Pat and Mike (1952)

Pat's a brilliant athlete, except when her domineering fiance is around. The lady's golf championship is in her reach until she gets flustered by his presence at the final holes. He wants ... See full summary »

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Aldo Ray

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Pat's a brilliant athlete, except when her domineering fiance is around. The lady's golf championship is in her reach until she gets flustered by his presence at the final holes. He wants them to get married and forget the whole thing, but she can't give up on herself that easily. She enlists the help of Mike, a slightly shady sports promoter. Together they face mobsters, a jealous boxer, and a growing mutual attraction.

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Plot Keywords:

golf | manager | boxer | championship | tennis | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Sport

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 June 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Mulher Absoluta

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The seventh of nine films to feature Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.

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Goofs

Hepburn's character throws 3 pieces of luggage off a slowly moving train over a period of about 30 seconds. But when she steps off of the train they are all together in a pile.

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Quotes

Pat Pemberton: Maybe we ought to wait until I don't feel so... so carved up, so nobody.
Collier Weld: Why don't you just let me take charge?
Pat Pemberton: [softly] I have to be in charge of myself.
Collier Weld: Oh, what's the good of this? I mean, after all...
Pat Pemberton: Have to have time to think it over is all.
Collier Weld: Well, just see that you don't think it under. It's a nice long ride, just take your time.
Pat Pemberton: [gets up and starts throwing her baggage out the window of the train] That's right! And I'm not going to take it!

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Connections

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004)

User Reviews

I never knew Hepburn was so athletic.

The seventh pairing of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn focuses on the sports world with Hepburn playing Pat Pemberton, an all-around athlete hoping to go professional. To do that, she needs the help of a sports manager, a tough and savvy Irishman, Mike Conovan. Here, Hepburn plays the more delicate character as she is apparently unable to perform at her best when her fiancée (William Ching) is around. This of course leads to the typical pairing of the two leads as well as Pat realizing who she really needs to be with.

This was a very mediocre film, barely following a serious plot and stretching it just enough to be able to see some nice footage of Hepburn playing Babe Didrickson at golf as well as playing some indoor tennis. I never knew Hepburn was so athletic, especially at her age of filming this, but she did practically all of these scenes herself and proves that she was a capable athlete as well as actress. And although this wasn't as good a film as Adam's Rib, I liked Tracy a lot more in this role than that one. Here, he was much more likable as well as clever and sarcastic. There is a great scene when he describes to Hepburn how he runs his business and why he is so strict on how he runs the relationship between manager and athlete.

The supporting cast is mediocre as well with Ching as the helpless fiancée, Aldo Ray as a dim-witted boxer and Jim Backus as a golf store attendant. The only real reason to watch this at all is to admire the chemistry Tracy and Hepburn shared as well as admire the athletic ability Hepburn had all her life. It isn't their best work, but Tracy is very good and somewhat elevates the material better than it could be if another actor was in that role. This is also a testament to the fine actor Tracy was as his health started to decline after this. If only he could have remained healthy a little longer he could have extended his legacy as one of the best actors America has ever seen.