867 Woman of the Year

[domino harvey]

Woman of the Year



Before Katharine Hepburn ever met Spencer Tracy, she wanted him as her costar in this film. George Stevens's Woman of the Year, conceived to build on the smashing comeback Hepburn had made in The Philadelphia Story, is the story of rival newspaper reporters who wed only to find that their careers aren't so compatible, and in it the pair forged a fresh and realistic vision of what marriage could be. The freewheeling but pinpoint-sharp screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin won an Academy Award, and Hepburn was nominated for best actress. Woman of the Year marks the beginning of the personal and professional union between Hepburn and Tracy, who would go on to make eight more films together, and it stands as a dazzling, funny, and sometimes rueful observation of what it takes for men and women to get along—both in the workplace and out of it.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interview with George Stevens Jr.
• 1967 audio interview with George Stevens
• New interview with George Stevens biographer Marilyn Ann Moss
• New interview with writer Claudia Roth Pierpont on actor Katharine Hepburn
• George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey, a 112-minute 1984 documentary by George Stevens Jr.
• The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn, an eighty-six-minute documentary from 1986
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek

[Lowry_Sam]

So is everyone so overwhelmed with enthusiasm for this one they are speechless?

I wonder if the "More!" for this one will include the alternate ending & Hepburn's comments on the ending.

[Rayon Vert]

Far and away the best Tracy-Hepburn film. (I'd be rewatching it if it was on the master list for the all-time list project.) It tends to lose a little steam towards the end (

Spoiler

in the dramatic near-separation that precedes Tracy and Hepburn's reunion

, as well as in the not totally successful last comedic scene in the kitchen), but it's very charming and enjoyable for most of the ride. The romantic scenes are very sweet and surprisingly steamy at times for a post-Code film like this, and Hepburn is very seductive and she just really shines in this one. B+

[knives]

I dunno if I can agree. For my money Desk Set, The Sea of Grass, and especially Without Love are all better.

[Werewolf by Night]

the not totally successful last comedic scene in the kitchen

The only part of the movie I like.

[John Doe]

Sigh. Another Turell's personal fav?

[colinr0380]

Not to derail but I have to second knives' mention of Desk Set (even if I slightly prefer other Tracy and Hepburn films), mostly because I've kind of always wanted a job as a research librarian ever since seeing the film, and love the paen to internalised, wide-ranging knowledge and the human element of making connections between information that a computer cannot really manage, even when the computer is as big as an entire room! Though it is kind of sobering to think that that whole department is just performing the function that a Google search does nowadays!

Basically any Tracy and Hepburn film that isn't Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? is worth a watch!

[domino harvey]

Pat and Mike is godawful, so it could certainly be worse

[Morgan Creek]

But why not Adam's Rib?

[hearthesilence]

But why not Adam's Rib?

THIS.

Woman of the Year starts off well but stumbles terribly when it nears the end. Even then it doesn't reach (much less sustain) the same heights as Adam's Rib, the one unqualified masterpiece in their distinguished but uneven run of films together.

[domino harvey]

I don't think it's a masterpiece, but Adam's Rib is definitely on the higher end of their pairings. This sounds like a release they put out because Warners/Paramount wouldn't relinquish A Place in the Sun

[Lowry_Sam]

This sounds like a release they put out because Warners/Paramount wouldn't relinquish A Place in the Sun

A Place in the Sun is off the table? Bummer, this was high on my Warner's wish list. When did this happen?

[Rayon Vert]

Without Love: some good moments, but spread out thin in a very dully directed film that never frees itself from its stage origins. Adam's Rib: slightly enjoyable but overrated. Fresh because of the proto-feminist script, but the comedy doesn't produce many laughs, and the Tracy-Hepburn chemistry comes across as meandering and underwhelming. There are also some strangely, extremely long takes, especially in the early parts of the film, that take away from the liveliness that is obviously aimed at. Pat and Mike: even more overrated Gordon & Kanin. Some charm in the acting, but a weak story and the laughs are practically absent. Yeah, all the T&H films are definitely uneven.

