The seventh pairing of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn focuses on the sports world with Hepburn playing Pat Pemberton, an all-around athlete hoping to go professional. To do that, she needs the help of a sports manager, a tough and savvy Irishman, Mike Conovan. Here, Hepburn plays the more delicate character as she is apparently unable to perform at her best when her fiancée (William Ching) is around. This of course leads to the typical pairing of the two leads as well as Pat realizing who she really needs to be with.
This was a very mediocre film, barely following a serious plot and stretching it just enough to be able to see some nice footage of Hepburn playing Babe Didrickson at golf as well as playing some indoor tennis. I never knew Hepburn was so athletic, especially at her age of filming this, but she did practically all of these scenes herself and proves that she was a capable athlete as well as actress. And although this wasn't as good a film as Adam's Rib, I liked Tracy a lot more in this role than that one. Here, he was much more likable as well as clever and sarcastic. There is a great scene when he describes to Hepburn how he runs his business and why he is so strict on how he runs the relationship between manager and athlete.
The supporting cast is mediocre as well with Ching as the helpless fiancée, Aldo Ray as a dim-witted boxer and Jim Backus as a golf store attendant. The only real reason to watch this at all is to admire the chemistry Tracy and Hepburn shared as well as admire the athletic ability Hepburn had all her life. It isn't their best work, but Tracy is very good and somewhat elevates the material better than it could be if another actor was in that role. This is also a testament to the fine actor Tracy was as his health started to decline after this. If only he could have remained healthy a little longer he could have extended his legacy as one of the best actors America has ever seen.
