Adam's Rib

Adam's Rib, written by husband and wife team Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, is a genial, somewhat mannered battle-of-the-sexes comedy that is regarded by many, not altogether undeservedly, as a classic, largely thanks to the memorable dynamic between Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn who were, of course, in real life, long-time lovers (he remaining married throughout).

The pair play a husband and wife who work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband, their differences at a professional level manifesting themselves on the home front. Whilst the film was provocative for its day its resolution sees the due restoration of patriarchal order and now seems rather passé, but its points about the recognition of women by men are still worthy of attention today.

 

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