"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie onJuly 20, 1942 with Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey and Virginia Weidler reprising their film roles.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on March 17, 1947 with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart reprising their film roles.
"Theater Guild on the Air" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 4, 1948 with James Stewart reprising his film role.
Spencer Tracy turned down James Stewart's role in The Philadelphia Story because he was eager to make Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Cary Grant demanded top billing and $100,000 salary - a huge amount at the time. As it transpired though, he donated his entire earnings to the British War Relief Fund.
Cary Grant was given the choice of which of the two male lead roles he wanted to play. Surprisingly, he chose the less showy part.
James Stewart had no plans to attend the Oscar ceremony the year he was nominated for this film. Just before the ceremony began, he received a call at home "advising" him to slip into a dinner jacket and attend the ceremony. He did and he received the award for Best Actor. This was in the days before an accounting firm kept the Oscar voting results secret.
James Stewart never felt he deserved the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in this film, especially since he had initially felt miscast. He always maintained that Henry Fonda should have won instead for The Grapes of Wrath, and that the award was probably "deferred payment for my work on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington".
James Stewart wasn't at all comfortable with some of the dialog, especially in the swimming pool scene, which also required him to act in a dressing gown. He said at the time that if he'd played the scene in just a swimming costume it would have been the end of his career.
Katharine Hepburn asked MGM to cast Clark Gable as Dexter and Spencer Tracy as Mike before she met either of them. Both Gable and Tracy were busy with other projects, so Cary Grant and James Stewart were cast instead.
Katharine Hepburn deferred her salary for 45% of the profits.
Katharine Hepburn starred in the Broadway production of the play on which this film was based and owned the film rights to the material; they were purchased for her by billionaire Howard Hughes, then given to her as a gift.
Katharine Hepburn's swimming pool dive is the real thing. No doubles were used.
Although George Cukor was not usually a very physical director, Katharine Hepburn incorporated some of his mannerisms into her performance.
Before shooting the scene where Connor passionately recites his poetry to Tracy, James Stewart was extremely nervous and certain he would perform badly. Coincidently, Noel Coward was visiting the set on that day and, having been asked to say something to encourage Stewart by George Cukor, Coward off-handedly said something to Stewart like, "Did I mention I think you're a fantastic actor." Stewart shortly thereafter performed the scene without a hitch and went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor.
In his autobiography, Donald Ogden Stewart wrote that the original play was so perfect, adapting it was the easiest job he ever had to do in Hollywood.
In the party scene we can hear the famous main melody from a Hungarian movie, called Meseautó. (The title means "DreamCar") Franz Waxman probably watched that movie before he went to Hollywood in 1934, and accidentally wrote the same chords and theme for this song.
June 2008 Ranked #5 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Romantic Comedy".
On Broadway, Katharine Hepburn played opposite Joseph Cotten (in the role played by Cary Grant in the film), Van Heflin (the James Stewart role) and Shirley Booth (the Ruth Hussey role). Anne Baxter played the younger sister. The play ran for 415 performances, making nearly $1 million at the box office. It then went on tour for another 250 performances and an additional $750,000 in box-office receipts.
Played Radio City Music Hall for 6 weeks, breaking the previous attendance records set in 1937 by Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It grossed over $600,000 in that one location alone.