Wikipedia

Adam's Rib

For other uses, seeAdam's Rib (disambiguation).

Adam's Ribis a 1949 Americanromanticcomedy-dramafilm directed byGeorge Cukorfrom a screenplay written byRuth GordonandGarson Kanin.It starsSpencer TracyandKatharine Hepburnas married lawyers who come to oppose each other in court.Judy Hollidayco-stars as the third lead in her second credited movie role. Also featured areTom Ewell,David Wayne,andJean Hagen.The music was composed byMiklós Rózsa,and the song "Farewell, Amanda" was written byCole Porter.

Adam's Rib
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorge Cukor
Written byRuth Gordon
Garson Kanin
Produced byLawrence Weingarten
StarringSpencer Tracy
Katharine Hepburn
CinematographyGeorge J. Folsey
Edited byGeorge Boemler
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's Inc.[1]
Release date
  • November 18, 1949(1949-11-18)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,728,000[2]
Box office$3,947,000[2]

The film was well received upon its release and is considered a classicromantic comedy.It ranked at No. 22 on theAFI's 100 Years...100 Laughslist. In 1992, this film was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registryby theLibrary of Congressas being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[3][4][5]

Plot

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Tracy and Hepburn as Adam and Amanda

Doris Attinger follows her husband with a gun in Manhattan one day, suspecting he is having an affair with another woman. In her rage, she fires wildly and blindly around the room and at the couple multiple times. One of the bullets hits her husband in the shoulder. His lover escapes unscathed.

The following morning, the married New York lawyers Adam and Amanda Bonner read about the incident in the newspaper. Adam is an assistant district attorney, while Amanda is a solo-practicing defense attorney. They argue over the case. Amanda sympathizes with the woman, particularly noting the double standard that exists for men and women regarding adultery. Adam thinks Doris is guilty of attempted murder. When Adam arrives at work, he learns that he has been assigned to prosecute the case. When Amanda hears this, she seeks out Doris and becomes her defense lawyer.

Amanda bases her case on the belief that women and men are equal, and that Doris had been forced into the situation by her husband's adultery and emotional and physical abuse. Adam thinks Amanda is showing contempt for the law, since there should never be any excuse for such criminal behavior. Tension increasingly builds at home as the two battle each other in court. The situation comes to a head as Adam feels humiliated during the trial when Amanda encourages one of her witnesses, a woman weightlifter, to lift him overhead. Later at home that evening, Adam still angry, gives Amanda an earful; he doesn't want to be married to a liberated "new woman." Having just packed his bags, he storms out of their apartment. When the verdict is returned, Amanda's plea to the jury to "judge this case as you would if the sexes were reversed" proves successful, and Doris is acquitted.

That night, Adam, who has left their upper-floor apartment, looks through its window and sees the silhouettes of his wife Amanda and their neighbor Kip Lurie, a popular singer, songwriter and piano player who has shown a keen interest in Amanda all along, and repeatedly taunted Adam, as the two of them seem to be dancing and drinking together. Adam breaks into the apartment enraged, pointing a gun at the pair. Amanda is horrified and says to Adam, "You've no right to do this – nobody does!" Adam feels he has proven his point about the injustice of Amanda's line of defense. He puts the gun in his mouth, as Amanda and Kip scream in terror. Then Adam bites a large piece off the gun and chews it. It is made of licorice. Amanda is furious with this prank and a three-way fight ensues.

Now in the midst of a divorce, Adam and Amanda reluctantly reunite for a meeting with their tax accountant. Going through their expenses for the year, they talk about their relationship in the past tense. They talk about the farm they own and recall burning the mortgage. Tears begin to roll down Adam's cheeks. Astonished and touched, Amanda gently bundles her sobbing husband out of the office and to the farm. That night, Adam announces that he has been selected as the Republican nominee for County Court Judge. Amanda jokes about running for the post as the Democratic candidate. Adam says it would make him cry and demonstrates how easily he can turn on the tears, remarking that men can use crocodile tears to manipulate people too. Amanda says there really isn't any difference between the sexes as Adam jumps in bed and closes the curtains, exclaiming otherwise.

Cast

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Production

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Advertising for the film focused on its 'battle of the sexes' theme.

