Adam’s Rib

Composite Score: 84.03

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Tom Ewell, David Wayne, and Jean Hagen

Director: George Cukor

Writers: Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin

Genres: Comedy, Romance, Legal

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Box Office: $3.95 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Adam’s Rib is the 1949 legal romantic comedy about two lawyers – married to each other – who represent opposite sides in a case where a woman shot her husband when she caught him stepping out on her. The film stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as Adam and Amanda Bonner – the lawyers around whom the film revolves – and Judy Holliday as Doris Attinger, the wronged woman, supported by David Wayne as Kip Lurie, the Bonners’ amorous neighbor from across the hall who relentlessly tries to woo Amanda away from Adam, Tom Ewell as Warren Attinger, Doris’s unfaithful husband, and Jean Hagen as Beryl Caighn, the woman of questionable character with whom Warren was discovered. The film handles its delicate issues of gender roles and expectations well, throwing in some decent comedy and solid acting to hold the whole thing together. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and remains one of the classic romantic comedies.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Not every aspect of Adam’s Rib has aged perfectly from 1949 to now, particularly the film’s treatment of Doris and Warren Attinger’s relationship. Because we’re meant to root for the survival of the Bonners’ marriage, the audience is asked to treat both of their arguments as fairly equally legitimate when, in fact, both present flawed approaches to both the law and marriage in their legal arguments regarding the Attingers. Doris’s mistreatment of her husband is presented as acceptable grounds for his mistreatment of her, and vice versa, with the story going so far as to present physical abuse as something reasonably expected in many marital relationships (as a comedic bit of sorts, but not a very great one). Clearly, the Attingers have some deep issues within their relationship that they need to work through, and while the film is itself a comedy, the issues raised (and implicitly resolved) by the court’s dive into their marriage warrant perhaps a more dramatic treatment than this film could offer – a failing of the era and its expectations for comedic films more than anything else.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                As the culmination (of sorts) of the screwball comedy genre, Adam’s Rib shines, diving headfirst into the subgenre’s themes of gender roles, masculinity, femininity, and marital norms, all with a heavy dose of wit and humor to keep you from getting too uncomfortable. From the jump, we are offered a twist on the expectations of genders – a woman with a gun following an unarmed man through the streets of New York – in an excellently shot and acted scene for its minimal dialogue. Then we are introduced to the Bonners and their egalitarian marriage (at least on the surface) before their understandings of how the world is supposed to work are put on display. The trial exposes each of their presuppositions about marriage and the roles of men and women in society to the audience, but also to each other, putting them at odds as they are challenged not on their marital practices but their deeply held beliefs (reminiscent of the film’s challenging those of audiences). Finally, the film concludes with the couple reconciling their relationship without fully reconciling their beliefs, leaving the audience with a lot more to ponder than the typical romantic comedy conclusion.

                Adam’s Rib’s thought-provoking exploration of gender roles remains fairly well-aged in a modern context, thanks in part to the comedy written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin and also to the committed performances of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy – earning its spot among the greats. Its statements about abuse within marriage (jokes or not) might not be the best example of well-aged comedy, but the rest of the film remains solidly in that zone. It is currently available to stream on HBO Max if you’d like to watch it soon.