Call Me Kate

I think this film is probably most interesting to those who don't feel they already know everything there is to know. I see review after review complain the narration was bad but I thought it was really good as well as a nod to the producers' for making such an effort. I'm not particularly a fan but Kate was a good friend to my best friend - a controversial man in the entertainment industry before his passing. So I have great regard for her. As an actress, I thought she was very tom boyish and seeing her always-present side-kick it doesn't take a genius to know only someone in love with you would follow you every where and be at your beck and call. That's not to say it was reciprocal. But having a famous friend in the industry, I've seen more than my share of fans who begged to be used, just like Luddy. I've witnessed first-hand my friend being called gay when he was far from it. My point is, much of this film is speculation and gossip and must be taken with a grain of salt. There were other tougher women in the industry who came before Kate. I can't imagine how tempting it is to take advantage of people who just beg for it and take advantage of every foot hold you can find as a woman back then. But clearly she was from an extremely dysfunctional abusive family so I find it interesting she describes it as an idealic childhood. In her day she was very unique and head strong, not unlike Lucille Ball who was turned down so many times she started her own production company and you know how that went.

This documentary covers an iconic actress whose life is well known.

But the film uses very good primary sources, mainly actual interviews, and the editing is first rate.

I don't think I learned anything dramatically new, but the way the subject is arranged brought some new insights into the information.

If nothing else, it's interesting to have a documentarian openly discussing gender and orientation. (As Hepburn herself would have been open to doing--as she actually did on tape in years past.)

Katharine Hepburn was ahead of her time. She may well still be ahead of our time. Because the woman lived a truly authentic life without the usual self-limiting worries most of us have.

Documentary looking at the life of 4 times oscar winner Katherine Hepburn. With an apparent shortage of actual Hepburn footage, it uses created narration using someone doing an impression of the star, mixed with original footage. The film does look to analyse Hepburn as a character and what drove her forward from child through to her nineties, rather than focus as much on the specifics of her film career. There is inevitably also quite a close look at her love life particularly Spencer Tracy.

It's an interesting if not very emotionally engaging experience and with little footage of Hepburn available, the various tricks being used to tell her tale aren't wholly successful.

I found the film to be a mess. Using a character actor only seen from the back to represent Kate in various aspects of her life was annoying. The actual tapes of her speaking were not for the most part able to be understood. Hearing a Larry King interview while seeing other film clips or stills, not knowing who he was interviewing - annoying. The style of watching someone take notes from the tape recording while the narrator spoke of aspects of her life was confusing. It seemed like a high school film project gone wrong. It did provide the actual facts of her life but presented in jumbled mess.

Some critics here have been very harsh on this documentary. But I found it very informative and sweet. Sure, for those already very familiar with Katharine Hepburn's life and work, there may not be a lot that's new. But I had not known a lot about her and so I learned a lot. It is an affectionate piece, obviously, with input from her family and from the family of her lover Spencer Tracy, but what's wrong with that? Hepburn was unlucky in that Tracy was married and so she did not get to have a traditional relationship, except for in Tracy's final years when she lived with him. But mostly in her life Hepburn was very lucky indeed. She happened to meet people in Hollywood who liked and encouraged her, who wrote for her and directed her in some of the top movies of her day. She had a wonderful and wealthy family including a wise, steadfast and feminist mother, she had good people around her as her assistants and friends. Even her first husband sounds like he was a very nice man, even though she admits she broke his heart. But aside from being lucky, Hepburn also was courageous and intelligent in standing up for herself so that she was paid well, could dress the way she wanted and did not have to compromise and play the sex object like many other actresses. Her mother taught her to get back up when she was down. Hepburn has a reputation for being somewhat cold emotionally but this documentary gives a more rounded insight into her life and character. She paved the way for female actors and characters to be actual characters as opposed to love interests, and she lived her life as she wanted it to be.