150 Word Review: 'Desk Set' (1957)
Bug in the system
The funniest, most humane movie made about A.I. came out almost 70 years ago, a bubbly rom-com starring screwball vets Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as a network TV research chief with a beautiful mind and the irascible but charming “methods engineer” hired to replace her with a giant computer brain.
Walter Lang’s adaptation of William Marchant’s play Desk Set sticks to the corporate library, where Hepburn and her good-girl Fridays answer questions from employees across the company. They’re like Living Google Search Engines. Katharine Hepburn was one of a kind; brilliant and down-to-earth. She’s naturally, effortlessly likable. Spencer Tracy was one of those actors who never looked like he was working hard. His every expression radiated compassion and intelligence. They’re one of the great oddball Hollywood couples. Their banter zings. Desk Set is about the modern conflict between technology and people. Are we replaceable? Because Hepburn and Tracy weren’t.
More Hepburn: ‘Bringing Up Baby’ (1938)
More Spencer Tracey: ‘Bad Day at Black Rock’ (1955)
