Was 1957 too late for a romantic comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, both in their 50s? According to the makers of Desk Set, no. And I'd have to agree with them. It's rather sweet, actually, and the set-up is rather unusual (no rich heiresses, for one thing). Tracy is an efficiency expert (in fact, I wish there would have been more office space satire in the film, because those bits tickled me a great deal) and computer engineer hired to quietly install 1957's equivalent of Google in a network's research department headed by Hepburn's Google-on-legs. The premise is intriguing from a contemporary viewer's perspective since its human vs. machine theme has resolved itself somewhat differently for us, but it wouldn't work without affable performances and well-written dialog, which Desk Set delivers. It's a Christmas movie too, and should delight in season and out.
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MilenaFlaherty
Glad to see this is finally in an official list.Siskoid
Was 1957 too late for a romantic comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, both in their 50s? According to the makers of Desk Set, no. And I'd have to agree with them. It's rather sweet, actually, and the set-up is rather unusual (no rich heiresses, for one thing). Tracy is an efficiency expert (in fact, I wish there would have been more office space satire in the film, because those bits tickled me a great deal) and computer engineer hired to quietly install 1957's equivalent of Google in a network's research department headed by Hepburn's Google-on-legs. The premise is intriguing from a contemporary viewer's perspective since its human vs. machine theme has resolved itself somewhat differently for us, but it wouldn't work without affable performances and well-written dialog, which Desk Set delivers. It's a Christmas movie too, and should delight in season and out.