Desk Set | Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn

Desk Set | Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn | It doesn't get much better

DVDs:

Desk Set

	Desk Set Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn 20th Century Fox, 2004 average customer review:based on 59 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!!

I've been waiting for this DVD forever because I love this movie but can't stand the pan-and-scan version. I just saw this mentioned on Turner Classic Movies, cried out "Yes! Yes!" and immediately came to Amazon to see if they have it. I am so glad they do! And in honor of this great movie finally being released in all of it's widescreen glory, I am cut and pasting my review for the video version here below:

"Like Floating Island...Delicious!"

The smart dialogue, the gorgeous fashion, the way you want to kick Gig Young in the teeth...I wish more modern comedy could be this clever. My two favorite scenes are the rooftop lunch quiz and the rainy evening misunderstanding. As usual you never think Tracy is acting, he's so real. And Hepburn's Miss Watson (her name a inside-joke nod to the founder of IBM -Thomas J. Watson) is a character you root for to blow off egotistical beau Mike. Another bonus is the Sumners snooty EMIRAC assistant, Miss Warringer-whose come-uppance couldn't be better. I want a brown coat like Bunny's!

Thank goodness this is finally out on DVD and WIDESCREEN! It's completely enjoyable now without the distractions of pan and scan!

Tracy and Hepburn Forever!

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It doesn't get much better

The Great Kate and Spence. Fantastc 50's architecture and clothes and - watch out - SMART DIALOGUE! Nora Ephron's parents wrote and produced this gem and you see where she got her chops. Fast, funny and all pros at the top of their game. Watch for the scene on the roof top of the building when Tracy and Hepburn have their first lunch. it is freezing but these two are so hot and fast and smart that you can't take your eyes off of the screen.

Short on extras, but a few goodies, like a newsreel about the fashions the film inspired and a commentary by Dina Merril and John Lee (?) who I assume is a historian as I certainly don't know him. But, the film is the thing and it is wonderful.

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funny, although the spark could've been brighter

This movie stars Katharine Hepburn as Bunny Watson and Spencer Tracy as Richard Sumner. Bunny is the smart and witty manager of the reference department at a big TV network. She and her coworkers do their best to answer a large variety factual of questions in a timely manner, and they usually do a pretty good job. However, the company sends in Richard Sumner to improve the division's perfomance, and suddenly everyone's afraid they're going to be replaced by a very large computer(aka EMERAC). Bunny's boyfriend, on the other hand, is afraid that he's going to get replaced by Sumner.

As far as the romance goes, this movie is lukewarm. There's not a lot of romantic chemistry between Bunny and Sumner, although I do think that their conversations were a lot of fun to watch. However, I thought this movie was really funny and clever.

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The Office

Of the nine films Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn made together I have, as of now, seen four; "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", "Pat and Mike", and "Woman of the Year". So far this is my favorite.

Now I wouldn't go as far as some and call this one of the great comedies of all time, but I would say this is an enjoyable funny that has at least two very, very funny scenes, which I will get to in a moment.

The movie was directed by Walter Lang ("Can-Can", "The Jackpot", and "Moon Over Miami") and was written by Phoebe and Henry Ephron (parents to Nora).

Tracy stars as Richard Sumner a sort of efficiency expert who is sent to over look Bunny Watson's (Katherine Hepburn) research department. What kind of company she works for exactly I'm not sure. And soon Bunny and her co-workers Joan Blondell (Peg), Dina Merrill (Sylvia) and Sue Randall (Ruthie) become anxious trying to figure out what exactly Sumner is doing there and will it cost anyone their job.

There is also a side story going on about Bunny and a man she has been seeing for seven years Mike (Gig Young) who has yet to ask the big question, but Bunny remains devoted to him anyway.

I would have preferred if the movie had focused more on the relationship in the office between Tracy and Hepburn, but that's okay.

Now for those two funny scenes. The highlight of this film includes an "evaluation" scene between Racy and Hepburn having lunch. Their timing and chemistry is amazing. The scene reminds me of the gin rummy scene in "Born Yesterday". The other highlight includes an "apartment" scene with Tracy getting caught in the rain staying over at Hepburn's place. Soon complications set in, and I will not reveal them here. But these two scenes are probably the best in the film.

I also like the film's message. Technology by itself is not perfect. I'm totally against all these advancement in the field, which is funny considering I'm using a computer right now. But I liked the film's cynical look at technology.

Bottom-line Enjoyable Tracy/Hepburn comedy that has two very funny scenes which demonstrates how great these two people were and what amazing chemistry they had. Check it out.

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TRACY/HEPBURN MAGIC STRANGELY ABSENT!

This is one of Kate and Spencer's later efforts - post MGM, pre-"Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" and it generally lacks in the chemistry that most of thier work at MGM had in spades. Tracy's a method's engineer who's assigned to make the daily operation of a television station more efficient. Of course he's bound to butt heads with researcher, Bunny Watson (Hepburn). Unlike most Tracy/Hepburn movies, in which their love for one another is never in question, on this occasion,Gig Young is inexplicably and needlessly thrown into the mix as Bunny's boyfriend. But it's the old Hepburn/Tracy's stardust and magic that keeps this otherwise deadly boring film afloat.
TRANSFER: Desk Set is at last presented in its original Cinemascope 2:35:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphically enhanced to take full advantage of 16:9 displays. Although colors can be rich, vibrant and bold, flesh tones have an uncanny pasty look in certain scenes and a reddish/pinkish overcast in others. There are instances where dirt, film grain and age related artifacts crop up throughout this print. Also, black levels tend to be weak in certain scenes. There's a hint of edge enhancement and some pixelization but the print is generally smooth looking. The audio, as with all Cinemascope films of the period, is vintage stereo and presented at a reasonable listening level.
Extras: Fox is genuinely inconsistent in the extra content they provide for their "Studio Series" titles. If you recall, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" contained a 70 min. documentary while "The Inn of The Sixth Happiness" contained only an audio commentary track. On this occasion we get an audio commentary and some truncated movietones junk that is short, boring and generally slapped together as an afterthought. Not what I would expect from any series dubbed, "Studio Series".
BOTTOM LINE: If you're a die hard Tracy/Hepburn fan than this is a must have. But it's not one of their best or even one of their mediocre. It's just big on...well, being big and short, unfortunately, on entertainment!

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