April 16th, 2014: Desk Set

Cast and Crew:  Walter Lang (Director); Phoebe and Henry Ephron (Screenwriters); William Marchant (Play); Joan Blondell

What It’s About: Bunny Watson (Katherine Hepburn) runs the research department of a major broadcasting network.  Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) is an efficiency expert and computer designer who starts spending time in the research department monitoring them.  The two begin to hit it off, but there are just two problems:  Watson believes Sumner is there to replace her staff with a computer, and Watson is rising executive Mike Cutler’s (Gig Young) sort of girlfriend.

Why Watch it Today?: It’s National Library Week, so celebrate by watching this film which, although dated, is a favorite of many in the profession.  Of course, the idea that computers and librarians are like oil and water is dangerous and unfortunately still in circulation, and librarians are best at looking up information, not simply knowing it off the top of their heads like Bunny, but this is not a documentary!

6 comments on “April 16th, 2014: Desk Set

  1. shmoo says:

    I caught part of this on TV years ago and have had it in the back of my mind to see the whole thing since then. Still haven’t done it. Probably not happening on April 10th either. Maybe I’ll schedule it for 4/10/12.

  2. Jenny says:

    I wish my name were Bunny, so so much.

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