Christopher Strong
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Christopher Strong was a 1933 RKO film, directed by Dorothy Arzner and starring Katharine Hepburn in her second screen role. The screenplay by Zoë Atkins is adapted from the novel by Gilbert Frankau.
Originally intended as a vehicle for Ann Harding and Leslie Howard, Christopher Strong is a tale of illicit love among the English aristocracy. Hepburn plays Lady Cynthia Darrington, a strong-spirited aviatrix, who is over the age of 21 and has never had a lover or an affair because she is too busy. But she has an affair with faithful husband and member of Parliament, Christopher Strong (Colin Clive), much to the distress of his wife, Lady Elaine (Billie Burke) and his daughter, Monica (Helen Chandler), who marries her lover, Harry Rawlinson (Ralph Forbes)), when he divorces his wife because of their affair. While Sir Christopher tries to repair his career in politics and his relationship with his family, Lady Cynthia flies off to the Rivera for another affair with an Italian romeo, Carlo (Jack LaRue). Learning she is pregnant, she saves Sir Chrisotpher's political career by committing suicide setting an altitude record in her airplane.
The working title for this film was A Great Desire, and it represents the first opportunity to Hepburn to begin developing her screen image as the independent woman in the 20th-century. This was the only time in her film career than Hepburn played the "other woman," which is somewhat ironic given her infamous affair with Spencer Tracy. One of the most notable scene in the film had Hepburn's character appearing at a costume party dressed in a stunning, form-fitting moth costume designed by Howard Greer. The musical score for this film is by Max Steiner.
