Woman of the Year movie storyline. Tess and Sam (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) work on the same newspaper and don’t like each other very much. At least the first time, because they eventually fall in love and get married. But Tess is a very active woman and one of the most famous feminists in the country; she is even elected as “the woman of the year.” Being busy all the time, she forgets how to really be a woman and Sam begins to feel neglected.
Woman of the Year is a 1942 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The film was written by Ring Lardner Jr., Michael Kanin, and John Lee Mahin, and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
The film’s plot is about the relationship between Tess Harding—an international affairs correspondent, chosen “Woman of the Year”—and Sam Craig—a sportswriter—who meet, marry, and encounter problems as a result of her unflinching commitment to her work.
In 1999, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. The film earned $1,935,000 in the US and Canada and $773,000 elsewhere during its initial release, making MGM a profit of $753,000.
The outline for the film was developed by Garson Kanin, a close friend of Hepburn’s. Hepburn then passed the outline to Joseph L. Mankiewicz at MGM, and said the price was $250,000 – half for her, half for the script. He liked it and agreed to produce the movie. Kanin was fighting in the war at the time, so the script was written by his brother, Michael Kanin, and mutual friend Ring Lardner, Jr. Hepburn contributed significantly to the script – reading it, suggesting cuts and word changes, and generally providing helpful enthusiasm for the project. As a part of the deal, Hepburn had the option of selecting her co-star and director (Tracy and Stevens).
Woman of the Year (1942)
Directed by: George Stevens
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Fay Bainter, Reginald Owen, Minor Watson, William Bendix, Gladys Blake, Dan Tobin, Roscoe Karns, William Tannen, Ludwig Stössel, Sara Haden
Screenplay by: Ring Lardner Jr., Michael Kanin
Cinematography by: Joseph Ruttenberg
Film Editing by: Frank Sullivan
Costume Design by: Adrian
Set Decoration by: Edwin B. Willis
Art Direction by: Cedric Gibbons
Music by: Franz Waxman
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Loew’s Inc.
Release Date: February 19, 1942
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