Movie Review: On Golden Pond (1981)

A family drama about aging, On Golden Pond examines the twilight of life through the twin lenses of enduring love and difficult forgiveness.

In New England, elderly couple Norman and Ethel Thayer (Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn) reopen their summer cottage on the shores of an idyllic lake known as Golden Pond. A retired professor approaching 80 years old, Norman suffers from heart palpitations and declining mental sharpness. He maintains an abrasive personality compounded by an obsession with death. Ethel is 10 years younger and in better health. They remain deeply in love and she helps smooth over his sharp edges.

Their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) arrives for Norman's birthday along with her new boyfriend Bill Ray (Dabney Coleman) and his 13 year old son Billy (Doug McKeon). Chelsea and Norman have a strained relationship and cannot mend it before she leaves for Europe with Bill, leaving Billy in the care of Norman and Ethel for a month. The young teenager and old man bond over fishing, but dangers lurk in the lake and Chelsea's return will prompt more difficult conversations.

Remarkably, On Golden Pond was the first on-screen collaboration between legends Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. And with Jane Fonda adding a layer of realism to the strained dynamic between father and daughter, the film's casting is near-mythical. And the stars do not disappoint. An otherwise simple story is elevated by Hepburn and Henry Fonda (in his final appearance) defining the dusk of life as a time of uncertainty, reflection, pride, impatience and plenty of love. Both deservedly won Academy Awards for their performances.

Ernest Thompson adapted his own play into a witty script and director Mark Rydell respects the theatrical origins but also displays nimbleness to keep the cameras moving. Cinematographer Billy Williams makes the most of the serene filming location at Squam Lake, New Hampshire.

Thompson invests in the aching emotional dependencies between long-term partners, and the bond of marriage between Norman and Ethel resides at the core of the story. Both know he is in declining health but he remains her lifelong rock and she refuses to partake in his incessant death talk, coaxing him to engage and at least minimize the antagonizing behaviour. 

The second key relationship develops between Norman and young Billy, and indeed they take centre stage for the entire middle act. Norman finds a fishing companion and willing learner; Billy discovers adventure on the lake, including the thrills of operating a speed boat and catching elusive trout. They make an unlikely partnership and uncover the reciprocal joys of mentorship.

Ironically the weakest subplot is between Chelsea and her father. Their dysfunctionality is superficially introduced and summarily resolved, Jane Fonda overacting and unconvincing at both ends of Chelsea's arc.

But whenever the humans stumble On Golden Pond can turn to the graceful loons, majestically swimming as couples across the lake, all the hard work of togetherness hidden below the surface.

 


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Movie Review: The Lion In Winter (1968)

An insufferable talk-fest, The Lion In Winter is one prolonged argument between distinctly unlikeable family members.

It's Christmas in 1183, and King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) is turning 50 and thinking about who should succeed him onto the throne. He convenes a family gathering consisting of his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) and sons Richard (Anthony Hopkins), Geoffrey (John Castle) and John (Nigel Terry). Also at the gathering are Alais (Jane Merrow), who is Henry's mistress but promised in marriage to Richard, and the young King Philip II (Timothy Dalton) of France.

Henry and Eleanor are estranged and he keeps her imprisoned. She wants Richard, a warrior, to become the new king, while Henry favours the weakling John. Geoffrey is a schemer but no one considers him worthy of the throne. Meanwhile Alais and the French Aquatine lands controlled by the King become pawns in the fervent succession debates.

The Lion In Winter is a film where family members take turns seething at each other before turning to conspiratorial whispers, hugs, and expressions of intense but often insincere love-hate sentiment. Rage and shouting erupt as routine punctuation marks. Then everyone moves to the next room and starts over. James Golding adapted his own play, and director Anthony Harvey essentially points the cameras at the rampant theatrics and allows the acting talent to talk non-stop, voice volumes often targeting the back row of the top balcony.

