Editing The Philadelphia Story (film) (section)

===Critical reception===
[[File:Philadelphia Story 12.jpg|thumb|Grant as C.K. Dexter Haven, and John Howard as George Kittredge]]Writing for ''The New York Times'' in 1940, [[Bosley Crowther]] wrote that the film "has just about everything that a blue-chip comedy should have—a witty, romantic script derived by Donald Ogden Stewart out of Philip Barry's successful play; the flavor of high-society elegance, in which the patrons invariably luxuriate; and a splendid cast of performers headed by Hepburn, Stewart, and Grant. If it doesn't play out this year and well along into next, they should turn the [[Radio City Music Hall|Music Hall]] into a shooting gallery ... Metro and Director George Cukor have graciously made it apparent, in the words of a character, that one of 'the prettiest sights in this pretty world is the privileged classes enjoying their privileges'. And so, in this instance, will you, too."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |author-link=Bosley Crowther |date=December 27, 1940 |title=A Splendid Cast Adorns the Screen Version of 'The Philadelphia Story' at the Music Hall |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F04E0D71F3CE73ABC4F51DFB467838B659EDE |access-date=December 18, 2011 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

[[Life (magazine)|''Life'']] named ''The Philadelphia Story'' its film of the week in January 1941, describing it as "among the best funny pictures" of the year.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=Jan 6, 1941 |title=Movie of the week: The Philadelphia Story |pages=31 |magazine=LIFE |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0oEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31 |access-date=April 26, 2023}}</ref>

The film has a [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The consensus reads: "Offering a wonderfully witty script, spotless direction from George Cukor, and typically excellent lead performances, ''The Philadelphia Story'' is an unqualified classic."<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 1, 1940 |title=The Philadelphia Story |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/philadelphia_story/ |access-date=June 10, 2021 |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref> Rotten Tomatoes has also ranked it as the best [[romantic comedy]] of all time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Best Romantic Comedies |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/best_romantic_comedies/# |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211145650/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/best_romantic_comedies/ |archive-date=February 11, 2009 |website=Rotten Tomatoes}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|96|13|access-date=March 7, 2025}}<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |title=The Philadelphia Story |id=the-philadelphia-story |type=movie |access-date=March 7, 2025}}</ref>

The film was the last of four starring Grant and Hepburn following ''[[Sylvia Scarlett]]'' (1935), ''[[Bringing Up Baby]]'' (1938), and ''[[Holiday (1938 film)|Holiday]]'' (1938).