Desk Set

I watched this movie on You Tube and enjoyed it immensely. The fast wit in practically all the lines, the cleverness in the script, the utter elegance of all the women involved in it (even Joan Blondell, quite "developed" by then with several extra pounds), but specially Dina Merrill, absolutely exquisite in her (natural) ice-blond beauty, and Katherine Hepburn, with an unbelievably slender silhouette, all dressed, made up and coiffed to kill (modest employees with an average office job and complaining about their low salaries), changing outfits on practically every scene (and what outfits!!).

But that doesn't matter, it was escapist entertainment to the nth degree, so all that eye candy was completely acceptable, and so were the sets, that confronted with nowadays sets were like the Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo.

When you consider that every single setting was painted cardboard you flip!!: The New York street with all that traffic and the heavy rain, the executive office, the girls office, later their office with the immense computer with all its lights and noises, the terrace of the skyscraper!! Fantastic sets!! and then the color palette for the whole movie.

Palette studied to the last detail, so pleasing to the eye in its entirety. Only one example: Hepburn gives Tracy a striped scarf, later on she wears the same scarf momentarily over a dress whose color matches to perfection those on the scarf. Unreal. And then last but not least, we appreciate the way these people interacted with such decent sentiments, so elegant, with such civilized maturity (so adult!!), that we instantly realize to have lost a lot comparing that generation to the present one.

The acting is sublime, by all of them, from Hepburn to the messenger boy. What a sensational movie! Top entertainment.

Desk Set is a lighthearted, delightful, and thoroughly enjoyable watch courtesy of the effervescent chemistry between one of hollywoods greatest pairings Tracy and Hepburn. Surprisingly, Desk Set, despite its themes about automation and technology, still holds up decently well today, for it realises the power of context and human intuition lacking in any machine(though I might hesitate in saying the same thing in twenty years time given how rapidly technology is advancing). The highlight of Desk Set is of course the sparkling chemistry between Hepburn and Tracy. Hepburn is superb as the assertive, strong willed, sharp minded Bunny, stuck in a relationship with an always missing Mike Cutler, while Tracy plays the very affable Richard, who is self assured of his intellect, and as a result has an air of confidence around him, as if he were always in control of any situation. There is also a wonderful dynamic and camaraderie in the research department, consisting of three other characterful ladies which adds a great deal of charm to the picture. The script is also mildly witty, definitely sharper than the average rubbish around nowadays. Indeed, the film remains a breezy watch, that I cannot find much fault with it. It has an endearing storyline with well written characters that are never too serious. The film may not provide for many hysterical laughs but it does allow for plenty of chuckles. My only objection may be that it slows down in the second half, and the romance between Hepburns and Tracy's character could have been further developed. Regardless, I have to say Desk set is a remarkably fun office Romcom providing some laughs, and a charming office atmosphere which should easily hold an Audiences attention through its runtime. A thoroughly enjoyable watch.

Well, I suppose it lacks the deeper moral carried by "Adam's Rib," although it does deal with issues that have so far turned out to be less important than gender equality, such as the impact of automation on the work force. But none of that is very important anyway. It's a light romantic comedy set in the research department of a major broadcasting company. And Hepburn's name is Bunny, but again, so what? Would it be a better movie if she were called Mildred?

It has the closed-in act structure of a play too, and it's obvious. There are other theatrical staples as well. How many plays include a drunken party at the end of the second act? (Exactly two hundred and forty-two.) Movies are similarly put together, especially those based on plays: "Long Day's Journey Into Night," "The Boys in the Band," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Often the alcohol consumption takes place at a Christmas party, as it does here, and in "The Apartment." Understanding that the characters' higher reasoning centers are partly paralyzed and their judgment impaired gives the writer a chance to have them behave outrageously without having to explain why they've lost their senses, and the audience understands this convention. Drunken conviviality doesn't always work on screen. It can leave the viewer feeling like the only sober person at the bash, which is why John Ford largely left the events up to the viewer's imagination. It doesn't work too well here, either. It's not the actors' fault. They convey that chemically induced jollity very well; it's that the lines are sometimes silly -- that "Mexican Avenue bus" business, for instance. You'd have to have been there to find it as amusing as Hepburn and Joan Blondell do.

None of this undermines the amusement quotient of the film. It's relaxed, pleasant, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. The story is well laid out, dated though it may seem to some, the interpersonal relationships clearly delineated and squeezed of every chuckle.

But it's the performers that get the job done here. Blondell's role seems to have been made for her, the down-to-earth blonde. Gig Young too is smooth in his usual careless charming playboy part, a touchstone for his career, as in "That Touch of Mink" and "Ask Any Girl." There are certain lines that no one can deliver better than he. Hepburn has been trying to get him to marry her for a long time and when he finally suggests they tie the knot, there is an argument, and he storms out the office door, but not before delivering his exit line: "Seven YEARS I've waited!" The other "girls" are intelligent and sexy. I have to mention Neva Patterson too, as Emerac's nurse. When the obscene machine begins to pant and puff out smoke, the other staff rush to help, but a hysterical Patterson screams at them, "Don't you TOUCH her!"