The endless series of conversations circle the same topics of succession, conspiracy and marriage for an interminable 134 minutes. Not one of the seven characters is remotely likable or sympathetic. Six are power hungry, phony, and take great joy in undermining each other, while John is a plain dolt. As such, who scores petty points in every round of debate is of no consequence; they all deserve to suffer, and moreover, they all deserve each other. The dialogue is a lot less witty than it thinks it is, and the drama sinks under the self-imposed weight of horrible people plumbing new depths of contempt.

The single setting is a chateau in Chinon, and the successive interactions take place in various candle-lit rooms that essentially all look the same. The performances are on the blatantly melodramatic side of committed, but a modicum of joy is derived from Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn hamming it up. Undoubtedly willing, they anyway drown in the deluge of drudgerous dialogue.

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Movie Review: The Philadelphia Story (1940)

An overrated high society romantic comedy, The Philadelphia Story is contrived and stagey, but maintains a certain allure thanks to a committed cast.

At her lavish family estate, Philadelphia socialite Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) is about to get married to the stuffy George Kittredge (John Howard). Tracy's former husband  C. K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) shows up uninvited hoping to win his former wife back, as do two gossip reporters Macaulay "Mike" Connor (James Stewart), a frustrated author, and Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) a photographer with a crush on Mike. Tracy's young sister Dinah (Virginia Weidler) would like Tracy to reconcile with Dexter, although that marriage ended quite badly. Tracy's estranged father Seth (John Halliday) also suddenly shows up, adding to the pre-wedding stress.

As the big day approaches, Tracy finds herself becoming attracted to the down-to-earth Mike, and she starts to question her commitment to George. Dexter takes every opportunity to remind Tracy that she is a cold, perfect goddess who demands to be worshipped, and that she cannot tolerate any imperfections in her men. George and Mike pile on the pressure by also pointing out to Tracy all her haughty faults. To deal with her mounting confusion Tracy drinks to excess at the pre-wedding party, which only causes more romantic chaos among the three men now after her heart.

The Broadway play is translated to the screen with stellar casting. Hepburn financially backed the stage production and starred in it, and the movie helped restore her to the front ranks of Hollywood stars. With the suave Grant and ordinary-man Stewart playing to their strengths, The Philadelphia Story never lacks in charisma and star power. The dialogue is passably witty, while Virginia Weidler as Dinah and Ruth Hussey as Elizabeth offer grounded support.

But director George Cukor is never able to break free of the stage, and the film often bogs down in long-winded, talky scenes which play well on the stage but suffer from lack of energy and animation on the screen. The three leads all deliver their lines with a knowing twinkle in their eye, undermining any cinematic coherence, and the camera placement and actor movements all contribute to the sense of filmed theatre.

The material is too thin and laboured to fully make up for the lack of energy. The story may have played well to the upper classes of the day, but it has aged quite poorly, both as a romance and a comedy. The character's motivations and conversations never come close to being realistic. The fundamental premise of a series of guests showing up uninvited, hanging around the bride for hours on end, and unabashedly criticizing her values and behaviour to force an entire personality reassessment hours before the big wedding, just rings hollow. Matters are entirely not helped by an over-dependence on the consumption of gallons of alcohol as a transformational plot device.

The 1956 musical remake as High Society dramatically increased the colourful glamour quotient, dispensed with most of the introspection, and allowed the music to unlock the more timeless whimsical ingredients. Although it does glow with star wattage, The Philadelphia Story is unfortunately stuck in time, and on the stage.

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Movie Review: Little Women (1933)

A warm-hearted adaptation of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel, Little Women may lack sharp drama, but successfully achieves the desired tone of nostalgic congeniality.

It's the American Civil War, and Mr. March (Samuel S. Hinds) is away from his Concord, Massachusetts family, serving as a preacher with the army. In his absence, his wife, known only as Marmee (Spring Byington), has four teenaged daughters to look after. Josephine (Katharine Hepburn), better known as Jo, is an aspiring writer, extroverted, tomboyish and not yet comfortable with the behaviour expected from a young lady. Amy (Joan Bennett) is feminine, pretty, and leans towards being self-centred. The practical Meg (Frances Dee) is good with dressmaking and needlework, while the sensitive Beth (Jean Parker) helps with housekeeping duties and plays the piano.

