Desk Set (1957)
-
100% of critics liked it
(16 reviews) -
81% of users liked it
(5,808 ratings)
Based on the Broadway play by Robert Fryer and Lawrence Carr, Desk Set represents the eighth screen teaming of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Hepburn plays the head of a TV network research department; Tracy plays an efficiency expert, hired to modernize Hepburn's operation. When Tracy has… More Based on the Broadway play by Robert Fryer and Lawrence Carr, Desk Set represents the eighth screen teaming of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Hepburn plays the head of a TV network research department; Tracy plays an efficiency expert, hired to modernize Hepburn's operation. When Tracy has a huge computer installed, Hepburn and her co-workers (including Joan Blondell and Sue "Miss Landers" Randall) fear that they're going to lose their jobs. Their suspicions are confirmed when the computer merrily begins issuing pink termination slips. But something is obviously amiss: the computer not only fires the ladies, but also the head of the network--and Tracy, who isn't even on the company payroll! At this point, Tracy explains that the computer was designed to help Hepburn and her staff and not replace them; he also confesses that, given the pink-slip incident, this might not have been such a hot idea. But Hepburn, who has fallen in love with Tracy, is in just the right mood to forgive him--and doesn't need to consult her research files to come up with this decision. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Walter Lang
- Written By
- Phoebe Ephron, Henry Ephron
- Genres
- Romance, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1957 Wide
- Studio
- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
-
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
[Miss Hepburn and Mr. Tracy] can tote phone books on their heads or balance feathers on their chins and be amusing -- which is about the size of what they do here.
-
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The least, perhaps, of the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn collaborations...this 1957 comedy is nevertheless a bright and witty vehicle for its stars, directed well and anonymously by that fine old hack Walter Lang.
-
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Mildly amusing but not great comedy, penned by the Ephrons from a stage play, this eighth teaming of Tracy and Hepburn places the battle of the sexes in the workplace against the threat of new technology.
-
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Desk Set is a big, shiny, doohickey coasting on the warm offerings of earlier triumphs.
-
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Spence & Kate show starts to show its age.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Currently unavailable on Flixster
Also available on
UltraViolet Retailers
Other Retailers
Subscription Services
Not Available
Not Available
Not Available
Cast
-
Spencer Tracy
as Richard Sumner
-
Katharine Hepburn
as Bunny Watson
-
Gig Young
as Mike Cutler
-
Joan Blondell
as Peg Costello
-
Dina Merrill
as Sylvia Blair
-
Sue Randall
as Ruthie Saylor
-
Neva Patterson
as Miss Warringer
-
Harry Ellerbe
as Smithers
-
Nicholas Joy
as Azae
-
Diane Jergens
as Alice
-
Merry Anders
as Cathy
-
Ida Moore
as Old Lady
-
Rachel Stephens
as Receptionist
-
Jesslyn Fax
as Mrs. Hewitt
-
Renny McEvoy
as Man
-
Sammy Ogg
as Kenny
-
Richard Gardner
as Fred
-
Shirley Mitchell
as Myra Smithers
- Charles Heard
- King Mojave
- Hal Taggart
- Harry Evans
