Desk Set (1957)

Desk Set - 1957

Our next film is 1957's "Desk Set", starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, in which we see a research office turn from manual to computer labor and love blossom where it's least expected.

The film's supporting cast includes Gig Young, Joan Blondell, Dina Merrill, Sue Randall, Neva Patterson, and Jesslyn Fax.

Richad Sumner has come to the Federal Broadcasting Company in New York City to see about the modernization of its research department.  Namely, he's been hired to install computers to find information faster than the secretaries that run the department.

He goes to the research department, but he doesn't tell the ladies what he's there for.  Instead, he browses around, taking measurements, and behaving strangely.

When he meets the head of the research department, Bunny Watson, he says, "My name is Richard Sumner."  Bunny replies, "Well, numerologically, that’s very good.  There are thirteen letters in your name."  Impressed, Sumner says, "You calculate rapidly."  "Well, up to thirteen, anyway," says Bunny with a smile.

Though he still doesn't tell what he's there for, Sumner takes Bunny for lunch and asks her a series of questions meant to stump her.  Things only a computer can answer.  However, she baffles him when she's immediately able to answer his questions without hestitation.

She also's found out a bit about him.  "Oh, I did a little research on you.  You were born at Columbus, Ohio, on May the twenty-second.  That makes you a Gemini.  You’re a graduate of M.I.T. with a PhD in science.  You’re a Phi Beta Kapa, although you don’t wear your key, which means either that you’re modest or that you lost it.  You spent World War II in Greenland working on something so top secret that even I couldn’t find out about it.  You’re one of the leading exponents of the electronic brain in this country and the inventor and the patent holder of an electronic brain machine called EMERAC, the Electromagnetic Memory and Research Arithmetical Calculator.  That’s all I found out so far, but I only had half an hour."

Sumner continues to spend a great deal of time in the research department, to the astonishment of its employees.  He does things which puzzle them constantly.

On a personal level, Bunny is having trouble with a boyfriend who won't commit.  After promising a weekend together, he's off on a business trip, but he wants her to see him off at the airport.  Bunny says, "Oh, no, I don’t think so.  All those people flying away and me just sitting there sitting.  No, I don’t think so."

As she prepares to leave the office for the day, she bumps into Sumner.  It's raining heavily outside and they share a ride.  She invites him inside so that he can wait out the rain and dry out before continuing on to his apartment.

They end up having a modest dinner together.  Sumner dresses in a robe Bunny had intended for her boyfriend.  He's also got his shoes drying in the kitchen and his pants drying in the bathroom.  They enjoy each other's company as they eat.

Unfortunately, Bunny's boyfriend's flight was cancelled and he walks in on a very underdressed Sumner.  No amount of explaining from Bunny can satisfy him.

Bunny's associate Peg also walks in and is surprised to see Sumner so informal.  The boyfriend leaves in a huff.  Sumner puts on his dry clothes and heads home.  Bunny and Peg share a laugh about the situation.

Christmastime comes to New York, and the research department decorates for the occasion.  The whole building is in a celebratory mood and doesn't seem to be working.

Bunny and Peg have a little too much champagne.  "Have some tequila, Peg," says Bunny.  "I don’t think I should.  There are eighty-five calories in a glass of champagne," says Peg.  Bunny laughs, "Oh, I have a little place in my neighborhood where I can get it for sixty-five."  Sumner chuckles as he watches the two friends have a good time.

Later on the top level of the research department and after several more glasses of champagne, Bunny pretends she's sailing on a cruise and starts throwing streamers over the side.  "I’m independently wealthy, you know," she tells Sumner.  "I’ve made this cruise often."  He grins at her, "Yes, yes, there’s something about the way you wear that pencil in your hair that spells money."

They continue to have a good time, sharing a lot of talk and a few drinks.

Later, Bunny ends things once and for all with her boyfriend.  She realizes he's never going to commit and gets free while she can.

Things get sobered up in a hurry when Sumner's associate walks in just as they are walking out.  She tells the group what Sumner hasn't.  A computer will be installed during the Christmas break.  The girls go home fearing that their jobs are over.

The new computer is indeed installed.  Sumner's assistant seems to be a tyrant in the running of the machine and the way the office environment is controlled.  Nobody likes her.

The girls take delight in driving her crazy: leaving doors open, smoking, blowing dust on the computer, etc.

They all get upset, though, when they are given pink slips which terminate their positions at the company.

Sumner tells them it's all been a mistake.  He needs them to feed and update information into the computer.  They're going to be busier than ever.  Something goes wrong with the computer, which sends the assistant into a tizzy.

Bunny laughs when the machine issues Sumner a pink slip, too.  "I'm not even on the payroll!" he exclaims.  Meanwhile, his assistant quits.  "I've been forced to work in an atmosphere of hatred and suspicion!" she says as she storms out of the room.

Later, Bunny and Sumner get together.  She's hesitant at first, fearing the computer will always come first in his life.  He protests.  So, she orchestrates another malfunction.  He holds off as long as he can, but then jumps into fix it.  She smiles and the two embrace.

Cast rundown:

   Spencer Tracy.................................Richard Sumner

   Katharine Hepburn..........................Bunny Watson

   Gig Young......................................Mike Cutler

   Joan Blondell..................................Peg Costello

   Dina Merrill.....................................Sylvia Blair

   Sue Randall....................................Ruthie Saylor

   Neva Patterson................................Miss Warriner

   Jesslyn Fax.....................................Mrs. Hewitt

And that's it for Desk Set.  This was the eighth of nine films that Tracy and Hepburn starred in together, and it was their first in color.  This is also the film debut of Dina Merrill.  The script was written by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, parents of famed writer/director Nora Ephron.

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