While I’ve seen Katharine Hepburn in quite a few movies (Bringing Up Baby and African Queen — just to name two), I’ve never seen Spencer Tracy in action before. Let me tell you there’s nothing quite like experiencing Spencer Tracy for the first time. His presence onscreen is delightful and his natural ability to have his lines flow out as if they were unscripted is amazing.
Of course, seeing these two in action brings the best of their two acting worlds together in perfect harmony.
Enough about the actors, let’s talk about the set. Warner Home Video has put together a filmmaker and grandmother’s dream with 10 of Hepburn and Tracy’s movies. From their earliest work together, Woman of the Year all the way to the last work together, including Tracy’s last work of his life — Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, you get some great films. Here’s a complete list of what’s in the set:
Woman of the Year (1942)
Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Without Love (1945)
The Sea of Grass (1947)
State of the Union (1948)
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Pat and Mike (1952)
Desk Set (1957)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
You get some really nice titles here. The two highlights of this collection, at least for me, is Adam’s Rib and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. If you’re someone looking for a film that was groundbreaking for its time then these two particular titles are definitely that.
Adam’s Rib revolves around a pair of lawyers who are married and that assign themselves to the same trial (they go against each other). The trial is a potential murder case involving a scorned wife and her cheating husband. At the time of the film men and women didn’t have equal rights (not that they do completely still) and having a man on trial for the same crime isn’t the same as a woman on trial for the same crime. Anyway, the couple start out playful in regards to how the trial goes and then they each become vicious, focusing in on their beliefs and, more importantly, where gender’s stand in terms of equal rights. It’s funny, but it’s definitely groundbreaking content for film that came out in 1949.
Equally as impacting is Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, which put a 1967 audience in the most uncomfortable situation; what if a black man wanted to marry a white woman (GASP)? Hepburn’s role in that film was perfectly supportive for the ‘needing to change’ father that was Spencer Tracy. I knew of this film, folks, but I didn’t know how powerful it was until the very end speech that Tracy gives to his family and Sidney Poitier (who gives a great speech to his father that should be used by all children in the world).
As a entire definitive collection you simply cannot go wrong, especially if you like this range of eras and you enjoy both Hepburn and Tracy. Purchasing two of these films would cost no less than $20. Getting 10 for $59.98 (and you can find it cheaper online) is a steal. On top of the price and the movies, there are also special features here and there with the films. The best feature trailers and shorts, and the most interesting are featured on Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, where you get wonderful introductions by Tom Brokaw, Quincy Jones, Karen Kramer and Steven Spielberg.
So, if you’re a fan of the duo or you know/like someone who is a fan then you shouldn’t pass this up.