Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

High Society

Play trailer Poster for High Society Released Jul 17, 1956 1h 47m Musical Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
84% Tomatometer 19 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Jazz artist C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby) is still hung up on his ex-wife and neighbor, socialite Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly), however Tracy is engaged to another man (John Lund). Matters are complicated even further when a magazine reporter (Frank Sinatra), in town to cover Tracy's wedding, also winds up falling for the beautiful bride-to-be. As Tracy tries to decide on the ideal husband, each suitor works hard to convince her he is the best choice.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

High Society

Critics Reviews

View All (19) Critics Reviews
Edward Kosmal St. Louis Post-Dispatch It starts off at a listless, unflattering pace, but before the show is over, the Technicolor VistaVision musical is resuscitated, finishing off with a flair. Jan 31, 2023 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 4/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times High Society...is as flimsy as a gossip-columnist's word, especially when it is documenting the weird behavior of the socially elite. Rated: 2/5 Mar 25, 2006 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine These days High Society requires a little patience to reach its best parts, and it is very clear that it fails to embrace either jazz culture or class issues in the way that it could, but as a work of 1950s populist entertainment it delivers the goods. Rated: 7/10 Dec 22, 2024 Full Review Chris Hunneysett Daily Mirror (UK) sparkling fresh and brilliant entertainment Rated: 5/5 Apr 8, 2021 Full Review Clyde Gilmour Maclean's Magazine There is enough polish and melody here to make it an item worth catching, but it hardly measures up to the all-star potency of its participants. Nov 7, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (794) audience reviews
Lisa B T This is a horrible remake of a wonderful movie called The Philadelphia Story with Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and James Stewart. I suppose High Society was made as a musical to try to set it apart. The acting in High Society is over the top, extremely awful, forced. Some of the same dialogue is part of High Society that was in the original movie but High Society tries dismally to change it slightly so that it comes off very awkward. It's only worth watching if you want to watch a bad movie. I highly recommend you stream The Philadelphia Story! Howard Hughes bought the rights of the movie for Katherine Hepburn. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/27/24 Full Review isla s This is definitely a swooner type musical, dating from the 1950s. It is perhaps a little slow plot pace wise but the characters are interesting enough and I certainly recognised a few of the songs. I thought this was a reasonably enjoyable musical. Some of the script is cringey but of course its a film of its time, so sexist comments etc. are to be expected. I wouldn't say this is a particularly standout type musical but its not bad either, hence my rating, so yes I'd recommend it but only to fans of musicals. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Enjoyable overall with a great cast and especially the music & songs that go with Armstrong, Crosby, Sinatra, and Kelly. I didn't necessarily enjoy the story but still worth watching. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Liam D Not as good as the Philadelphia Story but it's still pretty great Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/28/22 Full Review Audience Member An early example of why re-makes should be considered with caution. Too much a musical for my taste except for the scene in Uncle Willy's bar. The vast crumbling hole is in the direction and the writing, the first being too slap-slick and the second being dis-integrated. Clearly following direction the early scenes are just goofy and Grace Kelly is mis-directed in all but the scene after the swim. A brightly colored yet pale reflection of the mono-chromatic original... Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review William L Sinatra, Crosby, and Armstrong (plus his entire band) should have made High Society a stunner of a musical adaptation of a previously massively successful rom-com, but the numbers feel awkwardly pasted in and the plot itself seems like a pale imitation of the Cukor classic. Though the lead actors were at the top of their careers, none of them seem to have an ounce of chemistry between them (sort of a vital component of a film based on whirlwind romances and charisma), more the result of casting on paper than any sort of compatability. The music is decent enough and probably the film's high point (there's a minimum threshold for a Cole Porter composition sung by some of the top mid-century crooning talent), but it's rather poorly integrated into the fabric of the film, and not enough to save the overall product. If you think that cash-grab Hollywood remakes of established properties are a new invention, you'd be mistaken. The pop-out bar in the library, though. Now that was a nice touch. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 06/08/21 Full Review Read all reviews
High Society

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

It's Always Fair Weather 91% 74% It's Always Fair Weather Watchlist Kiss Me Kate 93% 74% Kiss Me Kate Watchlist Silk Stockings 100% 68% Silk Stockings Watchlist It Happened in Brooklyn 83% 43% It Happened in Brooklyn Watchlist Easter Parade 91% 86% Easter Parade Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Jazz artist C.K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby) is still hung up on his ex-wife and neighbor, socialite Tracy Samantha Lord (Grace Kelly), however Tracy is engaged to another man (John Lund). Matters are complicated even further when a magazine reporter (Frank Sinatra), in town to cover Tracy's wedding, also winds up falling for the beautiful bride-to-be. As Tracy tries to decide on the ideal husband, each suitor works hard to convince her he is the best choice.
Director
Charles Walters
Producer
Sol C. Siegel
Screenwriter
Philip Barry, John Patrick
Distributor
MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co
Sol C. Siegel Productions, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Loew's, Bing Crosby Productions
Genre
Musical, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 17, 1956, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 1, 2016
Runtime
1h 47m
Sound Mix
Perspecta Stereo
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Flat (1.85:1)
Most Popular at Home Now