{"id":29511,"date":"2013-02-01T11:50:45","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T18:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29511"},"modified":"2022-12-18T16:32:05","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T23:32:05","slug":"woman-of-the-year-1942","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29511","title":{"rendered":"Woman of the Year (1942)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You don&#8217;t think I can do all the ordinary little things that any idiot can do, do you?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Poster-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-29513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Poster-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Poster.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA globe-trotting political journalist (Katharine Hepburn) and an easy-going sports writer (Spencer Tracy) fall in love, but find their marriage strained by Hepburn&#8217;s hectic lifestyle.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Career-versus-Marriage<\/li>\n<li>Fay Bainter Films<\/li>\n<li>Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues<\/li>\n<li>George Stevens Films<\/li>\n<li>Journalists<\/li>\n<li>Katharine Hepburn Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Romantic Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Spencer Tracy Films<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<li>William Bendix Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that just as &#8220;Spencer Tracy&#8217;s sportswriter and Katharine Hepburn&#8217;s political columnist&#8230; can feel the chemistry&#8221; the first time they &#8220;lay eyes on each other&#8221;, viewers &#8220;can immediately feel the chemistry between the stars in their first scene together on screen&#8221;. He points out that we get to experience the unique &#8220;joy&#8221; of &#8220;watching their characters get to know each other&#8221;, given that we now know &#8220;we&#8217;re also watching the stars develop their inimitable interplay&#8221; &#8212; one that endured throughout their real-life romance as well as through eight additional films together. He argues that the &#8220;film is hurt by silly and overly sentimental plot contrivances, and because once they&#8217;re married neither character is very appealing&#8221;, but counters that &#8220;Tracy and Hepburn ride out the rocky road&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m actually more a fan of Ring Lardner, Jr. and Michael Kanin&#8217;s Oscar-winning script than Peary is. While there are certainly some &#8220;silly&#8230; plot contrivances&#8221; &#8212; as when Hepburn &#8220;adopts a Greek orphan without consulting Tracy and then hasn&#8217;t the time to be a mother&#8221; &#8212; this is par for the course in a screwball romantic comedy like <em>WOTY<\/em>, which is never anything less than delightfully zany in its portrayal of Hepburn&#8217;s over-the-topness (after all, her &#8220;Tess&#8221; is shown speaking no less than half a dozen languages fluently!). Meanwhile, as Peary argues, &#8220;what&#8217;s most fascinating about the film is Hepburn&#8217;s uninhibitedly sexual performance&#8221;, with her &#8220;sexiness com[ing] from how she uses her eyes, voice, body, and, more significantly, her <em>mind<\/em> prior to lovemaking&#8221;. Indeed, Hepburn&#8217;s intelligence is a major turn-on &#8212; not just for Tracy (who secretly seems to love his wife&#8217;s genius), but for audience members, who can easily embrace Hepburn&#8217;s Tess Harding as a feminist icon for the ages. (Now <em>this<\/em> is the pioneering female journalist we wanted to see more of in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29398\"><em>A Woman Rebels<\/em><\/a>!) <\/p>\n<p>The enduring question about <em>Woman of the Year<\/em> is whether its views on gender roles and marital responsibilities have dated terribly (as Peary argues is the case with all the Tracy-and-Hepburn films). It&#8217;s true that the final scene &#8212; showcasing Hepburn&#8217;s disastrous attempts to make breakfast for her husband, <em>a la<\/em> Buster Keaton in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=23964\"><em>The Navigator<\/em> (1924)<\/a> &#8212; would seem to hint that the characters have finally caved to sexist mid-century mores; but listen carefully, and you&#8217;ll find that this really isn&#8217;t the case. Indeed, while Hepburn is clearly made out to be the &#8220;villain&#8221; throughout the film &#8212; with poor, put-upon Tracy simply enduring her hectic lifestyle until he finally puts his foot down &#8212; the moral of the story isn&#8217;t that Hepburn should give up her phenomenal success for the sake of being a housewife. Rather, the lesson being taught is a remarkably modern one: the need for compromise and balance in any relationship. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Katharine Hepburn as Tess Harding (nominated by Peary as one of the Best Actresses of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Hepburn.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Hepburn.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Hepburn.png 560w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Hepburn-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Hepburn-300x222.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Spencer Tracy as Sam Craig (nominated by Peary as one of the Best Actors of the Year in <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Tracy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Tracy.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Tracy.png 560w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Tracy-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Tracy-300x222.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Plenty of believable onscreen chemistry between Hepburn and Tracy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Chemistry.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Chemistry.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Chemistry.png 560w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Chemistry-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Chemistry-300x222.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Tess&#8217;s addled attempt to make breakfast; click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thescarlettolive.com\/?p=176\">here<\/a> to listen to a fun podcast by www.thescarlettolive.com about &#8220;food in film&#8221; which briefly addresses this scene<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Breakfast.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Breakfast.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29515\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Breakfast.png 560w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Breakfast-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Woman-of-the-Year-Breakfast-300x222.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An enjoyably witty screenplay by Ring Lardner, Jr. and Michael Kanin<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Woman-of-the-Year-Baseball-Game.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Woman-of-the-Year-Baseball-Game.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Woman-of-the-Year-Baseball-Game.png 560w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Woman-of-the-Year-Baseball-Game-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Woman-of-the-Year-Baseball-Game-300x222.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as one of Tracy and Hepburn&#8217;s most enjoyable pictures together. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0035567\/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1942\/02\/06\/archives\/woman-of-year-with-katharine-hepburn-and-spencer-tracy-at-music.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/14145\/woman-of-the-year#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/woman-of-the-year\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wYChYzQeF54\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t think I can do all the ordinary little things that any idiot can do, do you?&#8221; Synopsis: A globe-trotting political journalist (Katharine Hepburn) and an easy-going sports writer (Spencer Tracy) fall in love, but find their marriage strained by Hepburn&#8217;s hectic lifestyle. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Career-versus-Marriage Fay Bainter Films Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues George Stevens Films Journalists Katharine Hepburn Films Marital Problems Romantic Comedy Spencer Tracy Films Strong Females William Bendix Films Response to Peary\u2019s Review:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29511\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29511"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88888,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29511\/revisions\/88888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}