The
eighth of nine pictures together, Desk Set is Kathrine Hepburn and Spencer
Tracy’s last romantic comedy and first film in color.With a giant computer and
the full skirts that the office ladies wear, one would think Desk Set runs the
risk of seeming dated. But they’re called classic films for a reason- there’s
always something that will ring true no matter the age. So, while computers are
no longer the strange invaders of the workplace they were in the 1950s (or even
the 1980s), Desk Set’s themes of technology versus the human mind are relevant,
fun and funny still.
When
Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy), methods engineer and inventor of an “electronic
brain,” is hired on at a New York broadcasting studio to help the research
department become more automatized, he’s not allowed to tell anybody what he’s
really up to! But a strange man who talks about a stranger machine is sure to
raise a few eyebrows, and the ladies who work in the research department under
the capable Bunny Watson ( played by Kathrine Hepburn and based on Agnes E.
Law, CBS’s then-head research librarian) are no dummies.Something is up, and
fear of pink slips in the offing! Most of the movie is spent with the
not-getting-any-younger Bunny Watson vacillating between trying to get her
boyfriend of seven years to finally pop the question, and trying to keep her
subordinates calm with the threat of being replaced by a mchine hanging over
their heads. Add in Tracy’s geeky engineer’s growing attraction to the head
researcher, and a supporting cast of Gig Young and Joan Blondell, and you have
the recipe for one charming movie-date.
Adapted
from a Broadway play of the same name, the part of Richard Sumner was expanded
and modified in order to make the story work as Hepburn and Tracy vehicle. This
included changing the role from a young man to suit the fifty-something Spencer
Tracy. A romance story line was also added. One of the new scenes included a
rainy night at Watson’s apartment and some hilarious ad-libbing on the part of
the actors.
Despite
such changes, the audience definitely feels the film’s theatrical roots, and
not always in that charming manner much of Desk Set exudes. The camera almost
never moves, giving us the same feeling as when theatre-goers are watching a
whole stage. The set dressers take try to advantage of the static feel, with
props that fill the entire space, such as the colossal EMERAC computer, or
Bunny Watson’s office plant. But we miss the intimate moments more fluid camera
work could bring.
Some
might find Desk Set almost forgettable, despite its strong leads. It lacks the
battle of the sexes storyline that made sparks fly in Hepburn and Tracy’s
earlier films like Woman of the Year or Adam’s Rib. Still, as good as those
films are, I personally do not mind. Instead, we get something new, both from
the leads and from the relationship they create for us on screen. Though both
characters are strong, smart and successful people, the conflict and the
attraction never centers on this fact. Both are allowed to remain strong, smart
and successful. With older characters, and different circumstance, the romance
is slower, but no less lovely to watch.
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