To behave herself[,] naturally

The Philadelphia Story

(1940)

This has been, at one time in my life, my favorite movie of all time, and it may still be my favorite screenplay. Except for the sort of squirmy father-daughter relationship, it couldn't get much closer to perfect. According to an academic friend of mine, C. K. Dexter Haven was a minor character in the stage play, which tells me that the film is better than the play, given that Haven gets many of the best lines onscreen.

I intended to watch High Society tonight as well, but after 15 minutes or so I accidentally deleted it from my DVR while flipping between it and the Mets game (Ángel!) , so even though I saw it a quarter of a century or so ago, I can't authoritatively say that it's a pale turd in comparison. But the first 15 Sinatra-less minutes are pretty lame--not nearly as good as a Mets' victory on an 8th-inning grand slam, e.g.