Pat and Mike

Pat and Mike
by George Cukor

Pat and Mike
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: from $4.21 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases

Buy Pat and Mike at Amazon.com
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Aldo Ray, Katharine Hepburn, Sammy White, Spencer Tracy, William Ching
Director: George Cukor
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: Pan & Scan, 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-09-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video

Movie Reviews of Pat and Mike

Movie Review: Hepburn's Physical Prowess Takes Center Stage in an Entertaining Sports-Centric Pairing with Tracy
Summary: 4 Stars

Katharine Hepburn has said this deceptively casual 1952 comedy is her favorite of the nine onscreen pairings with longtime partner Spencer Tracy, and one can see why as the film takes advantage of her natural athletic prowess. Directed by the redoubtable George Cukor and written by the husband-and-wife team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon (Adam's Rib), this is not so much a rollicking screwball farce as a sly opposites-attract love story set in a world pitched between professional sports and the street-slang and pinstripe suits of Damon Runyon. It's not a complicated plot. Mike Conovan is a dem-and-dose sports promoter who already manages a punch-drunk fighter named Davie Hucko. On a country club golf course, he sees a great golfing talent in Pat Pemberton, a college physical-education instructor who turns out to be accomplished in a number of sports including sharp-shooting and tennis. Mike immediately sees the financial possibilities of promoting a "lady athlete", and a mutual attraction develops.

However, he also discovers Pat's one major Achilles' heel - her self-doubt is such that she cannot perform to her world-class standards under the patronizing eye of her selfish fianc?e Collier. Naturally, this impediment gives rise to the movie's funniest sight gags, including a particularly hilarious tennis match with real pro Gussie Moran where Pat's tennis racket gets smaller, Moran's gets larger, and the net grows higher. The rest of the film consists of scenes highlighting Pat's ascending trajectory as a pro star, and consequently, the fortyish Hepburn's impressive physical talent facing off with the likes of Olympic champion Babe Didrickson Zaharias in a pro golf tournament. The Tracy-Hepburn team shows a genuine rhythm to their banter here, and Tracy seems to be having fun playing a street-savvy huckster. I find it amusing how Hepburn's character - with her crisp New England-based diction - is supposed to be from Oakland. Aldo Ray makes a memorable impression as Davie, while a young Charles Bronson can be seen as one of the hoods subject to Pat's masterful judo moves. There are no extras offered with the 2000 DVD.

Summary of Pat and Mike

Kate plays Pat Pemberton, a college physical education teacher who excels at just about every sport there is. She's also a great athletic competitor, except when her overbearing, worrywart fianc?, Collier Weld, is around. (As Weld, William Ching does an admirable job in a thankless role.) All Pat has to do is see Collier's face on the sidelines and her golf swing loses its power; her tennis game goes haywire. It takes crooked sports manager Mike Conovan (Spencer Tracy, of course) to recognize Pat's outstanding talent. He takes her on as his most important client and handles her with the same loving care that he gives to his favorite racehorse. Naturally, Pat and Mike's relationship is destined to overstep its professional boundaries. The mutual attraction grows from the moment they meet. Watching Pat walk away, Mike comments to his partner, "Not much meat on her, but what's there is 'cherce'."

The film carries a powerful feminist message, especially considering that it was made in the early 1950s: Pat is undone by Collier, who would rather have her stick to being "the little woman" and forget about succeeding. But with Mike in her corner, Pat can have a great career. Her union with him is a true partnership; everything is, as he says, "Five-oh, five-oh." In the end, he's secure enough to be comfortable as "the man behind the woman." The film features terrific comic performances by Aldo Ray as a bone-headed boxer, a young Charles Bronson (before he changed his name from Buchinski) as a small-time gangster, and Our Gang's Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as a high-strung bus boy. --Laura Mirsky

Comedy DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in My Hepburns - Audrey and Katharine: "Alike Yet Unalike"
On Golden Pond (Special Edition) ImageOn Golden Pond (Special Edition)
LIONS GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2003-12-16; DVD
Best price: $5.42
Price in other shops: $14.98
A Delicate Balance ImageA Delicate Balance
Release date: 2003-07-22; DVD
Best price: $18.81
Price in other shops: $29.95
Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (Broadway Theatre Archive) ImageTennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (Broadway Theatre Archive)
Release date: 2003-02-11; DVD
Best price: $15.12
Price in other shops: $24.99
They All Laughed ImageThey All Laughed
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-10-17; DVD
Best price: $8.32
Price in other shops: $14.98
The Trojan Women ImageThe Trojan Women
Release date: 2004-09-14; DVD
Best price: $18.74
Price in other shops: $29.95
Robin and Marian ImageRobin and Marian
Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $10.70
Price in other shops: $19.94
The Lion in Winter ImageThe Lion in Winter
Release date: 2001-06-19; DVD
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops: $14.98
Wait Until Dark ImageWait Until Dark
Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $12.80
Price in other shops: $19.98
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (40th Anniversary Edition) ImageGuess Who's Coming to Dinner (40th Anniversary Edition)
Sony; Release date: 2008-02-12; DVD
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops: $19.94
Two for the Road ImageTwo for the Road
Release date: 2005-11-01; DVD
Best price: $6.18
Price in other shops: $14.98
Similar DVD Movies
Midnight (Universal Cinema Classics) ImageMidnight (Universal Cinema Classics)
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2008-04-22; DVD
Best price: $7.59
Price in other shops: $14.98
Arsenic and Old Lace ImageArsenic and Old Lace
Release date: 2000-08-29; DVD
Best price: $11.86
Price in other shops: $19.97
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (40th Anniversary Edition) ImageGuess Who's Coming to Dinner (40th Anniversary Edition)
Sony; Release date: 2008-02-12; DVD
Best price: $12.91
Price in other shops: $19.94
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition) ImageBringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-03-01; DVD
Best price: $12.57
Price in other shops: $26.99
Holiday ImageHoliday
Sony; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $12.24
Price in other shops: $19.94
The Philadelphia Story ImageThe Philadelphia Story
Release date: 2000-05-02; DVD
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops: $19.97
State of the Union ImageState of the Union
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2006-08-22; DVD
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops: $14.98
Desk Set ImageDesk Set
Release date: 2004-05-04; DVD
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops: $14.98
Adam's Rib ImageAdam's Rib
Release date: 2000-09-19; DVD
Best price: $11.37
Price in other shops: $19.98
Woman of the Year ImageWoman of the Year
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2000-09-19; DVD
Best price: $7.78
Price in other shops: $19.98
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners