If the movies are to be believed, there was a time when (A) television networks had Reference Departments, and (B) you could call said department with a question and someone there would find the answer.
Population of Timbuktu?1 Average yearly precipitation in the Amazon rain forest?2 Estimated weight of the earth?3
In the dark age before Google, no question was too tricky for these human encyclopaedias, as evidenced by the comedy Desk Set (1957).
The film is about four women who work in the Reference Department of the Federal Broadcasting Corporation, namely: Joan Blondell, Dina Merrell, Sue Randall, and their supervisor, Katharine Hepburn. These women are capable and well connected when it comes to office gossip, as any office worker ought.
But their livelihood may be threatened by Spencer Tracy, Methods Engineer, an unassuming-looking man who has built an “electronic brain” that processes facts and numbers in seconds. Never mind the machine itself is the size of a small convenience store, it has the power to throw these women out of work.
Added to this is the attraction between Tracy and Hepburn, which has the potential to get rather messy because Hepburn is dating her commitment-phobe boss (Gig Young).
Desk Set is based on a successful Broadway play by William Marchant (297 performances!), and was adapted for the screen by Phoebe and Henry Ephron (parents of Nora). Because it’s based on a play, the film can feel a smidge “stage bound” at times. However, the cast is so strong, you hardly notice it.
Our favourite character here is Blondell, who is the kind of co-worker you can’t help but adore: her character is smart, loyal, and caring. The rest of the cast is no less stellar; even Hepburn is amusing, but, admittedly, we have an aversion to her when she has too many lines, and there’s a bit of that in this film.
There are a few plot holes to ignore, such as the impossibly fast installation of the giant EMMARAC machine, and Tracy’s refusal to tell anyone what he’s planning because there’s too much gossip. (Silly boy, everyone knows gossip intensifies when people sense Something’s Up but aren’t told what it is.)
The film is dated, yes, but when it comes to office culture, it feels surprisingly modern. During the course of a business day, the women share details of their professional and personal lives, and they choose to support each other as a Team.
For example, one scene takes place on Christmas Eve and the booze is flowing, which is highly irresponsible and has never happened at any company yours truly has ever worked at, no siree. But look at the way the women toast each other and their successes over the past year. Their friendship is something decidedly worth celebrating.
Our pal, Sarah, of the fab movie blog Mrs. Charles, recommended this movie to us, and if you haven’t been to the Mrs. Charles site, we hope you’ll treat yourself. (You can thank us later.)
We had never seen this film all the way through, due to our aversion to excessive Hepburn-isms, but Sarah convinced us to give it another Go.
We’re glad we did. The sets are über stylish in a late 1950s kind of way, and the wardrobes are truly gorgeous. Plus, there are some very funny lines.
If you haven’t seen Desk Set – or if you haven’t seen it all the way through – we hope you’ll give it a chance, especially if you’ve ever worked in an office.
Desk Set: starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Gig Young. Directed by Walter Lang. Written by Phoebe Ephron & Henry Ephron. Twentieth Century Fox, 1957, Colour, 103 mins.
Notes
132,460. 280 inches per year. 313,170,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds. Answers courtesy of Google, since we couldn’t find a reference department to help us.
I’ve seen this movie, it’s wonderful. I always love Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, and the story feels so actual even today. And to this day, whenever my sons ask me the names of Santa’s Reindeers I can only answer thank to this great movie!
The idea of an “electronic brain” that could answer any question must have seemed like pure science fiction to audiences in 1957. It would have seemed like a fantasy when I was in high school in 1987. And yet, here we are! Oddly enough, office culture has probably changed very little in that time. 😄
I expected it to have a very old-fashioned view of “career women”, but it feels surprisingly fresh in many ways. The women’s friendships are truly the star of the show.
Desk Set, due to the office Christmas party begins my round of holiday movies. I usually get the urge to watch it sometime in late September/early October. That research department, and with those women, has long been my fantasy workplace.
Also, when Sumner says to Bunny “I’ll bet you write beautiful letters” my heart melts. I think that is the most wonderful way to say “I love you.”
PS: When I have a meltdown about something not working I imagine Neva Patterson but I can’t usually storm out. Darn!
PPS: I’m glad your friend got you to watch the movie and I’ll be sure to check out her blog.
Oh yeah, that scene where he says she must write beautiful letters stole my heart. Like you said, it’s a wonderful way to say I love you.