The Marchs are just barely financially comfortable, but Marmee teaches her girls to always help others before thinking of themselves, and the family gets by on plenty of love between the sisters and their mother. Crotchety Aunt March (Edna May Oliver) is well-off, but contributes support in exchange for a never ending stream of negativity. Living nearby is the much more wealthy and crusty neighbour Mr. Laurence (Henry Stephenson), his grandson Laurie (Douglass Montgomery) and Laurie's tutor John Brooke (John Davis Lodge). Jo and Laurie fall in love, Meg and John also start a courtship, but bad news from the war front followed by a serious sickness in the March household cast a shadow over the family's happiness.

There are no heroes or villains in Little Women. The story, inspired by Alcott's own household, is simply about normal people navigating through the course of life. None of the characters are perfect, and all behave according to a comfortably familiar code derived from conventional motivations. While the prevailing normalcy robs the film of any sense of genuine conflict or difficult choices to be made, it is also a welcome, and all too rare, depiction of true family life guided by good values without being sugary in its idealism.

Director George Cukor maintains a good handle on the sprawling narrative, the film packed with about 10 major characters who need to be carefully introduced, and the two hour running length is put to good use in keeping the girls and their beaus busy with life's diverse lessons, joys and heartaches. Alcott adapted her own novel into the screenplay, and avoids getting bogged down in any one character or event. Even when Jo strikes out on her own and moves to a New York boarding house, the film does not lose touch with events back home, and the character of Professor Bhaer (Paul Lukas) emerges as evidence to Jo that some level of social eccentricity is indeed lovable.

Katharine Hepburn is easily the most prominent member of the large cast. Already 26 years old but convincingly portraying Jo as a gangly teenager, Hepburn radiates the confused energy of a lively girl transforming into womanhood sooner than expected. War, love, financial stress, sickness and the burning ambition to be a writer all propel Jo towards adulthood, and particularly in the second half of the film Hepburn finds the soul of a young woman defining herself without losing the precious connections to her family.

The Little Women all need to experience the struggles of growing up, but how they handle the future will always be defined by the foundations built at home.

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Movie Review: Rooster Cogburn (1975)

A relaxed western much more about characters than action, Rooster Cogburn was John Wayne's penultimate film. The teaming with Katharine Hepburn places the spotlight on two legends enjoying a late career adventure on horseback, and nothing else about the film really matters.

After killing a clutch of bandits, eye-patched Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Wayne), first introduced in True Grit (1969), is himself in trouble with the law for being too violent too often. He is stripped of his Marshall's star and instructed by a judge to ease off into retirement. But Cogburn's manhunting skills are soon back in demand: he is reinstated and instructed to track down and apprehend a criminal named Hawk (Richard Jordan). A major robbery is being planned, and Hawk and his men, including expert scout Breed (Anthony Zerbe) have violently stolen a wagon full of nitroglycerin to be used in the heist.

Cogburn follows Hawk's trail to a small native settlement, where Hawk has just killed the elderly Reverend George Goodnight. Seeking revenge, the Reverend's deeply religious, highly resourceful, and extremely stubborn daughter Eula (Hepburn) insists on joining forces with Cogburn to hunt down Hawk and secure the explosives. On their quest Rooster and Eula will need to survive several dangerous encounters with Hawk and his men, including a raft ride down a winding river, but more importantly, they will also have to learn to tolerate each other.

In a film in which not much really happens and the few events that do transpire either borrow heavily from The African Queen (1951) or else strain all credibility, it's left to Wayne and Hepburn to create a watchable experience, and they do not disappoint. Both having started their careers in the late 1920s and both now 68 years old, Wayne and Hepburn ease into the leading roles with polished expertise, and in their first screen pairing they make the film worthwhile.

The verbal sparring between Rooster and Eula is plentiful and delivered with a laid back comfort consistent with characters who can now see most of life's battle in the rear view mirror. Eula is of course trying to tame and civilize Rooster into a man more suitable for an evolving west, but both of them know that it does not much matter whether he adapts or not. Rooster is a man of his time, and other than the need to catch the few remaining Hawks, Rooster's time is passing and soon so will he.