[domino harvey]

I mean, we're all skirting around the main issue here: As fascinating and iconic as the idea of Tracy and Hepburn is, the films they made together weren't very good

[Rayon Vert]

I mean, we're all skirting around the main issue here: As fascinating and iconic as the idea of Tracy and Hepburn is, the films they made together weren't very good

In the end I kind of agree... with the partial exception of Woman of the Year. I can predict my appreciation of it will probably diminish when I see it again (only seen it once), but I'd rate it as good-to-almost-very-good. I remember it as looking damn good, though - which probably explains part of the appeal it had for me.

[The Narrator Returns]

The 'More!'

- 1967 audio interview with George Stevens
- George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey, a 112-minute 1984 documentary by George Stevens Jr.

Also, the transfer has been bumped up to a 2K restoration.

[Magic Hate Ball]

I mean, we're all skirting around the main issue here: As fascinating and iconic as the idea of Tracy and Hepburn is, the films they made together weren't very good

It's like the X Files - great chemistry, middling content.

[Gregory]

I can relate to the lukewarm reception to these comedies, but since there are nine Hepburn-Tracy films in all, and they're hardly all cut from the same cloth, I think it's worth making a few exceptions. I'm already on record a few times over the years of the forum for defending Desk Set as the best of the comedies. Interestingly it's also the final one and seems always to be overshadowed by Woman of the Year and Adam's Rib. Of the dramas my pick would probably be State of the Union.

Woman of the Year probably could have been a good film if it hadn't been for the unfunny and mean-spirited ending, which was not how the screenwriters saw the story's resolution. It was tacked on after the film had been completed, due to a perceived need to backpedal the basic strength and confidence of the Tess Harding character. A woman who excels in work outside the home was still seen by many as just too "threatening," though I think this was a somewhat reactionary view even for its time—the release year of 1942 was also the year of the famous "We Can Do It!" Westinghouse poster.

[TMDaines]

I wondered why I've never seen much of Spencer Tracy despite making my way through much of Hollywood's canon in recent years. The reason for this is actually quite simple: there's little room for his films in the canon. He's not in a single film in TSPDT's top 1000! Found that quite amazing.

[domino harvey]

I think Tracy is a remarkably bad actor, but he's also a strong and charismatic personality who carries his films on the weight of his image and presence (see: Gary Cooper). It's not too surprising to hear none of his films made the Top 1000, but I do recommend Captains Courageous, which netted Tracy his first Oscar (albeit he won more for the lovable role than his performance of it-- though he attempts something approaching range here, which is not the norm)

[andyli]

I'm pretty sure Fury and Bad Day at Black Rock used to feature in that list. Also, I believe Father of the Bride is a decent Minnelli film in which Tracy put in a great performance. I'll second Domino's recommendation of Captains Courageous, which I saw as a kid and had impressed me a great deal.

[Drucker]

I wondered why I've never seen much of Spencer Tracy despite making my way through much of Hollywood's canon in recent years. The reason for this is actually quite simple: there's little room for his films in the canon. He's not in a single film in TSPDT's top 1000! Found that quite amazing.

Seriously Fury is an excellent film, and better than a decent share of Lang's German output.

[domino harvey]

Most of Lang's Hollywood films are better than his German films

[hearthesilence]

There's still a lot I haven't seen, but I think Man's Castle, Adam's Rib, Fury and Father of the Bride may well be his best films. Great films in my book, and he's great in all of them, but they tend to be overshadowed by other films in each respective director's oeuvre.

The comparison to Gary Cooper is spot on, but I wouldn't call it "bad" acting. It's hard to see how the same approach worked for both men on stage prior to their movie careers but it works beautifully on film and why they define great film acting for so many. It really comes through in close-up when they're not really doing anything - it's naturalism in the sense that they've inhabited their roles and their surroundings so well.

[knives]

He's quite good in Kazan's Sea of Grass (another of the Hepburn films)and Libeled Lady which on some days is my favorite screwball.