Adam's Rib Reviews

Delightful, sophisticated comedy sparked by the famous chemistry between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. When Tracy, an unyielding DA, prosecutes the client of his lawyer-wife, Hepburn, in an attempted murder case, it unleashes a battle of the sexes that almost wrecks their happy marriage. The defendant is Holliday (in an outstanding debut which led to her getting the "dumb blonde" lead in BORN YESTERDAY), who attempted to shoot a woman who was trysting with Holliday's slippery husband (Ewell, very funny here). Hepburn, an advocate of women's rights, is determined to prove that the prosecution's case is a reflection of sexist double standards, and that Holliday's husband would never be tried for the same actions. This rankles the conservative Tracy, and matters are further complicated when foppish David Wayne begins to move in on Hepburn. Throughout the trial, Tracy and Hepburn's marriage seems headed for the rocks, their courtroom resentments surfacing at home. Eventually, Hepburn wins an acquittal for Holliday through a case based on sexual equality, but admits, as does a petulant Tracy, that there are basic differences between men and women. "Vive le difference!" Tracy exclaims, and the marriage and the battle between the sexes go on. A thoroughly witty, sharply directed, fun film from Cukor, with a sprightly, Oscar-nominated script from Gordon and Kanin, ADAM'S RIB succeeds brilliantly through a combination of top talents, especially those of Hepburn and Tracy.