The supporting cast try hard but at times seem to be in an entirely different movie. Richard Jordan and Anthony Zerbe do their best with under-written and poorly defined roles, Jordan as Hawk hissing with amplified evil at every opportunity and Zerbe as the more mysterious Breed struggling to define a backstory that never materializes. Strother Martin gets one scene to stumble in and just as quickly stumble out of the film.

Rooster Cogburn was directed by Stuart Miller, and he complements his two stars with gorgeous Oregon scenery. There are frequent mountains vistas that speak to the enormity of the still not fully conquered west, and the lush green of the rainforest gives the movie a rich, deep visual setting. Otherwise, Millar is rather pedestrian in constructing the film, the few action scenes clumsy at best and delivered with no flair.

Which is all to emphasize that Rooster Cogburn is a case of two phenomenal giants of the film world joining forces and shining brightly enough to render all else close to irrelevant.

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The Movies Of Katharine Hepburn

All movies starring Katharine Hepburn and reviewed on the Ace Black Blog are linked below:

Little Women (1933)

Bringing Up Baby (1938)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Woman Of The Year (1942)

Adam's Rib (1949)

The African Queen (1951)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)

The Lion In Winter (1968)

Rooster Cogburn (1975)

On Golden Pond (1981)

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The Index of Movie Stars is here.

Movie Review: Adam's Rib (1949)

A serious comedy about the battle between the sexes, Adam's Rib examines the changing status of women through the story of married lawyers who face off in court. The sixth teaming of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy finds the couple in top form, playing off each other at home and at work.

Adam Bonner (Tracy) is an Assistant District Attorney married to Amanda (Hepburn), a lawyer who represents defendants. When Doris Attinger (Judy Holliday) is arrested for shooting and injuring her cheating husband (Tom Ewell), Adam is assigned what seems to be a straightforward prosecution case. But Amanda is sympathetic to Doris' humiliation, and to Adam's horror decides to defend her.

Amanda bases her defence on equality between men and women, presenting Doris as a woman who was defending her family and marriage. Amanda argues that had Doris been a man defending his household, he would be perceived as heroic. As the case garners hysterical media attention, Amanda's well-articulated courtroom rage against inequality befuddles Adam, but also severely stresses their marriage.

With World War Two over and women beginning to feel empowered to seek a new role in society, Adam's Rib throws open the debate about changing societal attitudes about the roles of men and women. Written directly for the screen by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin and powered by a fearless Katharine Hepburn performance, Adam's Rib foreshadows a seismic shift towards feminism that would only come to pass some 15 years later.

Amanda is a confident professional, opinionated, eager to take on a case that appears doomed, and willing to risk the relationship with her husband to better the status of women. In the courtroom she is a formidable opponent, not above resorting to humiliating tricks to weaken Adam's case. She can also be coquettish and irresistible, but her charms begin to fall behind her determination. How far Amanda is willing to go to prove her point while inflicting increasing damage on Adam's ego becomes the central question in the movie.

Spencer Tracy brings his typical principled everyman persona to Adam, creating an impressive male role model. He has strong values, loves his wife and believes in the justice system, which makes Amanda's incessant barrage on her husband's position resonate with so much more poignancy.

While Adam will fight to the end to prove that his time-tested principles are not subject to Amanda's gender warfare arguments, in contrast other men are ready to fall down and die at the feet of Amanda's coming revolution. The Bonners' neighbour Kip Lurie (David Wayne) is openly in love with Amanda, and will worship the ground she walks on regardless of which metamorphosis she is advocating. Kip is a music composer and piano player, and so gets to warble the Cole Porter song Farewell, Amanda to express his unashamed devotion to his neighbour.

Director George Cukor keeps the pacing brisk and the mood light-hearted despite the serious subject matter.  He makes good use of some interesting editing and camera placements, keeping many scenes long between cuts and allowing the camera to sit and rest, a silent observer of a loving couple arguing their way towards a new society.

Adam's Rib pushes the pendulum of harmony between men and women sharply in one direction before nudging it back a bit, careful to ensure that one courtroom battle victory is not earned at the expense of destroying the foundations needed for a new and better relationship to thrive.

