Rating: Summary: Rather more pertinent to today than you'd think! Review: I have always enjoyed this film but in particular in recent years, as I've listened to both information and technology professionals discuss the likelihood of the demise of librarianship. Bunny Watson fancies that her department is being phased out of the organization, replaced by an "electronic brain" created by Mr. Sumner. Of course, the resolution of the movie indicates that the electronic brain is just a tool for the information professional (and it helps as well by putting Kate Hepburn in Spencer Tracy's arms in the final minutes). But if you've listened to wild-eyed souls tell you that information "yearns to be free", that it is all published and available on the Internet, etc., you'll undoubtedly appreciate the point of this movie. The situation hasn't changed all *that* much since the '50's.
Rating: Summary: One of the best Hepburn movies around! Review: I love this movie. I saw the play it was based on and thought they did a good job adapting it for the screen. Trivia: Watch the for the guy that plays Smithers. He played Spencer Tracy's character in the play. Hepburn is great. The office Christmas party and the quasi-interview on the roof are two of the best scenes. You must see this!
Rating: Summary: Christmas wouldn't be the same... Review: ...we watch Desk Set every year around Christmas and it has a permanant spot on our shelf with other greats like Holiday Inn and It's a Wonderful Life.
Rating: Summary: Plenty Of Laughs! Review: Desk Set is one of the best of the Hepburn/Tracy films. Worth watching and/or owning; just to see the office Christmas party is priceless! Joan Blondell gets plastered and tells Kate that she's gonna take the "Mexican Avenue" bus, one of the best lines in the film. Great fun for everyone!
Rating: Summary: Hepburn and Tracy at their finest! Review: A delightful mix of humor and Hepburn's strong will. A delight for every head strong woman.
Rating: Summary: It doesn't get much better Review: 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.
Rating: Summary: "Is something burning?" Review: This is an extremely well done screen adaptation of a unique play. You expect nothing less from the team of Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. However they do not distract from the performances of the other actors who are well-known in their own right. Harry Ellerbe, who plays Smithers, played the main role of Richard Sumner in the play.
Bunny and her staff and the research department are all preparing for Christmas season. But who should appear on a seen but the mysterious Richard Sumner, with a tape measure, 24 questions, and mysterious past in electronic brains. The conversation between Richard Sumner and Bunny are worth with film its self; yet it only gets better from there.
Rating: Summary: funny, although the spark could've been brighter Review: 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.
Rating: Summary: IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!! Review: 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!
Rating: Summary: Totally Predictable! Totally Wonderful! Can't Wait! Review: I have this on laserdisc which means it is letterboxed. I became a researcher after seeing this movie. I said "that is a fun job" and I have been doing it for 40 years. This is one of the later Tracy/Hepburn movies but both are in top form and ably supported by Joan Blondell and Gig Young. Probably ahead of its time since it is about an electronic brain being installed at a big TV network and whether it will replace human beings. Lots of fun and Tracy has a terrific scene where he pretends to be drunk. Thank you, Fox for getting this out on DVD. It will be a great addition to my collection.
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