Tracey and Hepburn, no longer kids, are superb. They're top notch all the way through, and they have a couple of set pieces that are about as funny as anything they've done on screen. One is a sort of quiz Tracey gives her on the roof. Another, the best in the film, takes place while Tracey visits her apartment to dry his clothes and is caught in a bathrobe by Gig Young, who happens to drop in at the incriminating moment. I defy anyone not to laugh as Tracey clumps out the door with his shoes smoking and his hat pulled down around his ears. The third, having to do with EMERAC's nervous breakdown, is also well done if a bit frantic.

Not a comic masterpiece. It's too relaxed for that. But recommended without qualification.

If you replace the constant use of the term "automation" with "outsourcing", this 1957 workplace-driven comedy would be quite a relevant tweak on corporate restructuring and office politics. As it stands now, it's a light piece of entertainment that benefits primarily from a smart screenplay by Phoebe and Henry Ephron (Nora's parents...must run in the family) and of course, the incomparable Tracy-Hepburn teamwork. It's not their best work, but fifteen years into their relationship, they achieve an easy, laser-sharp rapport here that makes the film easy to enjoy.

Efficiently directed by Walter Lang, the movie focuses its plot on the research department of a national TV network, the so-called Federal Broadcasting System. The four-woman staff is headed by the whip-smart Bunny Watson, who appears to possess a wealth of information and an unfailing memory for the smallest detail. They work like clockwork together in finding responses to often extremely trivial questions, but they do everything manually. Enter Richard Sumner, a befuddled man with a measuring tape and mismatched socks, who turns out to be a brilliant engineer hired by the network CEO to install an electronic brain called EMERAC. Designed to streamline the research process, the monolithic computer has the research staff understandably concerned about pending unemployment. Invariably, Bunny and Sumner start to recognize a mutual attraction through the awkwardness, and further complications arise with the presence of Mike Cutler, a rising network executive who has pompously kept Bunny on a leash for years.

As Bunny, Katharine Hepburn appears to be playing a variation of herself, which in this case, suits the role perfectly. By comparison, Tracy seems a bit tired as Sumner, except when interacting with Hepburn, whether unsuccessfully volleying brainteasers on a freezing rooftop, eating floating islands in their bathrobes, or canoodling between the second-floor bookshelves during the office Christmas party. A terrific supporting cast has been assembled starting with Gig Young in his typical role as the third wheel Mike, which he plays with enough sharp and smarmy aplomb to make Bunny's dilemma palpable. Joan Blondell expertly plays Bunny's stalwart sidekick Peg, and they achieve a genuine chemistry as they banter about the "Mexican Avenue bus".

Dina Merrill and Sue Randall (forever etched in my memory as Beaver's crush-worthy schoolteacher Miss Landers on "Leave It to Beaver") seem a bit too glamorous to be librarians, but they're both serviceable, while Neva Patterson plays EMERAC's coldly efficient "mother", Miss Warriner, to brittle perfection. Even though the sets are pure 1950's-style décor, Leon Shamroy makes full use of the Cinemascope process to bring his color-saturated cinematography to the widescreen. The 2004 DVD comes with a commentary track by film historian John Lee, who provides interesting insight to the production, casting and stage-to-screen translation. Merrill provides some remembrances of her own, but her commentary is spotty and a bit self-serving. A vintage, minute-long newsreel on the film's costumes; a few trailers for other Fox films of the period; and a photo gallery complete the package.

This comedy keeps turning on cable any now and then. When faced with the prospect of watching substandard fare, the clear choice is to go to something that is amusing, as well as to entertaining, which is why "Desk Set" is a good bet to watch.

"Desk Set", directed by Walter Lang, evokes those bygone years before automation and the arrival of the computers into one's life. The comedy, adapted from the stage with great care by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, accomplishes all the requisites for a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

The time is the late 50s in Manhattan. The cost controlling expert, Richard Sumner, is hired to make changes in the way the New York firm can cut costs in all areas of business. Mr. Sumner's solution is to start automation in several areas, such as in the payroll department. He faces a formidable task when he takes to task making the research department more efficient, in the days before Google.

Mr. Sumner has to deal with the smart Bunny Watson, who has more facts and figures at her fingertips than any contraption could find at any given moment. Thus begins a tug of war between the man who is perceived as the "terminator of jobs" and the four women in research. They'll teach him a thing, or two.

The best part of the film is the interplay between the two principals, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Its a tribute to them, as actors, they could work so well together. Also, toward the end of the movie, at the company's Christmas party, we see a playful, and drunk Bunny singing Cole Porter's "Night and Day" to the beat of the bongo playing of Richard Sumner. That scene shows a playful Katherine Hepburn having a great time in front of the cameras.

This delicious movie will certainly please anyone looking for a good time. Ms. Hepburn does excellent work as the spinsterish Bunny. Mr. Tracy is equally her match as the efficiency expert who is not in touch with reality.

The women in the research department, Joan Blondell, Dina Merrill and Sue Radall, are quite good. Gig Young has the thankless task of being a man interested in Katherine Hepburn, when it's obvious her heart clearly belongs to Spencer Tracy.

Enjoy the movie, but better yet, enjoy the magic created by Kate and Spencer!