'The Philadelphia Story' Tops List of Best Feel-Good Movies of All Time
'The Philadelphia Story' Tops List of Best Feel-Good Movies of All Time
Erin CrabtreeFri, April 17, 2026 at 11:22 PM UTC
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Movie lovers in search of a feel-good film should look no further than The Philadelphia Story.
The 1940 romantic comedy is ranked at No. 1 on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of 170 Great Feel-Good Movies. To assemble the collection of films, the website’s staff posed the question, “What are the movies that, without fail, leave us feeling better than we did before we pushed play?” From there, the selected films were ranked by their Tomatometer scores, which are based on professional critic reviews.
The Philadelphia Story landed at the top of the list with its 100 percent fresh rating. With 104 critic reviews aggregated on Rotten Tomatoes, the website notes, “Offering a wonderfully witty script, spotless direction from George Cukor and typically excellent lead performances, The Philadelphia Story is an unqualified classic.”
As for fans’ opinions of the movie, it has received more than 25,000 reviews on the website, earning a 92 percent Popcornmeter rating.
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The Philadelphia Story stars Cary Grant (C.K. Dexter Haven), Katharine Hepburn (Tracy Lord) and James Stewart (Macaulay “Mike” Connor). The supporting cast includes Ruth Hussey (Elizabeth “Liz” Imbrie), John Howard (George Kittredge), Roland Young (William Q. Tracy a.k.a. Uncle Willie), John Halliday (Seth Lord), Mary Nash (Margaret Lord) and Virginia Weidler (Diana “Dinah” Lord).
The film centers around Philadelphia socialite Tracy, who is preparing to marry the wealthy George following her split from husband Dexter. Amid her impending wedding to George, she reconnects with Dexter and crosses paths with tabloid reporter Mike, leading her to have complicated feelings about all three men as she tries to figure out which one she truly loves.
The Philadelphia Story is based on Philip Barry’s 1939 Broadway play of the same name, in which Hepburn also portrayed the lead role. After securing the film rights, Hepburn staged her big-screen comeback via the adaptation after a series of box office failures.
The movie received six Academy Award nominations, with wins for Best Actor for Stewart and Best Writing (Screenplay) for Donald Ogden Stewart at the 13th Oscars in 1941. The film’s other nods included Outstanding Production (a category which is now known as Best Picture), Best Director for Cukor, Best Actress for Hepburn and Best Supporting Actress for Hussey.
Fifty-five years after its release, The Philadelphia Story was inducted into the National Film Registry by the National Film Preservation Board in 1995.
The legacy of The Philadelphia Story expands beyond the film itself. MGM later remade the movie as a musical titled High Society in 1956, with Bing Crosby as Dexter, Grace Kelly as Tracy and Frank Sinatra as Mike. It became one of the highest-grossing films of the year and went on to receive two Academy Award nominations of its own.
In 1980, The Philadelphia Story returned to Broadway in a revival starring Blythe Danner (Tracy), Frank Converse (Dexter), Edward Herrmann (Mike), Mary Louise Wilson (Liz) and Cynthia Nixon (Dinah). The then-14-year-old Nixon received a Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut performance.
This story was originally published by Parade on Apr 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
