton matriarch’s death.

Grant and Hepburn on the set of Holiday with director George Cukor

Hepburn’s role is similar to a number of her 1930s performances (Alice Adams comes to mind). She’s more sympathetic and does not yet embody the steely source of strength and independence that would define most Hepburn characters in subsequent decades. The Linda Seton character is quite unlike her iconic performances in better-known roles such as Tracy in The Philadelphia Story or Tess in Woman of the Year. Holiday is centered on Johnny Case's choice, but it is Hepburn's movie. She is the emotional center of the film and gets to shine under director George Cukor's steady hand. Her performance is entirely convincing. I know it's cliché to say this, but Hepburn becomes Linda Seton. I'm discovering that Hepburn's best 1930s performances all have this quality where she immerses herself into the character. I'm not saying that other actors from this time period don't, but Hepburn is the first actress who made me notice, and I didn't realize it until I reflected on the movie some time later! Watching Katharine Hepburn in Holiday makes me wish she would have revisited the fragile, delicate side of her persona more often in her post-Philadelphia Story career.