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Movie Review: Woman Of The Year (1942)

A prescient romance several generations ahead of its time, Woman Of The Year is as relevant today as it was in the year it was made. The exploration of gender politics and the role of women in modern society foreshadowed an upheaval that would only begin two decades later, with the movie uncovering power shift implications that still remain unresolved.

Woman Of The Year was also the first teaming of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, a legendary pairing that would spark a lifetime off-screen romance, and a total of nine on-screen collaborations.

At the New York Chronicle newspaper, Sam Craig (Tracy) is the sports reporter while Tess Harding (Hepburn) is an international affairs columnist. Craig is a crusty man of the people, generally oblivious to the raging Second World War and just focusing on covering the next ball game. Harding socializes with the political and intellectual leaders of the world, is on a first-name basis with presidents of foreign countries, and frequently travels to far-flung world capitals. And yet, once they meet, Craig and Harding fall in love, enjoy a whirlwind romance, and then quickly get married.

As a couple, things are a lot more complicated. Harding's obligations to keep up with global newsmakers means that she has little time for Craig. He is somewhat patient but also resentful, finding his wife often absent and clueless about what it means to be a housewife. Finally, too many references to Mr. Harding and the sudden introduction of a new family member cause a severe strain on the relationship. Sam makes a stand, and Tess confronts a difficult dilemma.

Tess Harding is one of the most memorable women to grace a movie, and her arrival on the screen as a feminist role model 20 years before the movement seeped into common consciousness is a remarkable achievement. Loving her job, excellent at what she does and enjoying every moment of her high-flying life, she still has the self-confidence to allow herself to fall in love with a man from a different world. Tess is also happily hopeless about housekeeping, openly condescending about sports, and doesn't even pause to think about the emotional needs of the man in her life.

Katharine Hepburn, who in real life was setting her own standards while dismissing the traditional behaviours and wardrobe of women, used the clout of her comeback success in The Philadelphia Story to develop Woman Of The Year. Hepburn selected the screenwriters and director George Stevens before taking the project to MGM. She brings Tess to life in one the best roles of her career, a woman with an intellect operating at twice the speed of all those around her, deploying wit, humour and seduction to help win all her battles in a man-dominated world.

Tracy gets the more grounded role as the down-to-earth Sam Craig, emotionally swept up by Tess but otherwise standing aside and allowing the joyous typhoon of her life to carry on without him. Tracy creates in Sam the bemused observer of an unfolding social revolution, a man loving a new type of woman but also crushed by what it may mean to his idea of domestic bliss. Hepburn and Tracy enjoy an almost immediate and natural chemistry, two souls meant for each other and quickly finding comfort in their togetherness.

The supporting cast is edgy and contributes to both the drama and comedy. Gerald (Dan Tobin) is Tess' secretary, happy to cater to every need of his female boss, and happier still to make Sam's life as miserable as possible. Mr. William Harding (Minor Watson) is Tess' father, proud of his daughter and fully aware of what Sam is going through but nevertheless enjoying his torment. Ellen (Fay Bainter) is close friends with William and also an aunt to Tess, representing the enduring values of a much more traditional woman. William Bendix gets the outright comic relief role, a former boxer turned bar owner who cannot help but recount long-winded stories about his tiresome bouts.

George Stevens directs with brisk pacing and energy to match Tess Harding's life, with something always going on, the phone ringing, unexpected guests at the door, and all events unfolding against the backdrop of the continuous clatter of the news wire machines. From the initial encounters between Tess and Sam to the romance, marriage, and increasingly difficult life as a couple, Woman Of The Year barely pauses, Tess never the sort of woman to take a break and Sam having to adjust to the new reality that comes with the woman in his life.

Men and women will spend eternity trying to understand and accommodate each other. Woman Of The Year brings the journey into the modern age, and makes it at once more challenging and much more invigorating.

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Movie Review: Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

A tumultuous adventure into the wilderness of the human mind and personal frailties, Suddenly, Last Summer is an acting and writing showcase. The Tennessee Williams play is transformed into a compelling screen drama, with Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor delving into different dimensions of dark madness.

