Call me a weird kid, but I loved old black and white movies when I was little.  I remember that on Saturday mornings, one of the local stations would always show one.  I used to get so upset during the summer if they showed a baseball game instead.

I remember the Saturday I turned on the TV and the movie had already started as a turning point.  I turned on the set to find a beautiful, young woman running into the room of a great house, and I was entranced.

I remember explaining to my parents how she spoke, what she looked like, so I could know who she was afterwards.  My father told me it was Katherine Hepburn, but he told me before I decided she was my favorite, I should see Audrey Hepburn.  I asked if they were sisters.  He shook his head and then explained to me that when I was born, he wanted to name me Sabrina because of Audrey Hepburn, but my mother wouldn't go for it.  It's funny now because I would say that dad was more of a Sophia Loren admirer than Audrey Hepburn.  He even had this picture of Sophia inside of his closet for years.



I was not convinced, and Katherine Hepburn became my ideal of a movie star.  She wears some glamorous gowns in this film I later found out is The Philadelphia Story.




She has attitude and spunk, but she's confused and real.  And she ends up with Cary Grant in the end.



I realized only recently that the image and style that I ascribe to her isn't really how she is costumed in The Philadelphia Story.  I think of her in trousers and blouses or crisp suits more in the style of Bringing Up Baby



or Adam's Rib


All I know is she's smart, sophisticated and always pulled together even when she's chasing leopards around in the woods.