As for storming out, I’m not a big person for that (I can count the number of times I’ve done it on hand) which is why I love it when peoole do it on screen. Neva P’s performance is perfect!
And, regarding Sarah’s blog, I hope you can drop by. Her site is a treat.
They really were Google! Google owes them! 😉 I’m SO happy to read your take on this, pal. It’s one of the films I love the most, and now you’ve added another perspective of it to love even more of it. Really, after we talked a little bit about it a couple of weeks ago, I had fingers crossed that I’d see this in my inbox from you. Yay! Another Silver Screenings pleasure to read.
I don’t know why I didn’t stick with this film before. It’s a joyful celebration of women’s friendships. So thank YOU, Sarah, for encouraging me to see it again. 🙂
I’ve come to regard this movie as Pure Evil: it helped convince me to go to library school. I never did find a job like the the ones in the research department. What a dope I was, believing a film!
Bahaha! I don’t mean to laugh at your misfortune, but I’m glad the film infuenced your career choices. Because now we get to enjoy all the fab research on your site.
Good, but not great. However, the film’s subject matter fascinates me. I always find it interesting that, as illustrated in this movie and Hidden Figures, women not men dominated the field of “Human Computers.” I guess we guys don’t have the brains for that kind of work! 😉
Thanks for the review (plus trivia questions and answers 😀) I didn’t know of this film but would like to see it now. I imagine their Reference Dept full of books and encyclopedias, weekly magazines, stacks of newspapers and subscriptions to all sorts of journals, as well as goodness knows what information was retained in their collective brains.
Desk Set is is my favourite of the Tracy/Hepburn pairings and one of my favourite movies from the 50’s. It is a timepiece of good craftsmanship, with its light witty dialogue, good ensemble acting, and the timeless appeal of Joan Blondell. Hers is a gem of a performance and another reason I love this movie. I agree it does at times feel “stage bound” nowadays that picnic scene on the roof would probably be shot in Central Park, or some other classic New York location, but that’s a minor gripe.
The film also presents early fears of where computerization and automation would take us. Technology as the double edged sword, will it be there to help us, or will it replace us? I suppose the answer is both.
One of my favorite Tracy-Hepburn films; the lunch scene between them is priceless. I took one library course in graduate school and learned this valuable fact: If you need to know something, call a reference librarian! You can’t trust what you read as on the Internet as fact, but you can trust a librarian!
This is a very nice film. I especially love the sequence in Hepburn’s apartment with her, Tracy and Gig Young. I also remembered that once I mentioned this film on a college paper when talking about machines taking away jobs from humans. I hope machines never replace bloggers like us!
Silver Screenings 
Nora Ephron’s parents were writers . . . I never knew. I’ve seen this film. It’s a good one.
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I didn’t know that about Nora Ephron’s parents, either, and it was a wonderful surprise. A talented family, to be sure.
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I’ve seen this movie, it’s wonderful. I always love Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, and the story feels so actual even today. And to this day, whenever my sons ask me the names of Santa’s Reindeers I can only answer thank to this great movie!
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Haha! That’s great re: Santa’s reindeer. I agree the story still feels fresh today, even though the technology is dated.
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The idea of an “electronic brain” that could answer any question must have seemed like pure science fiction to audiences in 1957. It would have seemed like a fantasy when I was in high school in 1987. And yet, here we are! Oddly enough, office culture has probably changed very little in that time. 😄
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So true. I think this film nails office culture because it has shrewd observations of human nature.
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It’s always so great to hear about films where women uplift each other. I haven’t seen this but it sounds great!
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I expected it to have a very old-fashioned view of “career women”, but it feels surprisingly fresh in many ways. The women’s friendships are truly the star of the show.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Desk Set, due to the office Christmas party begins my round of holiday movies. I usually get the urge to watch it sometime in late September/early October. That research department, and with those women, has long been my fantasy workplace.
Also, when Sumner says to Bunny “I’ll bet you write beautiful letters” my heart melts. I think that is the most wonderful way to say “I love you.”
PS: When I have a meltdown about something not working I imagine Neva Patterson but I can’t usually storm out. Darn!
PPS: I’m glad your friend got you to watch the movie and I’ll be sure to check out her blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yeah, that scene where he says she must write beautiful letters stole my heart. Like you said, it’s a wonderful way to say I love you.
