Hepburn and Tracy Get Steamy on TCM

Monday, October 22 Turner Classic Movies will be airing six of the nine films Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made together.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) - 8:00 pm
Directed by: George Stevens
Written by: Ring Lardner, Jr. and Michael Kanin
Genre: comedy, romance
Co-starring: Fay Bainter, Reginald Owen, Sara Haden
Synopsis: When down-to-earth, all-American sports writer Sam Craig (Tracy) first meets high-flying international political correspondent Tess Harding (Hepburn), sparks fly in more ways than one. The unlikely pair falls in love, but marriage proves difficult as the two attempt to coordinate their mismatched life priorities.
Margaret's rating: 8/10

WITHOUT LOVE (1945) - 10:00 pm
Directed by: Harold S. Bucquet
Written by: Philip Barry and Donald Ogden Stewart
Genre: comedy, romance
Co-starring: Keenan Wynn and Lucille Ball
Synopsis: Pat Jamieson (Tracy), a government scientist, is forced by circumstances to take up residence in young widow Jamie Rowan's (Hepburn) Washington, DC house. Jamie, herself the daughter of a scientist, becomes interested in Pat's work and offers to become his assistant. To simplify matters, the two enter into a loveless marriage, though how long it can remain loveless remains to be seen!
Margaret's rating: 9/10

ADAM'S RIB (1949) - 12:00 am
Directed by: George Cukor
Written by: Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin
Genre: comedy, drama, romance
Co-starring: Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell, David Wayne, and Jean Hagen
Synopsis: Married lawyers Adam (Tracy) and Amanda (Hepburn) Bonner find themselves on opposite sides of a controversial trial between a cheating husband and the wife who tried to shoot him. You can guess who is defending whom!
Margaret's rating: 10/10

PAT AND MIKE (1952) - 2:00 am
Directed by: George Cukor
Written by: Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin
Genre: comedy, romance, sport
Co-starring: Aldo Ray, William Ching, Charles Bronson, Phyllis Povah, Chuck Connors, and a bevy of female sports stars:
Gussie Moran (b. 1923: tennis player)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911-1956: golfer, basketball player, track and field champion)
Alice Marble (1913-1990: tennis champion)
Betty Hicks (1920-2011: golfer, coach, teacher, aviator, author)
Beverly Hanson (b. 1924: golfer)
Helen Dettweiler (1919-1990: golf champion)

Synopsis: As athletic manager and trainer Mike Conovan (Tracy) develops the talents of his star athlete, Pat Pemberton (Hepburn), she re-examines her life goals and opts for the life of a professional athlete with Mike than as a little wife with fiancé Collier.
Margaret's rating: 8/10

KEEPER OF THE FLAME (1942) - 3:45 am
Directed by: George Cukor
Written by: I.A.R Wylie (novel) and Donald Ogden Stewart
Genre: drama, mystery, suspence
Co-starring: Margaret Wycherly, Forrest Tucker, Percy Kilbride
Synopsis: Journalist Steve O'Malley is trying to write a biography about a national hero who recently died in a tragic accident, but he is having trouble getting the aloof widow to cooperate. Is there something about the deceased hero that she doesn't want him, or the public, to know?
Margaret's rating: 6/10


THE SEA OF GRASS (1947) - 5:30 am
Directed by: Elia Kazan
Written by: Conrad Richter (novel), Marguerite Roberts, and Vincent Lawrence
Genre: drama, romance, Western
Co-starring: Robert Walker, Melvyn Douglas, Phyllis Thaxter, and Edgar Buchanan
Synopsis: St. Louis native Lutie (Hepburn) struggles to adjust to married life out west with ruthless cattle rancher Col. Jim Brewton (Tracy). The couple must navigate a life of politics, children, and infidelity in this Western epic.
Margaret's rating: 6/10