Desk Set
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Movie Reviews of Desk Set
Movie Review: It's About Time!!
Summary: 5 Stars
It is with a true sense of anticipation and joy that I greet the news that 1957's Desk Set will finally be released on DVD in the U.S. Hopefully, it will be released in the original widescreen theatrical aspect in which it was intended to be viewed. Available for some time in Asia, it's scandalizing that OUR OWN classic cinema takes years to be released here on DVD!Featuring the incomparable talents of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in their prime, this sparkling movie enjoyed the lively direction of Walter Lang.
Tracy plays a computer engineer, Richard Sumner, hired as a consultant to computerize the research department of a TV network. The research department head, Bunny Watson, played by Hepburn, hasn't been told the specifics of the project and erroneously believes the computer being installed, EMERAC, will replace her employees. Sparks soon fly between Tracy and Hepburn not just regarding the workplace situation, but also romantically.
The two stars get terrific support by a first-rate cast that includes Joan Blondell, Gig Young, and a youthful Dina Merrill.
While many critics fail to list this movie as one of the best outings by film's dynamic duo, I find it endlessly entertaining and great fun. I love the witty dialog and the fantastic chemistry between Tracy and Hepburn. The scene at Bunny's apartment when Sumner ends up there because of a rain storm features vintage Tracy and Hepburn repartee that easily equates to one of the best encounters ever captured on film for any of their movies.
It is also a facinating look at the future computer age as envisioned by the 1950s film industry. The computer marvel created for the story is as big as a living room!
Hopefully, this release with lead to the release of the remainder of the Tracy-Hepburn catalog on DVD, and the catalogs of both of those legendary performers' independent projects. I only wish the amazing Heburn had lived to see these fine, memorable films released on DVD.
A large market exists in the U.S. for classic movies on DVD. There can really be no excuse for withholding America's rightful cinematic history when Europe and Asia is already enjoying it!!
Movie Review: The Mexican Avenue Bus
Summary: 5 Stars
DESK SET (1957) is a dreadfully underrated classic that even Tracy and Hepburn seemed to want to forget. The other reviews here at Amazon consist mostly of either gushes of praise for the acting pair - or complaints about the "grainy" DVD. Mostly one-liners or at best, two.
Firstly, let me set the record straight: this DVD is the best quality DVD you're ever going to get because it is, indeed, a faithful transfer. Stop whining about it and enjoy it; what do you want, CGI? One reviewer says it's so bad it'll "ruin" the movie. Do NOT believe.
This film is so vital because Dr. Richard Sumner (Tracy) is the fictional inventor of the computer. The film shows what computers meant back then, and it's close to the idea of what we now enjoy technologically. The thought that a computer would replace an entire workforce is still a scary one - and so is the presence of a "man in black" doing mysterious things.
Bunny Watson (Hepburn) is a spinster librarian who is a genius and married to her work at the fictional TV network where the story transpires. A brilliant reference librarian needs little company, but every woman wants companionship. With a great cast and some splendid 1950s color/scenery, this fun little romp doesn't look so little to me today as it did decades ago. And some of it brought back memories from my childhood.
You cannot miss this classic, grainy ORIGINAL film and all. It is, as I said, the best preserved and transferred copy of its era. This DVD can be compared to any other great classic of the era, and you'll find that only Kurosawa transfers to DVD in a modern-looking way. That is because the Japanese have vaulted masters of his films, and they use them to make DVDs.
Get this and enjoy a classic, loveable film that is so much more than a chauvinist romp - mainly because there is little true chauvinism here, and the doobie-headed chauvinist in this film, Mike Cutler (Gig Young) gets his comeuppance!
Movie Review: "... you're wearing one brown sock and one black sock."
