Cindy and Marty talk about High Society, a musical pairing of Sinatra and Crosby with Grace Kelly .

Title: High Society (1956)

Director: Charles Walters

Screenplay: John Patrick (based on The Philadelphia Story, 1939 play by Philip Barry)

Stars: Bing Crosby as C.K. Dexter Haven | Grace Kelly as Tracy Samantha Lord | Frank Sinatra as Macaulay “Mike” Connor

Supporting Cast: Celeste Holm, John Lund, Louis Calhern, Louis Armstrong and His Band

Cinematography: Paul C. Vogel

Music: Cole Porter (original score) | Orchestrations: Conrad Salinger & Nelson Riddle | Conducted by Johnny Green

Production & Behind the Scenes

• High Society is a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, based on Philip Barry’s 1939 play.

• The setting shifted to Newport, Rhode Island, to showcase the early Newport Jazz Festival.

• Filmed in VistaVision and Technicolor for MGM; budgeted at $2.8 million and earned $8.2 million.

• Producer Sol C. Siegel paid Cole Porter $250,000 for his first original film score in eight years.

• Arrangements were handled by Conrad Salinger and Nelson Riddle under conductor Johnny Green.

• Elizabeth Taylor was first considered for Tracy Lord before the role went to Grace Kelly.

• The mansion exterior later became infamous as the Claus von Bülow estate tied to the events dramatized in Reversal of Fortune.

• Another 1955 film titled High Society was mistakenly Oscar-nominated before the error was corrected.

• The opening mansion is the Kirkeby Mansion in Los Angeles, later famous as the Clampett home on The Beverly Hillbillies.

The Cast

• This was Grace Kelly’s final film, released shortly after her marriage to Prince Rainier III.

• Kelly wore her real Cartier engagement ring from Rainier during filming.

• Kelly was 26 during production; Frank Sinatra was 40 and Bing Crosby was 53.

• The principal cast included four Oscar winners: Kelly, Sinatra, Crosby, and Celeste Holm.

• Louis Calhern died shortly after filming, making this his final screen appearance.

• Kelly and Crosby had previously starred together in The Country Girl.

• As of 2026, Lydia Reed is the film’s only surviving credited cast member.

Music & Cole Porter

• Sinatra joined the project largely because Crosby had been his childhood idol.

• “Well, Did You Evah?” was added late and reused from Porter’s 1939 musical DuBarry Was a Lady.

• “True Love,” sung by Crosby and Kelly, became a million-selling platinum hit — likely the only platinum record credited to a reigning princess.

• Kelly sang her own vocals despite early dubbing plans.

• “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” later inspired the title of the global TV franchise launched in 1999.

• “Now You Has Jazz” features Crosby introducing each member of Louis Armstrong’s band individually.

Legacy & Connections

• In 2025, High Society was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry.

• The film appears in 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

• The sailboat “True Love” still operates as a tour boat on Seneca Lake, New York.

• The Newport Jazz Festival was only two years old when the film was made and was still defining its identity amid class and cultural tensions.

• During “Well, Did You Evah?” Crosby’s character reads Touring Topics, predecessor to Westways magazine.

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