Desk Set (1957)

"Desk Set" is one of several movies that Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn made. Half a dozen of nine films were comedies or part comedy. Most of their pairings are of the type in "Desk Set." The two stars are antagonists, though not hostile, in whatever setting the film has. The comedy is mostly of the general feel-good humorous type.Theirs generally is not the rollicking laughter comedy of the type that Cary Grant and Irene Dunne evoked. They have occasional witty or funny lines, but not on the scale of William Powell and Myrna Loy. And, their antics are sparse and tame compared to others. The one film in which they seem to give more of all the above is "Adam's Rib" of 1949. Still, audiences of their day enjoyed their often laid-back and sophisticated comedy. That's what we have in "Desk Set." Audiences of the 21st century may get a laugh out of the size of the huge mechanical brain (aka, computer) in this film. With information and communication at present-day fingertips in hand-held devices, it may seem strange for younger generations to realize that the first computers were such behemoths. Or, to know that it took four decades for the technology to evolve to that of modern times. IBM made the first commercial computer, UNIVAC. The U.S. Census Bureau got the first one on June 14, 1951. In this film, Tracy plays Richard Sumner, who is sizing up the research department of a broadcast network. Hepburn's Bunny Watson is the head of the group. She has a crew of three other women and all are whizzes at finding the answers to the myriad questions people in and outside the network have. But they fear that Sumner's presence bodes ill for the future of their jobs. This reflects a legitimate widespread concern in employment fields all across the country in the mid-20th century. The bulk of the comedy comes from Watson's crew, especially peg Costello, played by Joan Blondell. The film has romance, but it's not between Tracy and Hepburn. It's a seven-year courtship of Hepburn and Gig Young. He plays Mike Cutler, her boss. That may be the comedy of the romance - that it amounts to little more than occasional dates. This piece of the plot doesn't seem believable. There's no passion or chemistry between Bunny and Mike. Nor do their lines reflect any kind of real closeness, let alone love. This is far from a great comedy, or even a very funny film. It is humorous in places and otherwise interesting and enjoyable. Modern audiences may find it too slow or tame. It is a good look at a couple of the biggest stars of the early to mid-decades of the 20th century. Here are some favorite lines from the film. For more humorous dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page on the movie. Ruthie Saylor "Maybe we're getting that air conditioning, finally." Sylvia Blair, "Hmmm, that figures. This is November."Peg Costello, "You only smoke when there's a crisis. Who is he?"Bunny Watson, "Well, kids, whataya say we give the company a little of our time?" Bunny Watson, "On the Shores of Gitche Gumee." Ruthie Saylor, "James Whitcomb Riley." Bunny Watson, "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, bless him."Bunny Watson, "Mike, for the 500th time, there's a glass wall behind you." Mike Cutler, "Bunny, who do you think you're kidding? Everybody knows you haven't got a brain in your head. The only way you keep your job is by being nice to me."Mike Cutler, "Bye girls. Always a pleasure to see your freshly scrubbed, smiling faces. Remember our motto: Be on time, do your work, be down in the bar at 5:30."Ruthie Saylor, "What is the company policy here for Christmas?" Sylvia Blair, "Anything goes, as long as you don't lock the door."Richard Sumner, answering the phone, "Hello! Uh, Santa Clause's reindeer? Uh, uh, why yes, I can. Uh, uh, let me see now. There's Dopey, uh, Sneezy, Grouchy, Happy, Sleepy, uh, Rudolph and Blitzen. You're welcome."Richard Sumner, "This office of yours is bigger than the whole research department." Mr. Azae, "Well, it's supposed to be. If the office of the president isn't big enough to impress the sponsors, then there's nothing for the girls down in Research to research."

They're at it again! In their eighth screen pairing, real-life sweethearts Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy team up in a fast-paced battle of the sexes comedy. As usual, they both have forceful personalities, and as usual, they bicker and try to prove their points for an hour or two while falling in love.In Desk Set, their workplace is dominated by the introduction of computer technology. There's a hilarious line in the film Blast from the Past in which Brendan Fraser asks incredulously, "You have a computer? In your house?" In the 1950s, computers were new, humongous, and scary, so you're going to have to wrap your head around that nostalgic trivia before settling down to watch this flick. While lots of Tracy-Hepburn movies are still applicable today, this isn't really one of them. If you love their pairings, feel free to add this one to your list, but it's not really their best. It's a little more dated than Woman of the Year and isn't as endearing as Adam's Rib, so you might be better off sticking to your favorites.

Another entertaining Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy pairing, the one is about an efficiency expert (Tracy) assigned to "secretly" investigate implementing an electronic brain (e.g. a computer system) in the reference department of a television network. The head of the department (Hepburn) and her employees (Joan Blondell, Sue Randall, and Dina Merrill, in her first film), who currently "look everything up" manually, naturally feel threatened.Gig Young plays Hepburn's long time love interest, an up-and-coming employee at the network whose job interferes with their relationship. Harry Ellerbe appears as a company lawyer who also serves as its "grapevine". Nicholas Joy is the executive in charge that's hired Tracy, Neva Patterson plays a computer operator.The film's funniest scenes are the ones between its two stars: one is a rooftop luncheon in which Tracy learns of Hepburn's extraordinary mind and retention; the other occurs in her character's apartment.Serves as a commercial of sorts for IBM though, having spent more than 15 years in the business, it always amuses me how Hollywood displays computer hardware, with excessive blinking lights and constantly spinning tape drives.This above average comedy was directed by Walter Lang, based on the William Marchant play, and adapted (screenplay) by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, parents of Nora, Delia, and Amy.

First off, I would have given this movie a better review if it's pace was a bit better. It felt a bit disjointed in some ways, with a series of what felt like separate scenes (I believe someone mentioned it felt like a play, and it did). Some worked well, some did not work as well. But that's a bit objective.As an example of something I did not buy into...the romance between her and the computer engineer. I never quite bought into it. He shows some interest, but she only shows flashes of interest - but I just couldn't connect the dots.I loved seeing a woman playing a smart competent role. Kudos to them. It's enjoyable seeing strong female roles in movies - it's becoming more common now, but did not seem to be that common back then.As a software engineer, I totally appreciate the subject matter. And I am not sure the man-machine debate is done. While computers have been an amazing innovation, improving our lives in ways hard to imagine now doing without, at the same time they still introduce problems. For example, people living their lives out on the computer rather than in person with real people...some people have struggled with addiction to games even, such as World of Warcraft.But moving along, Hepburn makes this movie. She is fascinating to watch when she's quoting poetry, especially at the ending scene. For her acting alone, I should give it 6 stars.The supporting cast of her fellow researchers was quite good. Especially the heavier set one (sorry, forgot her name.) I can recommend this movie, for sure. It could maybe have been better though?