Summary: 5 Stars
Directed by Walter Lang (1896-1972) and based upon a play written originally by William Marchant (1923-1995), the 1957 comedy "Desk Set", starring the legendary duo of Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) and Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003), is a charming and hilarious film. Its story revolves around the lives of people working for a large corporation that is starting to modernize with 1950's computer technology. Spencer Tracy plays the seemingly unsociable Richard Sumner, who is a "methodology engineer" (computer specialist) that is hired by the company's president, Mr. Azae (Nicholas Joy), to install computers in several departments. Katherine Hepburn plays the very sociable Bunny Watson, who is in charge of the company's research & records department and has a photographic memory. She has three assistants working for her: Peg Costello (Joan Blondell, 1906-1979), Sylvia Blair (Dina Merrill) and the aspiring Ruthie Saylor (Sue Randall, 1935-1984). For seven years, Bunny has dated a company employee, Mike Cutler (Gig Young, 1913-1978), who is very interested in moving up the corporate ladder. When word gets out that one of the departments that Richard Sumner will be modernizing is Bunny's records & research department, Bunny and her staff fear the worst; but Bunny's relationship with Richard becomes quite interesting.Other memorable characters in the film include the old lady (Ida Moore, 1882-1964), Richard Sumner's assistant Miss Warriner (Neva Patterson) and Smithers from the legal department (Harry Ellerbe, 1901-1992). Memorable scenes in the film include the rooftop conversation, the Christmas party, the rainstorm, Bunny's apartment, and the scenes with the computer. Overall, I rate "Desk Set" with 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend the film to everyone. I am so glad to see this wonderful film being released on widescreen DVD!
Movie Review: A great romantic comedy with poor commentary track
Summary: 5 Stars
When I list my favorite film for each year, this is always on my list for 1957. I know I'm supposed to say "Twelve Angry Men" or "Bridge over the River Kwai", but I just find this film to be better. Hepburn and Tracy star in a very odd romantic comedy in which the leading man is a computer designer and the leading lady is head of the reference department at a major television network. Change the fear of automation that Tracy's computer brings to the fear of outsourcing and you have something very modern indeed. It is interesting to see the fear of being replaced by something cheaper existed for employees even 50 years ago. It's also interesting to see that Hepburn's character as well as her employees are all smart women who, in the 1950's, cannot hope to aspire to something greater than looking up information for the rest of the company. The romantic comedy is smart and very adult, and it's a shame more people haven't seen it. There really is romance after the age of 35, something you'd never know by watching the films of today.
The one real disappointment of this DVD is the commentary. There are two people commenting - film historian John Lee and actress Dina Merrill who costarred in the film. John Lee seems to be reading his remarks and talks more about film history in general than the film specifically. Ms. Merrill talks about her personal experiences with the cast. I was really hoping for some extra or commentary about research departments as they existed in the 1950's or even something about the early electronic brains, such as the one that Tracy's character brings into the network research department. You get none of that. There is one other extra about fashions, but that is it. Usually commentary and extras on Fox classic films has been much better than this.
Movie Review: We get set up with Desk Set at last!
Summary: 5 Stars
"A large market exists in the U.S. for classic movies on DVD. There can really be no excuse for withholding America's rightful cinematic history when Europe and Asia is already enjoying it!" That comes from another reviewer on these pages, and I second that emotion.I'll go even further than that review and say that Desk Set is the BEST film with Spence and Kate. And don't forget the great Gig Young doing his perfect second banana routine, which has already delighted us in so many other films. They didn't hide behind so many physical gags or the safer facade of black and white. Instead they acted out the script in glorious full color widescreen and stereo, no less.
And did Fox drop the ball in giving us the proper widescreen version of this classic? No, they did not! The studio came through for us (which is more than we can usually say about studios) and put it out in widescreen! And they even added some actress commentary for good measure. Yes, it's been a long 9-year wait, since DVDs first came out in 1995, but it's here now, at least.
And what a great modern plot Desk Set has: an independent woman (instead of a cloying playtoy), a job for that woman as a research expert, (instead of the usual secretary trying to date her boss), a strong leading man but one with a sense of humor (instead of the usual he-man tough guy). And all smack in the middle of the early revolution of COMPUTERS!
The man vs. machine concepts in this film will reverberate down through the ages. Plus it has a great romantic plot, too. This film has everything! Many people say they love to see a well-restored 1957 Chevy, but I'll take this well-restored 1957 Desky instead!