Katharine & Spencer Go to Court

Doris Attinger (Judy Holliday) shoots her philandering husband, Warren (Tom Ewell) after she finds him in the arms of Beryl Caighn (Jean Hagen). The case intrigues attorney Amanda Bonner (Katharine Hepburn), who sees it as a means of striking a blow for women's rights. But there is a complication - her husband Adam (Spencer Tracy) is the assistant DA assigned to prosecute the case.  Our film this time is Adam's Rib (1949).

Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy are delightful as a happily married couple on opposite sides of the political fence (she's a Democrat; he's a Republican) and opposing each other in a media circus of a trial. Amanda is convinced that if the defendant were a man, she would not be on trial for shooting her cheating spouse. Adam says the gender shouldn't matter - it's the letter of the law that counts, and someone who shoots another deserves jail time, no matter the reason for it. 

The dialog between the couple fairly crackles - it's smart, sexy, and amusing. Written by Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon (who were friends of Tracy and Hepburn), the screenplay was written with the acting duo in mind. The story was inspired by the divorce of Raymond Massey and Adrianne Allen, who hired a married couple as their representation. The Massey/Allen divorce resulted in two divorces, when lawyers William and Dorothy Whitney also divorced, each to marry their client  (TCM's The Big Idea).

While this was not Judy Holliday's first film, it was a major breakthrough for her. She's wonderful as the remarkably dim Doris - the audience feels sorry for her, at the same time shakes their collective heads at her naivety. Ms. Holliday was appearing on Broadway in her first starring role - that of Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday.  In fact, she filmed Adam's Rib during the day, and rushed back to the Henry Miller Theatre to appear in the play each evening. Ms. Holliday badly wanted to appear in the film version of Born Yesterday, but Columbia's Harry Cohn had no interest in her. So, Katharine Hepburn devised various means to bring Ms. Holliday into a position that Mr. Cohn could not say no (TCM The Essentials), even going so far as to plant stories that Ms. Holliday was stealing the movie (TCM's Behind the Camera) from Tracy and Hepburn.  

Jean Hagen is also spectacular as the Other Woman. This was her first film, and she's a riot in her small scene with Katharine Hepburn. Beryl Caighn is reminiscent of Ms. Hagen's most famous role - Lena Lamont in Singin' in the Rain, but we should never forget that Ms. Hagen was a versatile actress who really never rose to the level of success that she should have.

If there is one weak link in the film, it's Tom Ewell as the cheating husband. It's hard to imagine what either Doris or Beryl could see in this uncouth lout. A cheater, an abusive husband - he's despicable, and Mr. Ewell doesn't attempt to make him in any way attractive.  We're not particularly fans of Mr. Ewell - it seemed to us there should be something about him that would seem appealing to two women. We didn't see it.

David Wayne (Kip Lurie) has the pleasure of singing a "Farewell, Amanda" which Cole Porter wrote for the film. He's really funny as a fey composer who is the bane of Adam's existence.  He's flirtatious, rude, and downright obnoxious - a man with some talent who thinks he can dominate every event. We wondered why the Bonner's would have it at their party (to play the piano), when Kip spends most of his time insulting the guests and Adam. It was Katharine Hepburn who convinced Mr. Porter to write the song, but he would only do it if they changed the name of the character from Madeleine (AFI catalog). At which point, they decided to also change the name of the male character from Ned to Adam.

Several other actors have small parts, and their presence in the film is most welcome. Marvin Kaplan as the Court Stenographer will be remembered more for his voice than his face - he was Choo-Choo in the animated series Top Cat. Madge Blake, who played a plethora of older women (including Aunt Harriet on the Batman television series) appears briefly as Adam's mother.  And Hope Emerson (Olympia La Pere) gets to play a strong woman who has one of the funnier bits in the film.
 

The film has been criticized for undercutting Katharine Hepburn's bit for women's rights at the end (Framing Female Lawyers: Women on Trial in Film by Cynthia Lucia), but we felt that the movie did justice to the points of view of both attorneys. Amanda is right - women are treated unequally by the law, but Adam is right that men should be held to the same standards. 

Two other titles preceded this one - Love is Legal and Man and Wife (Spencer Tracy: A Biography by James Curtis). The second title was changed, as the PCA found it suggestive. What they didn't seem to notice was that in the first scene in Adam's and Amanda's bedroom, while it has two large beds, clearly only one of them was used that night - the second bed is neatly made, and the other pillow in Adam's bed is has a head dent in it!  

 

The New York Times review by Bosley Crowther was quite positive, calling it a "bang-up frolic". Other reviews were equally complimentary (TCM Critics Corner).

In 1973, there was a very brief TV series based on the film with Ken Howard and Blythe Danner. The film has also been included in Jeremy Arnold's first book of The Essentials: 52 Must-See Movies and Why they Matter. This is definitely a film that should be on your must-see list - here's a trailer: