Oct 041957
 
four reels

Efficiency expert Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) is secretly hired to computerize a research department run by the brilliant Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn).  As Bunny worries about her boyfriend’s unwillingness to commit and the possible loss of jobs due to the computer, she finds herself drawing closer and closer to Richard.

Quick Review: This is a play masquerading as a film.  The camera is static, the actors enter scenes from stage right or left, and it’s all dialog.  Luckily, it’s a nice play, with nice actors, and nice lines.  In case you haven’t noticed, Desk Set is nice.  Not great.  Not deep.  Just nice.  There is the feel good story that assures a ’50s audience that machines won’t take their jobs, but the plot is just an excuse for the eccentric characters to sit and spar.  I’ve watched Desk Set once or twice a year for the past ten years, normally at Christmastime, and it wears well.