Desk Set

It comes as no surprise that the 30-second attention span generation finds this jewel a little dull. There is no quick-cut music video cinematography. The characters are all actually old enough to be believable in their roles. which are not based on clothing or haircuts. It depends on talent rather than hype. And most of all, it is far too intelligent, witty and literate for today's garbage-numbed Philistine.

The story is simple, as all good stories are. Hepburn feels her job, and those of her staff, are threatened by Tracy and his ominous computer. It may not sound like much in this day of computer ubiquity, but substitute dot.com flop or outsourcing for computer and you have a contemporary comedy that still works.

Let's ignore the leads for just a moment. The supporting cast, which includes Joan Blondell as the arch-typical right-hand man, or should I say woman, and Gig Young as the chauvinistic, corporate climbing fiancé, easily outclasses what passes for marquee stars today. Husband and wife team Henry and Phoebe Ephron, parents of Nora Ephron, contribute a brilliantly witty script that, unfortunately for modern moviegoers, isn't peppered with vaudevillian pratfalls to help point out the funny parts. Instead, it relies on the intelligence of the audience and draws on that of the cast to produce a humor that never ages.

Hepburn is almost universally considered the greatest film actress ever. Tracy is utterly magnificent, and the chemistry between the two of them, owing of course in part to their long-standing relationship, is palpable.

I adore this movie, and if there were a Canon of Cinema, this would be in it.

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.

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!

Spencer Tracy was about to turn 57 and Katharine Hepburn was about to turn 50 when this movie was shot. In all the two made, I believe, eight movies together. Here she heads up the Reference Department of a TV Network in New York, people call for information and they either quote it off the tops of their heads, or they do a bit of research. In 1957 women in the workplace were still called "girls."

Tracy was the company man brought in to install a brand new computer, the idea is that it would free up the three ladies to do more value-added work. But the ladies took it the wrong way, they looked at it as a threat to their jobs.

This movie is ground-breaking because in the 1950s electronic computers were still in their infancy. In the 1960s when I was in college our university had the first degree program in Computer Science. My own first experience with an electronic computer to use programs to process data was in the late 1960s. So showing a workplace install an electronic computer in 1957 was quite revolutionary.

This is a really good and entertaining movie, even at 65 years old much of it seems fresh and relevant. At home on DVD from my public library.