Our Miss Fantastic on TCM this Friday: Katharine Hepburn on SUTS

This post is written in conjunction with the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon hosted by Sittin' on a Backyard Fence and ScribeHard on Film. A full day of Katharine Hepburn films will air on TCM on August 17.

Turner Classic Movies had selected an amazing line-up of movies for Miss Hepburn's day on Summer Under the Stars this year. As the self-proclaimed KH aficionado in the blogosphere, I'm going to rate Friday's movie selection to help the plebes decide which Hepburn films to DVR. You're welcome!

1.) ADAM'S RIB (1949)

If you haven't seen this film yet, it's time you did - this is definitely an essential. Arguably the best Spencer Tracy/Katharine Hepburn film, Adam and Amanda Bonner are lawyers who take opposing sides in a court case in which a woman tried to shoot her unfaithful husband. Hepburn and Tracy are romantic and flirtatious and very funny. The best thing about this film, historically, is that Hepburn is shown as a successful career woman, and at no point does the film try to argue that she should be in the kitchen raising children. She's allowed to be really good at her job, yet she is just as female and sexy as ever.

2.) LITTLE WOMEN (1933)

This is by far my favorite film version of Louisa May Alcott's American classic. My friend Megan argues that this version is too sentimental and she much prefers the Margaret O'Brien one. But I think director George Cukor has really captured the heart and sole of the March family. Hepburn's real-life tomboyishness translates brilliantly to the Jo character. I cannot recommend this movie, or the book that it's based on, enough.


3.) THE LION IN WINTER (1968)
Hepburn, a former history major of Bryn Mawr College, did her research for playing the indomitable Eleanor of Aquitaine. This film about Queen Eleanor's relationship with England's King Henry II and their three sons is full of wit, with verbal quips flying like arrows in this historically dysfunctional royal family. The film won three Oscars, for best music, best screenplay, and leading actress (Hepburn's third of four well-deserved Oscar wins). 




4.) BRINGING UP BABY (1938)

My personal favorite, this screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks and co-starring Cary Grant has me in stitches every time I watch it. When happy-go-lucky Susan (Hepburn) and professorial David (Grant) continue to run into each other, she falls in love and goes out of her way to keep him near her, even if it means getting arrested while chasing a pet leopard across the Connecticut countryside.

5.) PAT AND MIKE (1952)

Hepburn pushes Tracy around in PAT AND MIKE

The first film Hepburn and Tracy made after the popular ADAM'S RIB (1949) is less romantic, but equally amusing. Hepburn plays multi-talented sportswoman Pat Pemberton and Mike Conovan (Tracy) is her agent, watching her every move to see that she stays in shape for every big game. This film is chock full of your favorite character actors and also features a number of real-life American sportswomen, including Babe Didrickson Zaharius, Gussie Moran, Betty Hicks, and many others.

6.) GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967)

Hepburn and Tracy's final picture together also stars Hepburn's niece, Katharine Houghton. She plays their 23-year-old daughter Joey who wishes to marry African American doctor John Prentice, played by Sidney Poitier. The film made waves in 1960s America, which was being revolutionized by the Civil Rights movement. Great performances all around, especially from Hepburn and Tracy who both give the most touching performance as the democratic married couple trying to come to terms with changing times.

7.) WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942)

In their first film together, Hepburn and Tracy play newspaper writers who fall in love and marry. But the couple struggles to make their marriage a success because Tess's job as an international political correspondent interferes with her time with Sam. This is another film showing Hepburn as a successful professional woman, in this case even more successful than her sportswriter husband. Unfortunately, in 1942 this meant that she must be tamed by the film text in order to become more acceptable as a progressive woman. This movie is incredibly sexy, even though I'm not crazy about the ending.

8.) MORNING GLORY (1933)

Katharine Hepburn's first Oscar win is not remembered as one of her great films, but it is worth a watch. It was only her third film, and in many ways it tells her personal story as a young woman trying to find success in the theatre in New York City. Co-stars Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Adolphe Menjou, and C. Aubrey Smith. 

9.) CHRISTOPHER STRONG (1933)

I really like this radical movie about Lady Cynthia Darrington, an aristocratic English aviatrix. This is the only film in which Hepburn is directed by a woman, one of the few female directors in Hollywood at the time, Dorothy Arzner. As one of her earliest films, it contributed to audiences image of her as a wealthy, independent, autonomous woman. This movie also includes the scene with Hepburn in her famous moth costume.

10.) MARY OF SCOTLAND (1936)

Although Hepburn really enjoyed working wiht director John Ford, she hated the simpering Queen Mary and would have much preferred to play Elizabeth. This stodgy costume drama lacks sex appeal and only added to Hepburn's reputation as "box office poison."

11.) SONG OF LOVE (1947)

Music majors love this biopic about Robert and Clara Schumann and their friend Johannes Brahams. Although Hepburn does an adequate job as the famous classical pianist, she is less credible as the mother of seven.

12.) THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT (1969)

Fail. Co-stars Edith Evans, Yul Brenner, and Danny Kaye. Triple weird. And Hepburn might be able to do eccentric, but no one will ever believe she's mad. She's just not that good of an actress. And everyone knows she's really with it mentally. Of course I've seen this movie, but I don't even know what it's actually supposed to be about. TCM did right to schedule this gasser at 3:45 am. Only hard-core Hep, Brenner, Evans, and Kaye fans will stay up for this one.

I really hope you enjoy Katharine Hepburn's day of glory on TCM. Can't wait to hear what everybody watches! Please don't forget to complete the survey near the top of the right sidebar of this blog. I REALLY value your feedback!