Desk Set

Desk Set (1957)

  • 100% of critics liked it
    (16 reviews)

  • 81% of users liked it
    (5,677 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 a… More

Play Trailer

Unrated, 1 hr. 43 min.
Directed By
Walter Lang
Written By
Phoebe Ephron, Henry Ephron
Genres
Romance, Classics, Comedy
In Theaters
Jan 1, 1957 Wide
On DVD
May 4, 2004
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.

Read all 11 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Jennifer X


    What I really appreciated in this movie was that Hepburn was like - what, 50? - and Tracy approaching 60, and they could still create a magic movie that never, ever alludes to their age (which modern studio execs, particularly Nancy Meyers, would absolutely leap on). Also, I think… More

  • AJ V


    Even people today can relate to the problems of modernization in the workplace, which is what this movie deals with, but in a humourous way. Hepburn and Tracy are great together as always, and this movie is a lot of fun.

  • Red L


    It is always fun to watch Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Imagine a movie about a computer replacing staff researchers! Actually, the movie is a bit silly. Of course, Tracy and Hepburn fall for each other, so the computer story-line is only a side issue.

  • jay n


    the best of the tracy-hepburn movies with a wonderful supporting cast. Did Joan Blondell ever give a bad performance?

  • Michael G


    A very fun and very dated movie--which is a lot of the charm for me.

Read all 7 featured audience ratings

Cast

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Trailers & Clips

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