As for storming out, I’m not a big person for that (I can count the number of times I’ve done it on hand) which is why I love it when peoole do it on screen. Neva P’s performance is perfect!
And, regarding Sarah’s blog, I hope you can drop by. Her site is a treat.
LikeLike
They really were Google! Google owes them! 😉 I’m SO happy to read your take on this, pal. It’s one of the films I love the most, and now you’ve added another perspective of it to love even more of it. Really, after we talked a little bit about it a couple of weeks ago, I had fingers crossed that I’d see this in my inbox from you. Yay! Another Silver Screenings pleasure to read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t know why I didn’t stick with this film before. It’s a joyful celebration of women’s friendships. So thank YOU, Sarah, for encouraging me to see it again. 🙂
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This sounds like a fun film, and one I’ve never heard of. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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It really is a fun film, and the sets + costumes are scrumptious. I hope you get the chance to see it.
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I’ve come to regard this movie as Pure Evil: it helped convince me to go to library school. I never did find a job like the the ones in the research department. What a dope I was, believing a film!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bahaha! I don’t mean to laugh at your misfortune, but I’m glad the film infuenced your career choices. Because now we get to enjoy all the fab research on your site.
LikeLike
Good, but not great. However, the film’s subject matter fascinates me. I always find it interesting that, as illustrated in this movie and Hidden Figures, women not men dominated the field of “Human Computers.” I guess we guys don’t have the brains for that kind of work! 😉
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You make a good point about women doing the grunt work in this area. It’s heartening to see movies that highlight thise contributions.
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I really need to see this one. Somehow my repertoire of classic films doesn’t include it. Will rectify that ASAP!
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Haha! I hope so. There’s a lot to like in this film. Joan Blondell, in particular, is a treat.
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Star of TZ’s “What’s in the Box”!
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The only movie I’ve seen about corporate librarians. And, for that and other reasons, I love it! 🙂
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I love that they’re capable, brainy, professional women. I can’t believe it took me this long to finally see (and appreciate) it.
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Thanks for the review (plus trivia questions and answers 😀) I didn’t know of this film but would like to see it now. I imagine their Reference Dept full of books and encyclopedias, weekly magazines, stacks of newspapers and subscriptions to all sorts of journals, as well as goodness knows what information was retained in their collective brains.
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Oh yes, the set is marvelous. Lots of books & periodicals, like you said. AND there’s one of those circular metal staircases.
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A spiral staircase leading to more books! Joy! 🙂
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Desk Set is is my favourite of the Tracy/Hepburn pairings and one of my favourite movies from the 50’s. It is a timepiece of good craftsmanship, with its light witty dialogue, good ensemble acting, and the timeless appeal of Joan Blondell. Hers is a gem of a performance and another reason I love this movie. I agree it does at times feel “stage bound” nowadays that picnic scene on the roof would probably be shot in Central Park, or some other classic New York location, but that’s a minor gripe.
The film also presents early fears of where computerization and automation would take us. Technology as the double edged sword, will it be there to help us, or will it replace us? I suppose the answer is both.
LikeLike
One of my favorite Tracy-Hepburn films; the lunch scene between them is priceless. I took one library course in graduate school and learned this valuable fact: If you need to know something, call a reference librarian! You can’t trust what you read as on the Internet as fact, but you can trust a librarian!
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I believe what you say about reference librarians. I haven’t met one yet who has steered me wrong.
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I knew exactly what film you were reviewing by your post title. I love this movie. I was totally obsessed with it as a teenager. Great blog, as usual.
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Thanks! I had a feeling this film might have resonated with you. 🙂
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Haha, indeed!
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This is a very nice film. I especially love the sequence in Hepburn’s apartment with her, Tracy and Gig Young. I also remembered that once I mentioned this film on a college paper when talking about machines taking away jobs from humans. I hope machines never replace bloggers like us!
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Le, there is no way on this green earth a machine could replace you at Critica Retro. It is simply not possible.
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Who knew there was such a job???? What a cool piece of trivia – thanks! The movie does look great too.
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The movie is pretty fun. It’s a Must if you’re a Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy fan.
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I have loved everything Katherine has been in! What a classy woman.
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Many of her flms have stood the test of tme.
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I also did not know Ephron’s parents wrote this, but it sure makes sense!
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Agreed. I was surprised when I first read it, but when I thought about it for 2 seconds, it made perfect sense.
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