StrictlyConfidential "Woman of the Year" is a 1940's style "battle-of-the-sexes" story where it's both parties who want to be the one who's wearing the pants in this rocky relationship.When it comes to the realm of romance - Spencer Tracy (as sportswriter, Sam Craig) and Katherine Hepburn (as international columnist, Tess Harding) are the "least-likely-to succeed" couple.Matching wits and wisecracks against each other - Tracy and Hepburn verbally duke it out on screen for the obvious enjoyment of the audience.Filmed in b&w - "Woman of the Year" was directed by George Stevens. This would be the first of 8 films that paired Tracy and Hepburn together.

jc-osms The first of several movies to feature the celebrated partnership of Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn was this George Stevens-directed feature and an absolute delight it is. It works by treating both stars and their relationship as it became in real life, Tracy the older, "man's man", Hepburn, the flighty, more intellectual female, playing out a subtle battle of the sexes between themselves where in the final analysis both think they've won, but invariably, reflecting traditional, conservative and arguably chauvinistic mores of the day, it's Tracy who's character as here tends to win out. The well-known opening exchange between them in real-life, of the taller Hepburn pointing this out to Tracy to meet with the rejoinder "Don't worry, I'll soon cut you down to size" could inform the whole plot here, although it has to be said, it takes pretty much the whole of the movie to get there.What I like about Stevens' direction is the way he lets things play out almost it seems in real time, from the chaotic party at Hepburn's, all action news reporter Tess Harding's bursting-at-the-seams apartment, supposedly the site of her first date with Tracy's craggy, cynical sports reporter Sam Craig, then when Sam invites sports-virgin Tess to a US football game, to the couple's wedding night being hijacked by a high-profile Nazi- dissenting refugee statesman and his entourage arriving up at the near-silent final scene where Tess hilariously attempts to make Sam a conciliatory breakfast while he sleeps in his bachelor pad, after he's finally walked out on her.The two stars are marvellous, especially when they're together on the screen as signalled from their very first meeting as Tracy leeringly but guiltily eyes up Tess's leg from bottom to nearly the top as she straightens out her stocking seam. You really can see the chemistry sparking between them but even more than that you get to see two actors both with impeccable timing coupled with an obvious mutual respect, each allowing the other to fully play out scenes opposite one another.The two of them not unnaturally dominate the screen and unsurprisingly overpower the supporting actors in their wake, but one gets the feeling that's exactly what motivated director Stevens to make the film as he did. Witty, sharply observed and sorry to repeat myself, exquisitely played, this is an excellent film which happily led to one of the most productive movie-partnerships of Hollywood's Golden Age, in more ways than one.

richard-1787 I saw Woman of the Year again a few weeks ago, when I happened to be reading The Good Earth, Pearl Buck's award-winning novel from 1931. As I watched WotY, I kept getting the feeling that Hepburn's character was at least in part a send-up of some woman then in the spot-light, the way Kaufman and Hart's The Man who came to Dinner from three years before was a send-up, in part, of Alexander Woollcott. When I started to read about Buck after finishing The Good Earth, I was convinced that the inspiration for Tess Harding, in addition to Mrs. Roosevelt, may well have been Pearl Buck. I've now read a biography of Buck, and I'm more convinced than ever that Garson Kanin and Ring Lardner had Buck in mind when developing the role of Tess, the woman who spoke with world leaders, championed adoption of war-refugee children, etc.Buck's last years were very sad, almost pitiful. She allowed herself to be used, financially and otherwise, by several young men who knew how to play to her very large ego and view of herself as "a very important woman." There is, perhaps, a sequel of sorts to be made to "Woman of the Year" that would make use of what became of such a woman in later life. It would have to maintain at least some of WotY's humor, though, or it would become too pitiful.Below is my original review of Woman of the Year, before I made the connection with Pearl Buck.----------------------------------------This is really one very fine movie. The dialogue is uniformly intelligent, the acting first-rate all around. My only problem with it is that it states the "moral" of the movie in a sentence at the end and then never goes anywhere with it.It is the story of Tess Harding, a female Sheridan Whitesides, a woman who knows every important figure in world politics and can keep up with the best of them. She is very bright, and very admired, and she knows it and is fascinated by it.Then she falls in love with someone from a different, far less glamorous world - although Sam Craig is an important sports reporter, and certainly not the Joe Average he is made out to be. Tess doesn't know how to carry on a relationship, giving it the time and devotion necessary. At first she gives it short shrift and, of course, it suffers. Sam leaves her. Then she decides to switch, and tries to become a mindless housewife - at which she is a complete failure.Sam tells her that he wants something in between, and the movie ends.That's the problem. No, Tess shouldn't have to give up her career and her intellectual life to be a wife. But how would a woman go about balancing the two? That the movie never shows. It cops out and comes to a quick end instead.As I said, this is an intelligent script with great acting. It's a joy to watch from beginning to end. But it spends the whole movie setting up the problem of how an intelligent, ambitious young woman might balance career and family life, and then never considers how it might be done.Not to be missed: the kitchen scene where Tess displays an astounding ignorance of even the basic culinary knowledge.

sme_no_densetsu "Woman of the Year" marked the first of nine big screen pairings of Katherine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy. In it, a down-to-earth sports writer falls for an internationally minded political columnist. Their unlikely attraction results in marriage but things do not go smoothly as Hepburn's character pays more attention to her career than her husband.The chemistry between Hepburn & Tracy isn't as refined here as it would become in later pictures but one can sense a spark between them. The contrasting characters make for some spirited interplay while Hepburn's deft performance landed her an Oscar nomination. There's little worth remarking upon in the supporting roles, though the actors are all capable.I found the film's biggest fault to be the screenplay, which nevertheless won an Oscar. The script fails to establish a consistent tone, as if the screenwriters couldn't decide between a comedy or a serious drama. They ought to have committed to one or the other since they make an awkward mix here.George Stevens' direction is well done and so is the score by Franz Waxman. Neither really warrants any special attention, though.In the end, "Woman of the Year" isn't entirely unsuccessful but I wouldn't particularly recommend it either. There are better Hepburn/Tracy films that aren't impaired by odd shifts in tone.