Adam's Rib
Adam's Rib
NR | 18 November 1949 (USA)
Adam's Rib Trailers

A woman's attempted murder of her uncaring husband results in everyday quarrels in the lives of Adam and Amanda, a pair of happily married lawyers who end up on opposite sides of the case in court.

Reviews
Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Interesteg What makes it different from others?
Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
thirstydog-32613 At times this film is surprisingly progressive for it's time. Other times, it pulls back the reins and is dated and trite. For example, the two main characters (played by Spenser Tracy and Katherine Hepburn) are a married couple. Amanda and Adam Bonner, are having a heated discussion on equal rights and then she cuts someone off while she is driving, and gets yelled at by a truck driver. She just merrily waves him offas if to say, "weel what do you expect, I'm a woman." Certainly it is part of the point the film is making, but it seems to say, here is this equal and extremely intelligent woman (a lawyer who went to Yale) is still a woman because she is flighty and can't drive.Another example is when the husband brings home a bonnet, (very ugly - how could people like that stye in those days?) she falls madly in love with it and gushes like a school girl.On the other hand, some of the sexual innuendos seemed pretty racy for a film of that time and some of the feminist view points were apologetically and clearly stated.The film and the humor do not date well despite its progressive leanings. It is possible for a classic film to date well, just as some popular music from the 70's works very well now, and some music from the 70's doesn't translate at all.
Gerardrobertson61 What a sheer delight it was to watch this movie, and I cannot understand why I have not watched it before. The chemistry between Tracy and Hepburn is clearly shown in this comedy and the banter made me smile for the whole duration of the movie. I am now keen to watch the other 8 or so movies that these two classic actors have made together, something that I have surprisingly not thought of before, given my love of the movies of the 40's and 50's. I am not going to review the story, all I am going to say is that this was one of the most enjoyable movies I have watched recently from this era, and I will be definitely adding this to my movie collection. Loved it.
gamay9 Obviously, the actors carry this film. To an ex-judge, like me, it is laughable for all the wrong reasons. Adam is an inept prosecutor, but one has to remember that the courts were less punitive in the 40's than today. That's why we have prison over-crowding. Prison is a business. In 2014, the defendant would have likely been convicted of reckless endangerment at the very least. But, I realize this is a typical Tracy/Hepburn comedy and realism is unimportant, albeit feminism is very important. Katherine always wore the pants, literally and figuratively.My favorite scene is when the Hope Emerson character lifts Adam up in the air, then gently returns him to the floor. This is the defendant's ploy to prove that females can be strong.
Shawn Inlow Adam's Rib 1949 / George Cukor 101 minutes Vault Rating: 8Here's a great little film, perhaps the best of the Spencer Tracy / Katherine Hepburn vehicles of the time that sparkles even today in the first half with brilliant dialogue and clever framing of scenes that make the most of its two stars.If only the film didn't have to go anywhere or prove any point. In its day, the film's message about gender equality must have been quite something, but today it is a little preachy, but still class all the way. This is a film not to be missed.The story finds Adam (Tracy) and A"man"da (Hepburn) as a so-in-love couple of lawyers who wind up on either side of a case where a jilted housewife (Judy Holliday, in the quintessential ditzy blonde role, often copied but never equaled - well except that same year as she won the Oscar for "best actress" for her ditzy blonde in "Born Yesterday.") has finally had enough of her two-timing husband and busts a cap in his ass.Let the court-room hi jinx and pre-1950's battle of the sexes begin! Too bad women today are still battling for equal pay for equal work. Politics aside, this is a charmer with so many facets to recommend it that they're hard to enumerate.To name a few, co-writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin were nominated for the Oscar in 1951 for "best writing, story and screenplay" but somehow lost to the heavyweights behind "Sunset Boulevard." And the film was lovingly and rightly placed on the National Film Registry in 1992. A joyful movie overall, but what really recommends it is the effortless quality of the interplay between Tracy and Hepburn who, frankly, aren't acting. We know in retrospect that the two had a long love affair off screen and it shines through on screen to the utter benefit of the audience.