Romancefest 3: Sadiefest - Adam's Rib

Welcome to Romancefest 3, my yearly self imposed ritual of watching and writing about 1 romantic movie for every day of the month of February. This February it happens to be 29 days, so that's 29 movies.

The last couple years I watched a combination of movies from "best of" lists -- I finished up the AFI's "100 Years, 100 Passions" list last year so I wasn't sure where to start this year. I tried looking at the most popular "romance" films on IMDB, but it turns out IMDB users list roughly every movie ever made as a "romance" so that didn't help.

That was when the best idea ever struck me, and that was to turn to my friend Sadie, who is the biggest classic movie buff I know. If you ever want to watch the Elvis Presley classic BLUE HAWAII in the middle of the night, but you also want to know someone in some other state is also watching it at the same time, Sadie is the girl you want to call.

So, I asked Sadie to hand pick a list of classic romantically themed movies for me with the only 2 directives being that they had to be movies I've never seen and they couldn't be MAMMA MIA. She was more than happy to jump head first into the task at hand and before I knew it, I had my list. Then she was happy to revise the list. And revise it again. And then I was like, "Sadie, the list is good, stop revising it." And then she revised it again. Thing is, Sadie doesn't mess around when it comes to classic movies.

So without further delay, here is the first movie of my 29 days of 29 romantic films.

ADAM'S RIB

Here's another Katharine Hepburn / Spencer Tracy battle of the sexes. Last year I took a look at WOMAN OF THE YEAR, and this year it's ADAM'S RIB in which assistant DA Tracy attempts goes up against his wife, defense attorney Hepburn, in an attempt to prosecute a woman who has shot her cheating husband.

As far as Tracy is concerned, this is an open and shut case -- if you break the law, you get in trouble. Hepburn, on the other hand, is annoyed with the notion that she feels a jilted wife gets less sympathy from society than a jilted husband does. Her theory is, if a man shot his wife for cheating, he wouldn't be convicted because society views the cheating wife as deserving of punishment. Meanwhile, a cheating husband just gets a wink and a nod and a "boys will be boys" attitude, and any wife who would dare shoot him wouldn't stand a chance in front of the judge.

Now, this conceit is a little crazy, I think, and it's kind of a shame since the screenwriters ask us to believe that Hepburn's character, who seems otherwise intelligent, believes in it whole-heartedly. I agree with the broad strokes that society is sexist, and often biased towards men, and that there is definitely a double standard when it comes to men sleeping around and women sleeping around, among other things. But I wouldn't go so far as to say a man would get off for shooting his wife, just because he's a man, or that a woman should get off for any reason other than self defense.

So, I want to root for Hepburn's feminist ideals, but her argument is illogical. I guess maybe the screenwriters may have done this on purpose because their own sympathies might lie with Tracy, who believes in the letter of the law above any ideals involving gender equality. Or, this might just be a sloppy oversight since the argument at hand isn't really all that important to the plot, but it'd be nice if it was.

Tracy and Hepburn are great as always, which is no surprise, but for most of the middle part of the movie they're almost upstaged by the wide variety of supporting players. Judy Holliday is great as the jilted wife who takes the stand and does her best to say what she thinks Hepburn wants her to say. Tom Ewell has some funny moments as the cheating husband, who seems more indifferent and bored than outright mean. Jean Hagen is the third side of the live triangle as the "other woman" who participates in the court proceedings with enthusiasm and amusement.

David Wayne is also on hand as a musician neighbor to Tracy and Hepburn who has a crush on Hepburn and actually goes so far as to write her a song (actually a Cole Porter tune) and perform it in front of the couple, much to Tracy's chagrin. Wayne gets some good one liners and is especially funny in a climactic scene in which he reluctantly finds himself in the middle of an explosive confrontation between the stars.

One thing the movie is insightful about and does get right is the idea that a passionate, emotional argument, well spoken, can beat a logical, rational argument any time. Hepburn knows this going into the fight. Tracy learns this coming out of it. The movie is a little ahead of its time, I think, in its portrayal of a trial by media, as each day in court is breathlessly reported in the papers -- the more sensational, the better, culminating in Hepburn putting a circus strong woman on the stand (Hope Emerson, in a memorable bit) who proceeds to lift Tracy up into the rafters.

So begins Romancefest 3: Sadiefest.

Sadie Says:

I've officially made it to the big leagues! What an honor, Paul. Thanks for drafting me. I'm not going to apologize for being a perfectionist about this list, but will apologize for even suggesting that Mama Mia get in there. It's not a classic...yet. I should've known better. I do promise that this list may increase the likelihood of a misty eye, a strong desire to move to Europe, and probably a spontaneous dance party in the comfort of your own home. Adam's Rib is such a great choice to kick it off.

Fact: Katherine Hepburn was a tough cookie and successfully pushed George Cukor around during the filming of this movie. She would get up on his grill and politely tell him to point the camera at Judy Holliday as often as possible in their shared scenes. Hep believed her new gal pal should be considered for the film version of a little Broadway play called 'Born Yesterday,' a role Judy originated. However, the studio was not convinced her stage presence was right for the screen. As a result of Judy's performance in Adam's Rib, she was cast in the film version of Born Yesterday, nailed it (screw you studio head), and later won the Oscar for Best Actress. The thing about Katherine Hepburn is that she always seemed to be looking out for a sista, not hearing the word NO, and paving the way while wearing the coolest outfits. What a Woman!