Movie Review: Adam's Rib (1949)

Hello, all!

I'm coming to you today with a movie review starring a very famous duo! I've been meaning to review this one for ages, and have even started writing it a couple of times, but I have the perfect excuse today. I always get excited when I review classic Hollywood movies, so I hope that you enjoy this!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!

Adam's Rib (1949):

Married couple, Amanda and Adam Bonner, are both lawyers and l live a good life defending people. When a woman is accused of shooting her husband a date is given for a court hearing, and Adam is assigned with the prosecution. Amanda hears all about it and decides on the spot to defend the woman. What follows is that this pair has to go against each other in the courtroom while being together the rest of the time. Adam is upset when he hears this as he is worried that this constant arguing will bring about something worse. Who will win the case, and will Adam's foreboding feelings be right?

'"What's going to happen?"

"Plenty."'

Genre: Drama, Romance.

Length: approx. 101 minutes.

Script: 10, I'm sure of no bad words!

"I say, I sound fascinating."

Crew: Directed by: George Cukor.

Written by: Ruth Gordon & Garson Kanin.

Starring:

Katharine Hepburn as Amanda Bonner.

Spencer Tracy as Adam Bonner.

Judy Holliday as Doris Attinger.

Tom Ewell as Warren Attinger.

David Wayne as Kip Lurie.

Jean Hagen as Beryl Caighn.

Clarence Kolb as Judge Reiser.

Hope Emerson as Olympia La Pere.

Eve March as Grace.

Emerson Treacy as Jules Frikke.

Polly Moran as Mrs. McGrath.

Will Wright as Judge Marcasson.

Elizabeth Flournoy as Dr. Margaret Brodeigh.

Costumes: 6, there are times when people are just hanging out in bathrobes, or towels, but nothing bad or excellent.

Cinematography: 8, the opening struck my attention for having good cinematography! The rest is your standard black and white movie.

Cinematography by: George J. Folsey.

Music: I have to mark this one as N/A because I can't remember it besides the one song.

Music by: Miklós Rózsa.

Quotes: 6, I have not even considered quoting this since I watched it, but looking at my notes there were lots of good lines!

"I've got a theory, wanna hear it? I think the world is having a nervous breakdown." 

(Very applicable for this year!)

Content: 9, there is the subject of people having affairs, divorce, emotional abuse, and suggestive things. But, many of those are handled very well! I was duly impressed.

 "I don't believe women should smoke, you'll excuse me from saying." ( I don't believe anyone should smoke, but that seems to be my personal opinion)

Originality: 9, talking about gender justice (hey, that kind of rhymes) is a common topic, but not one that gets old! I admit, I haven't seen it take shape in a courtroom like this before with such circumstances, so it was very unique! In some ways it strangely reminded me of the book that I was reading at the time, Anna Karenina - by Leo Tolstoy.

Good For: Fans of the actors, married couples, anyone.

Age Range: While this movie is very clean and has some thought provoking topics, these kind of dramas can be boring to little kids. I speak from experience! It depends on the person, of course, but I would say this kind of interest could start appearing in someone of 13.

Overall Score: 8!

Worth watching?: Whenever I hear about a movie taking the most time in a courtroom, my immediate thought is, "Oh no! That's going to be so boring!" which is funny, because most movies dealing with the law in that way that I've seen are not boring. This one was especially the opposite. I was always interested in what was happening and it was, to tell the truth, riveting! Very well done and it was definitely worth watching. Plus, Judy Holliday had such an impacting role, and I was so glad to see Jean Hagen!

Will I watch again?: I most certainly will! With a lot of Katharine Hepburn movies I'm very anxious about how it will turn out when I am first viewing it (the exception obviously being Bringing Up Baby (1938)), but when I watch it again I find myself enjoying it a lot. In one way I was not satisfied with the ending, and in another I was very much so, so I don't know what to tell you, readers! I look forward to multiple rewatches!

For the blogathon:

This is my entry in The Third Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn Blogathon, hosted by Love Letters to Classic Hollywood and In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood!

Last year I reviewed one of my favorite movies, The Philadelphia Story (1940), which stars our wonderful Katharine, but this year I wanted to feature Spencer, too! As I said in my intro, I'd been wanting to talk about this film on my blog for awhile, so I picked it as my contribution. I'm sorry that I'm, once again, at the last minute, but it completely slipped my mind that this was happening until today! Rebecca at Taking Up Room also reviewed this movie, so check out what she has to say HERE.

When I finally watched this I'd been meaning to do it for such a long time. I was not disappointed! The story was so good and I liked all of the points brought up. It didn't say "Women are better than men." but it didn't say "Men are better than women", it had a wonderful balance of how all people are equal. I agree that there are biases towards both genders and they are valid points to bring up. Kate was so energetic and fun to watch as Amanda, but Spencer Tracy stole the show for me with Adam. He was so emotional in the role! I applaud both of them as they worked together perfectly.

Thanks to Michaela and Crystal for hosting! Check out the other entries HERE or HERE.

Your turn to talk to me! Has anyone else seen this? What is your favorite movie, or book, set in a court? Mine is To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), but this one is close!

MovieCritic