moviebuffjg

Please, please, please let's not forget Stewart Granger!

"Stage Door" is another film chock full of great insults and one-liners. Ginger Rogers gets most of them, but sometimes the simplest ones are the best. Ginger to Katharine Hepburn, when she discovers that her new roommate is a hoighty-toighty socialite who never had to do an honest day's work in her life: "Yeah, I bet you could boil a terrific pan of water."

I agree with both of you regarding "epics," but I would throw this in too. A movie with an epic scope frequently takes place at a distinguished point in history but follows a very personal story that is affected by its historic background (e.g., Gone With the Wind, Titanic).

I have to give my vote to Kate Hepburn. Here you have a woman who so knocked Hollywood on its ear that they gave her an academy award for one of her very first films. She was really never much of a contract player unlike most of her contemporaries (her short stint with RKO being the exception) and continued to work in roles that she largely chose. She had such prominence that she could name co-stars and directors to work with long before other actors ever had the chance. She performs, with equal adeptness, sophisticated and screwball comedy and high drama. She is one of the very few actresses who reinvented herself for each different phase of her life (ingenue, sophisticate, "old maid"). Also, how many actors can continue to work - IN LEADING ROLES - in 6 decades? I'd count the 90's, but let's be honest, her TV movies were not impressive...

The first "classic" movie that I ever watched was "Desk Set," so it holds a special place with me, but objectively speaking, I don't think they ever did a better film than "Woman of the Year." Most of their films are very dated watching them now, though I really do enjoy them. "Woman of the Year" not only holds up today, but it has crackling wit and incredible chemistry (witness the first scene H&T play together when she's adjusting her nylons!).

I would strongly recommend "The More the Merrier" with Jean Arthur and Joel McCrae (one of the funniest movies of the period). You may also want to check out "Only Angels Have Wings," although it's not necessarily a comedy (though it does have funny moments). Since you like Hepburn and Tracy, you may enjoy "Without Love". It co-stars Lucille Ball (who practically steals the movie she's so funny). "Stage Door" is another one with Hepburn, though it is a little more popular and you may have seen it. Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball both co-star and they are truly fantastic. Rapid, witty dialogue. Finally, and a little more recent (mid-70's), is "Robin and Marian" starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn. Truly funny to watch a tired, aging Robin Hood look up Maid Marian (who's become a nun) only to hear Marian say, "What the hell do you want?"