Tracy & Hepburn: The Definitive Collection

One of Hollywood's great screen couples, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn made nine films together, from Woman of the Year in 1942 to 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, completed weeks before Tracy died of a heart attack. Tracy & Hepburn: The Definitive Collection is the first comprehensive gathering of their collaborations, including the DVD debut of two (admittedly second-tier) productions: Keeper of the Flame (1942), a Citizen Kane-esque drama directed by George Cukor, with Tracy as a journalist who's looking into the mystery surrounding a deceased industrialist and national hero, and Hepburn as the widow; and The Sea of Grass (1947), a sweeping western saga directed by Elia Kazan, with Tracy as a cattle baron and Hepburn as his Midwestern society-belle bride. In Woman of the Year, directed by George Stevens, a sportswriter marries a political correspondent who's also a diplomat's daughter, but her hectic lifestyle presents a challenge to their relationship. A loveless marriage between a scientist and his assistant is the subject of 1945's Without Love, directed by Harold S. Bucquet. Marital affairs are also the pivot point of State of the Union (1948), a witty satire helmed by Frank Capra, in which a charismatic business executive contemplates a run for the presidency but must figure out how to project a positive image with his estranged wife. Cukor takes charge again with two classic romantic comedies: Adam's Rib (1949), which has a pair of married lawyers sparring in the courtroom and the bedroom over female equality—he's the prosecutor and she's the defense attorney for a woman accused of shooting her adulterous spouse; and Pat and Mike (1952), in which a gifted female golf and tennis player enlists the help of an enthusiastic sports promoter to help her succeed on the pro circuit. In Walter Lang's librarian favorite Desk Set (1957), the woman in charge of the research department of a television network clashes with the man who's leading the move toward computerization (with a room-sized “electronic brain”). Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which earned Hepburn her second Oscar, wittily explores the reactions of an affluent, liberal-minded San Francisco couple when their daughter brings home the internationally respected black doctor to whom she's engaged. Completing the set is the touching 1986 documentary The Spencer Tracy Legacy, hosted by Hepburn in tribute to her companion and co-star. DVD extras include audio commentary on Desk Set, celebrity introductions for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and vintage shorts and cartoons. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)