Pat & Mike

Year: 1952

Grade: B

Country: USA

Director: Cukor

Review

another hepburn and tracy comedy, only in this one they don’t play a married couple. hepburn plays a babe didrikson type woman who feels restrained by her fiancé. she meets tracy at a golf tournament and he encourages her to allow him to be her manager. eventually she agrees in part because she wants to get away from her controlling fiancé. they hit the road together entering her into athletic competitions (mostly golf and tennis). after a while a bond forms – he learns honesty from her and she finds support and strength with him – and, well, you know the rest. it’s a humorous and entertaining film so it’s good on that level, but it’s also a good film on a social level. hepburn was a true feminist and took roles which reflected that fact. if you consider yourself a feminist and you haven’t seen at least three of her films then you may as well buy a mini skirt and start taking tricks on hollywood and vine, you freaking poser. in all seriousness, she was great.

cukor employs a sympathetic camera in key scenes to enhance the audience’s connection with hepburn’s emotions. it’s surrealistic, but it works well within the film because it’s a little silly and used only a couple times.