The screenplay was written specifically as a Tracy-Hepburn vehicle (their sixth film together) byGarson Kaninand actressRuth Gordon,married script writers who were friends of the couple. Kanin claimed that Judy Holliday initially declined her role because her character is called "fatso" in the script.[6]According to Kanin, the story ofAdam's Ribwas based on the lives of Gordon's friends Dorothy and William Dwight Whitney, and of actorRaymond Massey.[6]The Whitneys were married lawyers who represented opposing sides in Massey's high-profile divorce from actressAdrienne Allenbefore pursuing their own divorce in order to marry their clients from the Massey case.[7]Kanin and Gordon saw great potential in the idea of married lawyers as adversaries, and the plot forAdam's Ribwas developed. Other titles for the film wereLove is LegalandMan and Wife.[6]The MGM front office quickly vetoed the latter as dangerously indiscreet.[8]

Kanin also recalled that Cole Porter refused to write a song for Madelaine, as Hepburn's character was originally named, but proceeded when the character's name was changed to Amanda. The change allowed Porter to quickly revise a tune he had written during his 1940 adventure in the South Pacific and later discarded as mediocre — "So Long, Samoa."[9]In June 1949,Hollywood Reporterwrote that Porter andMGMagreed to donate all profits from the song, rechristened "Farewell, Amanda," to theRunyon Cancer Fund.

Although set in New York,Adam's Ribwas filmed mainly on MGM's stages inCulver City,California.[10]However, location shooting occurred in various parts of New York City, including at the Women's House of Detention where Doris Attinger is imprisoned after shooting her husband, and at Gordon and Kanin's farm in Connecticut.[6]

Hepburn and Kanin encouraged Judy Holliday to play the role of Doris, andColumbia PicturespresidentHarry Cohnconsidered her performance a screen test for the lead role in the planned film adaptation of Kanin's playBorn Yesterday,in which Holliday had starred during its Broadway run. Receiving positive notices forAdam's Rib,Holliday was cast in theBorn Yesterdayfilm, for which she won theAcademy Award for Best Actress.[6]

Reception

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Alternate theatrical poster

According to MGM records, the film earned $2,971,000 in the US and Canada and $976,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $826,000.[2][11]

Varietystaff reviewing the film on December 31, 1949, praised the "...bright comedy success, belting over a succession of sophisticated laughs...This is the sixth Metro teaming of Tracy and Hepburn, and their approach to marital relations around their own hearth is delightfully saucy. A better realization on type than Holliday's portrayal of a dumb Brooklyn femme doesn't seem possible."[12]

On review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,Adam's Ribhas a "Fresh" score of 96% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 8.04/10; the consensus for the film says: "Matched by Garson Kanin's witty, sophisticated screenplay, George Cukor, Spencer Tracy, and Katherine [sic] Hepburn are all in top form in the classic comedy Adam's Rib. "[13]

Leonard Maltingives the film four out of four stars, describing it as "[o]ne of Hollywood's greatest comedies about the battle of the sexes, with peerless Tracy and Hepburn supported by movie newcomers Holliday, Ewell, Hagen, and Wayne."[14]

Awards and honors

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Ruth Gordon(later ofRosemary's BabyandHarold and Maudefame) andGarson Kaninwere nominated for theAcademy AwardforBest Story and Screenplayin 1951.

The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institutein these lists:

AFIhas also honored the film's stars, naming Katharine Hepburn thegreatest American screen legendamong females and Spencer Tracy #9 among males.

TV adaptation

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Main article:Adam's Rib (TV series)

Adam's Ribwas adapted as a television sitcom in 1973 withKen HowardandBlythe Danner.The series was canceled after 13 episodes.

References

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  1. ^Adam's Ribat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^abcThe Eddie Mannix Ledger,Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ^"National Film Registry"ArchivedApril 19, 2012, at theWayback Machine.Library of Congress,accessed October 28, 2011.
  4. ^Marx, Andy; Wharton, Dennis (December 4, 1992)."Diverse pix mix picked".Variety.RetrievedSeptember 10,2020.
  5. ^"Complete National Film Registry Listing".Library of Congress.RetrievedSeptember 10,2020.
  6. ^abcde"Adam's Rib (1949) - Notes - TCM".Turner Classic Movies.RetrievedApril 29,2022.
  7. ^Pace, Eric (September 20, 1993)."Adrianne Allen, 86, A British Specialist In Light Comedies".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 27,2020.
  8. ^Kanin, Garson (1971).Tracy and Hepburn: An Intimate Memoir.New York: Viking. pp.154–155.ISBN0-670-72293-6.
  9. ^"Cole Porter / Miscellaneous Songs".sondheimguide.RetrievedApril 26,2024.
  10. ^The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations by Tony Reeves.The Titan Publishing Group. p. 12ArchivedJune 25, 2015, at theWayback Machine
  11. ^"Top Grossers of 1949".Variety.January 4, 1950. p. 59.
  12. ^"Adam's Rib".Variety.January 1, 1950.RetrievedJanuary 27,2020.
  13. ^"Adam's Rib (1949) - Rotten Tomatoes".Retrieved May 29, 2017.
  14. ^Leonard Maltin (September 2, 2014).Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide.Penguin.ISBN9780698183612.
  15. ^"AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs"(PDF).American Film Institute.RetrievedJuly 17,2016.
  16. ^"AFI's 10 Top 10: Top 10 Romantic Comedy".American Film Institute.RetrievedJuly 17,2016.
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