My favourite Tracy and Hepburn vehicle and one of the most sparkling comedies of the era, written by the talented team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon and directed by Hepburn favourite, George Cukor.
It's vibrant, pithy and highly amusing with flighty, sporty girl Hepburn again being cut down to size, at least until the last scene, by Tracy's earthy, slightly seedy manager. Followed around by his ever-present gopher, he only has two sporting clients on his books when he first claps eyes on Kate's golfing prowess, a horse that can't run and a fighter who can't box. At first he sees her fresh-eyed innocence as easily malleable and even corruptible but of course, in the long-run who do you think changes who into a new person...
This very funny comedy showed its two stars in a new light, firstly demonstrating Hepburn's multi-talented sports skills (you should see her swing her way through a row of golf-balls, a feat she does even better than Fred Astaire did in "A Damsel In Distress") while Tracy slips brilliantly into the persona of the hard-boiled, chew-'em-up-and-spit-'em-out manager.
They're both terrific here with their personal chemistry there for all to see. There's good support too from William Ching as Hepburn's gormless, strait-laced fiancé whose appearance jinxes her prospects and especially the Oscar-nominated Aldo Ray as the hapless boxer who has as much trouble combining words into sentences as he does his fists into punches. The young Charles Bronson also makes an early appearance as a hustling would-be hoodlum.
Cukor's direction is vivacious and imaginative, especially the hilarious fantasy sequence when Kate's game falls apart during a tennis match with the then famous Gussie Moran.
If this movie was a score at golf it would be an eagle, if a tennis match a straight-sets victory. Give this one a sporting chance, it's bound to entertain you.
It's vibrant, pithy and highly amusing with flighty, sporty girl Hepburn again being cut down to size, at least until the last scene, by Tracy's earthy, slightly seedy manager. Followed around by his ever-present gopher, he only has two sporting clients on his books when he first claps eyes on Kate's golfing prowess, a horse that can't run and a fighter who can't box. At first he sees her fresh-eyed innocence as easily malleable and even corruptible but of course, in the long-run who do you think changes who into a new person...
This very funny comedy showed its two stars in a new light, firstly demonstrating Hepburn's multi-talented sports skills (you should see her swing her way through a row of golf-balls, a feat she does even better than Fred Astaire did in "A Damsel In Distress") while Tracy slips brilliantly into the persona of the hard-boiled, chew-'em-up-and-spit-'em-out manager.
They're both terrific here with their personal chemistry there for all to see. There's good support too from William Ching as Hepburn's gormless, strait-laced fiancé whose appearance jinxes her prospects and especially the Oscar-nominated Aldo Ray as the hapless boxer who has as much trouble combining words into sentences as he does his fists into punches. The young Charles Bronson also makes an early appearance as a hustling would-be hoodlum.
Cukor's direction is vivacious and imaginative, especially the hilarious fantasy sequence when Kate's game falls apart during a tennis match with the then famous Gussie Moran.
If this movie was a score at golf it would be an eagle, if a tennis match a straight-sets victory. Give this one a sporting chance, it's bound to entertain you.