SimonJack
"Pat and Mike" is one of nine movies that Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made together. Most were comedies. This film showcases some of Hepburn's athletic abilities. Apparently, she was moderately good in a few sports. She learned to play tennis for this film and became quite good at it. There aren't a lot of laughs in this film. The screenplay is okay, but it has few witty lines. The humor mostly is in the relationships between characters and the characters themselves. Tracy is good as Mike Conovan, and Hepburn is good as Pat Pemberton. William Ching actually gives one of the best performances, as Pat's fiancé, Collier Weld. Aldo Ray is good for some laughs as Davie Hucko. This film doesn't rank up there with the better comedies of Hepburn and Tracy, but it's decent light entertainment. One of the things I like best about "Pat and Mike" is the scenes it has with Babe Didrikson Zaharias. The script has Pat in a major women's golf tournament, playing against Babe. Babe was a real living multi-talented female athlete. She was named athlete of the year six times from 1932 to 1954. She was a 1949 founding member of the Ladies PGA. She won numerous golfing tournaments, including 10 major LPGA championships. She won two gold medals in track and field in the 1932 Summer Olympics and she also played basketball. Babe died in 1956 from colon cancer She was just 46 years old. This isn't a film to run out and buy, but it's a good movie to watch on a rainy afternoon.
gavin6942
Pat (Kate Hepburn) is a women's sports sensation unless her fiancé is around. Her new shady manager Mike keeps them apart and develops feelings for her.Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon were friends with Hepburn and Tracy, and had the idea of writing a film to showcase Hepburn's athletic abilities. She was an avid golfer and tennis player, and indeed performed all the sports footage in the film herself.I continue to maintain that Katharine Hepburn may be the most overrated actress in the history of Hollywood. She has no range, no emotion. But when paired when Spencer Tracy, her films aren't too bad, because he really does a fine job of adding some personality to the screen. This is by no means as good as "The Desk Set", for example, but still a decent combination.
wes-connors
Widow golfer, college coach and all-around smarty pants Katharine Hepburn (as Patricia "Pat" Pemberton) is engaged to administrator William Ching (as Collier Weld) until sports agent Spencer Tracy (as Mike Conovan) admires her swing. She's "frazzled" by her fiancé, but Ms. Hepburn is confident and successful under Mr. Tracy's tutelage. This results in Hepburn messing up golf and tennis shots when Mr. Ching is watching. You might want to bet on romance blooming between Tracy and Hepburn...The film is full of familiar faces. You may recognize a caddy, bartender, busboy and policeman - half of them fighting in an amusing scene with Tracy, Hepburn and Charles Bronson...Featured supporting actor Aldo Ray (as David "Davie" Hucko) makes a memorable impression as Tracy's slow-witted boxer. Sammy White and George Matthews are good in smaller roles. The comedy situation is slight, and some of it is as exciting as watching golf - but at least Hepburn is playing. Director George Cukor with writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, the winning team from "Adam's Rib" (1949), knew how to score with Tracy and Hepburn. There may be fewer points here, but it's still a win.****** Pat and Mike (6/13/52) George Cukor ~ Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Aldo Ray, William Ching
gelman@attglobal.net
"Pat and Mike" is one of the many collaborations between Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, and it is, of course, a romantic comedy. As everyone knows, Hepburn and Tracy were real-life lovers, and the chemistry between them lights up the screen in this as in their other movies. Since everyone also knows the formula, it's obvious, long before they do, that Hepburn and Tracy will wind up together. "Pat and Mike" is one of Hepburn's better comic turns as a professional athlete unafraid to step into the middle of a fight to protect tough guy Tracy from gangster associates when they try to rough him up because he hasn't persuaded Pat to cooperate with their crooked gambling scheme. As in most of the Hepburn/Tracy movies, the premise doesn't much matter. The magic is between them, no matter the characters, no matter the story, and it is wonderful to watch since I can think of no present day movie couples who generate this kind of electricity and deliver this much fun.
AD