In New Orleans, Doctor John Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift) is a brain surgeon specializing in performing lobotomies for mental patients at a struggling public hospital run by  Dr. Lawrence Hockstader (Albert Dekker). Rich widow Violet Venable (Hepburn) contacts the hospital and promises to donate a large sum to help expand the hospital's facilities. In return, she wants Cukrowicz to perform a lobotomy on her niece Catherine Holly (Taylor). Catherine has been deemed insane since the death of Violet's son, the brilliant poet Sebastian Venable. He died suddenly, last summer, while on a trip to Europe with Catherine.

Upon meeting the distressed Catherine, Cukrowicz senses that there is more to the story than Violet is letting on, and he gets more suspicious when he meets Catherine's mother Grace (Mercedes McCambridge) and brother George (Gary Raymond). They have also been promised money by Violet, but only after Catherine undergoes the lobotomy. Cukrowicz delves into the story of the enigmatic Sebastian, and slowly uncovers a complex web of deep-seated psychological issues linking the troubled poet to his mother and niece.

A talkfest constructed from long conversational threads, the Gore Vidal screenplay draws power from epic one-on-one interactions, primarily a long scene between Cukrowicz and Violet followed by another prolonged exchange between Cukrowicz and Catherine. Suddenly, Last Summer is safe in the hands of two master actresses in Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor haunts the screen while visibly fighting internal demons, while Hepburn majestically dominates through detached - and oblivious - superiority. Together, they make Suddenly, Last Summer a captivating viewing experience.

The two trade scenes of emotional maze navigation, stepping through minefields of lies, self-deception, self-preservation and a desperate need to understand a grey world. With Sebastian's death Hepburn's Violet has lost her one anchor in life, but it will take her a while to realize how far adrift she is, and why. Meanwhile, Catherine has been a forced witness to an event she wanted no part of, and it's aftershocks are still reverberating in her psyche, being mistaken for madness.

Montgomert Clift does his best to keep up with Hepburn and Taylor. Suffering from the severe real-life after effects of a car crash, Clift's role as Dr. Cukrowicz is mainly to ask, on behalf of the audience, the questions that will reveal the mystery surrounding Catherine's condition, and to avoid rushing her to the surgery table despite everyone else insisting he does so.

And the answers to Cukrowicz's questions raise enough tortured themes about the human condition to keep psychiatrists occupied for years. The travails of homosexuality, mother-son obsession, lust, self-aggrandization, and co-dependency hide in the layers of emotional carnage patiently unpeeled by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

The narrative coils its way towards a climax with the entire cast gathered in the primordial garden at Violet's house to hear Catherine's version of events, last summer, leading up to Sebastian's death, a soliloquy that ravages the lives of all present, and redefines who is and who is not descending into madness. Sebastian Venable may have died Suddenly, Last Summer, but the suffering started long before his death, and the damage continued plundering his family long afterwards.

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Movie Review: Bringing Up Baby (1938)

A classic screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby throws dinosaur bones, two leopards, one dog, cross-dressing, torn cocktail clothes, a million dollar grant, and an unlikely romance onto the screen, and makes it all work.

Paleontologist Dr. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is slightly eccentric and a bit stiff, but he is about to get married to his assistant Alice. David's crowning achievement is almost complete: he has reassembled a massive Brontosaurus skeleton, and receives the good news that the final missing bone has been uncovered at an archeological dig and is being delivered. He is also anxious to seal a commitment for a $1 million grant to his museum, which requires him to play a round of golf with the donor's lawyer.

On the golf course, David's life changes in an instant: he crosses paths with Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) a fast-talking, strong-willed, and single-minded woman. Not only is the golf game disrupted, but Susan makes sure that all of David's plans are spun out of orbit: the chances of securing the donation, the impending marriage, and the precious bone become casualties of the Susan storm, which includes first one and then two leopards on the loose and one feisty dog that loves large bones. As David transitions from indignation to resignation, Susan has her eyes set on the unlikely goal of winning his heart.

