|
By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Desk Set" is one of
Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's later film
efforts -- post MGM, pre-"Guess Who's Coming to
Dinner." But it generally lacks in the chemistry
that most of their work at MGM had in spades.
Tracy is Richard Sumner, a method's engineer who's
assigned to make the daily operation of a
television station more efficient. Of course, he's
bound to butt heads with researcher, Bunny Watson
(Hepburn). Unlike most Tracy/Hepburn movies, in
which their love for one another is never in
question, on this occasion Gig Young is
inexplicably and needlessly thrown into the mix as
Bunny's boyfriend, Mike Cutler. Joan Blondell is a
welcome edition as the wise-cracking, Peg
Costello. But it's the remnant pang of that old
Hepburn/Tracy's stardust and magic that keeps this
otherwise deadly boring film afloat.
"Desk Set" is at last presented in its original
Cinemascope 2:35:1 aspect ratio and it is
anamorphically enhanced to take full advantage of
16:9 displays. Although colors can be rich,
vibrant and bold, flesh tones have an uncanny
pasty look in certain scenes and a reddish/pinkish
overcast in others. There are instances where
dirt, film grain and age-related artifacts crop up
throughout this print. Also, black levels tend to
be weak in certain scenes. There's a hint of edge
enhancement and some pixelization but the print is
generally smooth looking. The audio, as with all
Cinemascope films of the period, is vintage stereo
and presented at a reasonable listening level.
Fox is genuinely inconsistent in the extra content
they provide for their "Studio Series" titles. If
you recall, "The Day the Earth Stood Still"
contained a 70 min. documentary, while "The Inn of
The Sixth Happiness" had only an audio commentary.
On this occasion, we get an audio commentary and
some truncated Movietones junk that is short,
boring and generally slapped together as an
afterthought. Not what I would expect from any
collection dubbed, "Studio Series."
If you're a die-hard Tracy/Hepburn fan than this
is a must have. But it's not one of their best or
even one of their mediocre. It's just big
on...well, being big and short, unfortunately, on
entertainment! |
