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Desk Set (1957)
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Synopsis: The legendary screen duo of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn bring their keen comic timing and elegant, palpable chemistry to Walter Lang's DESK SET. Hepburn is cast as Bunny Watson, an exceedingly feminine reference librarian in a longtime lukewarm relationship with TV executive Mike... The legendary screen duo of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn bring their keen comic timing and elegant, palpable chemistry to Walter Lang's DESK SET. Hepburn is cast as Bunny Watson, an exceedingly feminine reference librarian in a longtime lukewarm relationship with TV executive Mike Cutler (Gig Young). Tracy plays Richard Sumner, a hardheaded computer whiz who has designed a system named Miss Emmy to replace Bunny and the rest of her staff. Bunny and Richard clash at first, but their fiery encounters soon begin to take on an unmistakably romantic glow. Lang's film features an excellent script by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, adapted from the play by William Marchant. The sharp, hilarious dialogue is delivered with flair by Tracy and Hepburn, who had played opposite each other seven times before filming began. Fine work from supporting actors Young and Joan Blondell, as well as some unintentionally amusing 1950s conceptions of a computerized world, round out DESK SET's overflowing collection of buoyant charms. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Blondell, Gig Young, Dina Merrill
Screenwriter: Henry Ephron, Phoebe Ephron
Producer: Henry Ephron
Composer: Cyril Mockridge
DVD Info
Release:
Apr 5, 2004
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
- Stereo - English
- Mono - English
- Mono - Spanish
- Mono - French
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentaries - 1. Dina Merrill - Star, Neva Patterson - Star
- Movietone News - 1. "Designers Inspired For New Creation By Film 'Desk Set'"
- Trailers - 1. Theatrical Trailer
- 2. "Studio Classics"
Reviews
Mildly amusing but not great comedy, penned by the Ephrons from a stage play, this eighth teaming of Tracy and Hepburn places the battle of the sexes in the workplace against the threat of new technology.
Desk Set is a big, shiny, doohickey coasting on the warm offerings of earlier triumphs.
[Miss Hepburn and Mr. Tracy] can tote phone books on their heads or balance feathers on their chins and be amusing -- which is about the size of what they do here.
Desk Set is quaintly funny and has a few memorable moments...it's ultimately harmless fun with a gossamer message about technology and gender roles.
You'd never find a backer for a rom-com with this little relationship anxiety now
One of the great Tracy-Hepburn pairings, this adaptation from the Broadway stage focuses on the love that grows from the contentious relationship...
The least, perhaps, of the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn collaborations...this 1957 comedy is nevertheless a bright and witty vehicle for its stars, directed well and anonymously by that fine old hack Walter Lang.
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