Desk Set (1957) - Film Review Assignment
The film Desk Set corresponds to The Post War City section of our IDC class.
General Information and Film Production: Desk Set is an American romantic comedy from 1957. The film’s director was Walter Lang, who, the previous year, directed the famous film The King and I, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Directing. The two main protagonists of Desk Set are Richard Sumner and as Bunny Watson, played by the actors Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, respectively. The film’s screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron. The screenplay was a slight adaptation of the 1955 play, The Desk Set, written by William Marchant. The main change to the script was increased interaction and less hostility between Sumner and Watson, in order to cater to the chemistry between Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, who acted together in eight previous films. Part of the filming of Desk Set took place at 30 Rockefeller Center, which is now the current headquarters of NBC, while the rest of the filming took place in a studio in Los Angeles, California.
Film Plot: The film’s opening focuses on the reference library of the Federal Broadcasting Network in Manhattan. Four women work in this library, including Bunny Watson who runs the department. The reference library serves as a research department to the Federal Broadcasting Network. The women fact check and provided information on any conceivable topic to anyone who calls their department number. The film periodically throws in moments of well-written humor. One of the first examples is when all the phones are ringing with inquiries. The third phone to go off is picked up, however instead of requesting information as expected, the caller informs the one of the women about a piece of lingerie she previously inquired about at a store. She then discreetly attempts to haggle the price, and agrees to have the store call her back.
The plot then proceeds to Richard Sumner, an MIT graduate, Methods Engineer, and efficiency expert hired by the CEO of the Network. We later learn that he is employed to work on a project to bring a computer system to the research department. He had previously installed a computer in the payroll department that led to the termination of half of the department staff. As part of his research for the installment of the computer, Sumner takes measurements of the library and shadows the four women of the reference library in order to better understand their system and way of working. It is important to note that all four women are extremely talented at their job;. they all have outstanding memories and are able to recall or, at the very least, find the most minute and obscure of details. Department drama occurs throughout the film, most importantly Watson’s involvement with an important network executive by the name of Mike Cutler. This involvement has been ongoing for seven years, however Cutler seems to have no intention of ever proposing to Watson. Throughout the film, a peculiar amicable connection forms between Watson and Sumner. At one point, he spends the evening in her apartment after being caught in a terrible thunderstorm, unable to hail a cab to get home. During this evening, Cutler comes in for a surprise visit after his flight was rescheduled due to the terrible weather conditions. He becomes immediately jealous of what he assumes happened between Watson and Sumners, who is dressed only in a robe while his soaked suit dried. This situation draws Sumner and Watson close together, while helping Watson realise that she is being dragged along by Cutler.
Soon, the four reference women realize that Sumner’s purpose for studying the reference library is so that he can install a computer for their department. The women begin to fear that their jobs will soon be replaced by this soon-to-be installed computer, just like in the Payroll Department. During the company-wide Christmas party, as the whole reference department and Sumner are ready to leave the office to join the other departments in holiday festivities, a female engineer walks into the office and confirms the reference women’s fear: that a computer will be added to their department. This news ruins the festive mood and cuts to the next scene, presumably a few weeks into later, where the massive 1950s style computer sits in the middle of the office. The female engineer is manning the machine, in charge of typing in inquiries, while the four reference women, still working for the Network, compile all the information in the library for the computer to digest. The computer demonstrates its capabilities to a group of important men of the Network with an inquiry that took one of the reference women three weeks to complete. The computer took 45 seconds to reach the same result. They all still worry about receiving pink slips with their checks, signaling their termination. Meanwhile, the machine receives inquiries, and, despite being successful in the past, has trouble providing the correct information. The reference women swoop in to save the day, however, lo and behold, when payroll envelopes arrive, all four women find pink slips and openly resent Sumner for his role in the matter. Sumner is confused and also receives a pink slip despite not being on the company payroll. As it turns out, Sumner’s computer in the Payroll Department had a malfunction and sent every employee of the network a pink slip, including the president. The film ends with two main developments. The first is that the Network was secretly planning a merger with another major corporation and the new computer was simply to assist the reference library with the increased number of inquiries. The second development is a very foreseeable one: Watson drops Cutler for Sumner and the closing scene is of them kissing.
Film reception: When Desk Set came out in 1957, it generally received positive reviews from critics and audiences, however none of them were truly outstanding. Bosley Crowther, a famous New York Times film critic at the time stated that “there is really not much tension in this thoroughly lighthearted film,” in addition to “there is not much of anything except Miss Hepburn, Mr. Tracy, an eager cast and a few well-turned jokes and situations that the lot of them nimbly play.” With the passage of time, audiences eventually grew to love Desk Set for its sharp script, outstanding character chemistry, and cheerful vibe. The film holds the rare achievement of being 100% ripe on the popular website RottenTomatoes. Personally, I found the movie to be excellent. I loved the humor and wit, the acting, the false plot predictability, and the overall feeling emanating from the film. I have, and will continue to, recommend Desk Set to others.
Course Themes: Three of the course’s themes are expressed in Desk Set. The first is morals and norms. Through Watson’s relationship with Cutler, we, as the audience, are able to see the gender roles and norms at the time. What would now send off every sexual harassment bell seemed perfectly normal and acceptable at the time. The second theme is meaningfulness. In the closing scene, Sumner shows Watson that his obsession for his machines means nothing in comparison with his love for her by letting the computer nearly self-destruct. Relationships, both romantic and friendly, are what is shown to be important. The third and last theme is “what is art’s purpose?” I believe that part of the film’s purpose was to introduce the topic of the dehumanizing technological take-over, specifically in the office space. This is a topic currently in our nation’s headlines with thousands upon thousands of jobs being lost to computers, robots, and automation every year. Perhaps Desk Set was ahead of its time with the foreshadowing of automation across all sectors of every industry, and the fear it brings along.
Youtube clips: https://youtu.be/ZK3zmPUxblk?t=2m https://youtu.be/gL3Ml_KCcYs?t=6m27s https://youtu.be/Df5D518_W1c?t=1m40s
Works Cited:
CROWTHER, BOSLEY. "The Screen: 'Desk Set'; Murder and Mayhem in 'Garment Jungle'" The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 May 1957. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. "Desk Set." Desk Set. Columbia University, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.