Howard Hawks directs with the accelerator firmly on the floor, the action and comedy simply hectic. Once Susan makes her appearance, Bringing Up Baby is caught in the tornado of a woman quite willing to throw all of David's life up in the air in order to rearrange the cards in her favour. The contrast between Susan's courage to create and thrive in chaos and David's cautiously scientific approach to life is at the centre of their tumultuous relationship.

Hepburn brings Susan to life as a woman who talks at a hundred miles a minute, thinks even faster, and leaves David trailing in her wake and with no choice except to follow. Grant creates in David a scientist comfortable only within the confines of his museum, and even then just barely. Everywhere else David is ever so slightly hesitant, with signs of absent mindedness and lack of confidence, and the knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. In short, a man most in need of a strong woman in his life, but who does not yet know it.

The supporting cast is steady without being stellar. Mary Robson is Mrs. Random, the wealthy woman looking to make a $1 million donation who unexpectedly appears when David is least ready for her. George Irving is her lawyer Peabody, left stranded on more than one occasion by David's bumbling attempts to keep up with Susan. And Charles Ruggles appears as the bombastic Major Applegate, a big game hunter and a man exactly opposite in personality to David.

The fun with the two leopards, one the friendly Baby of the title and the other a lot less cuddly, is comedy at its finest, building to a quite hilarious frenzy involving the police, zoo keepers, and a crowded jail house.

Bringing Up Baby is a sharp comedy of opposites attracting, and while leopards can't change their spots, they can certainly help to spot an unlikely romance.

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Movie Review: The African Queen (1951)

A romance set on a ramshackle boat in Africa of 1914, The African Queen is a classic tale of attraction slowly developing between opposites under extreme stress. Humphrey Bogart finally won a deserved and long-overdue Best Actor Academy Award, while Katharine Hepburn and director John Huston were nominated.

In German East Africa, the rumblings of an outbreak of a great war in Europe is bad news. The British Reverend Sayer (Robert Morley) and his sister Rosie (Katharine Hepburn) have established a mission at a tribal village deep in the jungle. Their only contact with the outside world is through the uncouth Canadian Charlie Allnut (Bogart), who captains the African Queen, an ageing river supply boat. Allnut stops by the mission every few weeks to deliver mail and supplies.

An agitated German army unit soon arrives, torches the village, rounds up the natives, and hastens the demise of the ailing Reverend. Abandoned in the village ruins, Rosie has no choice but to team up with Charlie to find a safe shore. The prim and proper Rosie and the unkempt Charlie awkwardly navigate around each other in the confined quarters of the African Queen, and Rosie increases the tension by suggesting that they travel down a dangerous stretch of river and use their on-board explosives to ram and destroy a large German gunship patrolling a strategic lake. But slowly, Rosie and Charlie find the common warmth below their incompatible exteriors, fall in love, and jointly continue their implausible mission.

Bogart dominates the film with his sweaty, dirty, but resourceful performance as Charlie Allnut. Not quite as self-centred as many of Bogart's other characters but still looking mainly after his self-interest, Bogart plays Allnut as none-too-sophisticated but world-weary enough to know which direction his boat needs to point in. Allnut is repeatedly manipulated by Rosie into doing what she believes is right, but he always eventually comes around to her way of thinking, several hours or days later.

Katharine Hepburn's Rosie puts on an aura of cold colonial detachment, but it does not take her long to reveal a calculating mischievous personality, followed by a willingness to passionately surrender to Allnut's charms. Rosie is always several steps ahead of Charlie in her thinking and plotting, but she is also patient enough to allow him to catch up, knowing that she needs him in more ways than one.

The third star of the movie is the African Queen herself, a river supply boat beautiful in her ugliness. A perfect companion to Allnut, the African Queen is a direct reflection of his personality: outwardly dishevelled but hiding a large reservoir of inventiveness, and capable, when kicked and pushed, to achieve the unexpected.

John Huston directed most of The African Queen on location in Africa, a risky proposition in 1951, and one of the earliest major productions to venture outside the safety of the Hollywood studios. Huston masterfully confines most of the action on-board Allnut's boat without allowing claustrophobia to creep in. The boat chugs along, hosting the drama unfolding between Charlie and Rosie, navigating through and around the dangers posed by the river, and doggedly making its way to a date with destiny, and movie immortality.

