Pat and Mike (1952)

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Ruth Gordon (written by) and
Garson Kanin (written by)

Release Date:

13 June 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Together again - and it's no fib, their funniest hit since "Adam's Rib"

Plot:

Pat's a brilliant athlete, except when her domineering fiance is around. The lady's golf championship...

Plot Keywords:

Golf | Boxer | Manager | Tennis | Athlete

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Mike Conovan
Katharine Hepburn	...	Patricia 'Pat' Pemberton
Aldo Ray	...	Davie Hucko
William Ching	...	Collier Weld
Sammy White	...	Barney Grau
George Mathews	...	Sylvester 'Spec' Cauley
Gussie Moran	...	Herself (Sports Star)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias	...	Herself (Sports Star)
Don Budge	...	Himself (Sports Star)
Alice Marble	...	Herself (Sports Star)
Frank Andrew Parker	...	Himself (Sports Star) (as Frank Parker)
Betty Hicks	...	Herself (Sports Star)
Beverly Hanson	...	Herself (Sports Star)
Helen Dettweiler	...	Herself (Sports Star)
Loring Smith	...	Mr. E.H. Beminger

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Of the nine movies she made with Spencer Tracy, this was Katharine Hepburn's favorite.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Mrs. Beminger's lips don't move when we hear her say: "Why, a phonograph!"

Quotes:

Mike Conovan: [suspicious] Have another beer?
Davie Hucko: [inanely] No thanks, no more.
Mike Conovan: [hollers at Gibby] You see that?
Gibby: Davie, what're you doin' to me?
Davie Hucko: Nervous, thirsty!
Mike Conovan: Water, did you ever hear of water?
[Hucko nods, grinning]
Mike Conovan: Well, why didn't you drink water?
Davie Hucko: Um, ashamed.
Mike Conovan: You're what?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) (TV)

The Lady Needs Some Good Handling

Pat and Mike must have been a pleasure for Katharine Hepburn to make because she got to show off her athletic ability which was considerable. Had she not decided to pursue a thespian career, Hepburn could have gone into either tennis or golf, she was good at both or any of the other sports named which she actually played. Later on as she entered the ranks of senior citizens, health problems curtailed her athleticism.

But she's having a whale of a good time her and playing with some of the best women athletes of the 20th century.

Hepburn's a college professor who's leading a rather dull life with a rather dull bore of a sweetheart in William Ching, who in a subtle way, belittles her.

In a rather unorthodox way she meets Spencer Tracy, a sports agent who very narrowly treads the line between the legal and the illegal. She makes a believer out of him that you actually can make decent money legally.

The usual Tracy/Hepburn charm is running on all cylinders. Pat and Mike ranks in the upper division of their screen teamings. I'd say that this was more her film than his though.

A lot of familiar faces are in the cast. Look for Charles Bronson playing a hood and Chuck Connors playing a small town sheriff. Both of them make themselves noticed here which led to long careers for the two of them.