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Movie Review: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)

The start of a new era and the end of a momentous career, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner is a milestone film. With his health failing to the point that no coverage could be secured to insure his ability to complete filming, Spencer Tracy delivers a final exclamation point to a career spanning 37 years and 75 movies. Katharine Hepburn and Sidney Poitier share the spotlight with the ailing but game Tracy to round out a stellar cast and tell the unlikely tale of evolving race relations in the United States.

Joanna Drayton (Katharine Houghton, the real-life niece of Hepburn) and Dr. John Prentice (Poitier) arrive in San Francisco, and drop in unexpectedly at the home of Joanna's parents Matt (Tracy) and Christina (Hepburn). Joanna, who is very white, and Dr. Prentice, who is very black, met while on vacation in Hawaii, fell madly in love, and after a 10 day courtship have decided to get married. Prentice, a widower with a spotless record of academic and professional achievement, wants Matt's immediate and unreserved blessing prior to committing to the marriage, while Joanna, bright eyed, energetic and idealistic, is determined to tie the knot no matter what.

Matt and Christina are proud of their liberal world views and equally proud of Joanna's colour-blind fearlessness, but they are both initially stunned by their daughter's bombshell. Christina quickly recovers her equilibrium and wholeheartedly supports Joanna's decision to get married to the man she loves. Matt's attitude and reaction are clouded by his concern for the future happiness of his daughter and his grandchildren, and he does not appreciate the need for a rushed decision.

Unexpectedly, the Draytons' long-term black housekeeper, Tillie (Isabel Sanford) is most hostile to the idea of a black man marrying Joanna. On the opposite side of the spectrum is family friend Monsignor Ryan (Cecil Kellaway), who is immediately heartily and joyfully supportive. Matters get a lot more complicated when Dr. Prentice's parents (Roy E. Glenn and Beah Richards) fly in from Los Angeles to join the dinner festivities: they are shocked to learn that their son wants to marry a white woman. By the time dinner is served, Matt needs to make a decision that will have long-lasting family implications.

Although written for the screen by William Rose, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner has the compact structure of a sharp play. Director Stanley Kramer keeps his cameras moving between the many rooms at the Draytons' home, with a few perfunctory external trips, but Kramer is fully aware that the energy resides within his cast: Tracy, Hepburn and Poitier are given ample breadth to shine, and Houghton more than holds her own in the presence of acting greatness.

Tracy and Hepburn, in their ninth and final screen pairing, portray a long-married couple and tap into their real-life relationship to demonstrate the comfort and respect that only comes when deep love renders the most basic conversations unnecessary. Matt and Christina never have to tell each other what they are thinking: instead, they take turns to warn each other about the consequences of their unstated but accurately predicted judgements.

Poitier delivers his trademark proud yet humble performance, a man at ease with himself but acutely aware of the discomfort that his skin colour causes in others. Katharine Houghton's bright performance leaves open the question as to why she did not go on to have a much more prominent career in film.

Race relations in the United States of the 1960s are the core issue that Guess Who's Coming To Dinner grapples with, and the questions from Rose and Kramer just keep on coming. How will a liberal couple react when their own daughter announces an imminent marriage to a black man? Why does a white family's black housekeeper resent the white daughter marrying a black man? How is it that the representative of the most conservative institution, the Monsignor, has the least difficulty with the issue? And why would the reaction of Prentice's black parents be any different than the reaction of Joanna's white parents?

Finally, and with the most deft of touches, Rose manages to shuffle the pieces of the puzzle so that the dividing line appears between the mothers and the fathers, and not the between the blacks and whites. He raises a whole new set of questions about the role of men and women in first instilling the proper values in their children, and then being true to them when it matters the most.

Tracy draws the curtain on Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, and his career, with a gripping monologue summarizing the day's events and delivering his verdict about his daughter's future. Seventeen days after filming ended, he died. Rarely has a distinguished actor had the opportunity to exit the stage so clearly on top of his craft.

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