Search - Pat and Mike on DVD


Pat and Mike
Pat and Mike
Actors: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Aldo Ray, William Ching, Sammy White
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Sports, Musicals & Performing Arts
NR     2000     1hr 35min

A small-time sports promotor takes on a woman champion. Genre: Feature Film-Comedy Rating: NR Release Date: 19-SEP-2000 Media Type: DVD

     

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Aldo Ray, William Ching, Sammy White
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Sports, Musicals & Performing Arts
Sub-Genres: Romantic Comedies, Classic Comedies, Love & Romance, Golf, Musicals
Studio: Warner Home Video
Format: DVD - Black and White,Full Screen
DVD Release Date: 09/19/2000
Original Release Date: 06/13/1952
Theatrical Release Date: 06/13/1952
Release Year: 2000
Run Time: 1hr 35min
Screens: Black and White,Full Screen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, French

Similar Movies

Desk Set
Director: Walter Lang
   NR   2004   1hr 43min
State of the Union
Director: Frank Capra
   NR   2006   2hr 4min
Stage Door
Director: Gregory La Cava
   NR   2005   1hr 32min

Similarly Requested DVDs

The Misfits
Director: John Huston
   NR   2001   2hr 4min
   
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Widescreen & Full Screen Edition
Director: Bharat Nalluri
   PG-13   2008   1hr 32min
   
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Director: Blake Edwards
   UR   2001   1hr 55min
   
O Brother Where Art Thou
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
   PG-13   2001   1hr 46min
   
The Magnificent Seven
Special Edition
Director: John Sturges
   NR   2001   2hr 8min
   
Funny Face
Director: Stanley Donen
   UR   2001   1hr 43min
   
Guys and Dolls
   NR   2000   2hr 30min
   
Secondhand Lions
New Line Platinum Series
Director: Tim McCanlies
   PG   2004   1hr 49min
   
The Maltese Falcon
Director: John Huston
   UR   2000   1hr 41min
   
Roman Holiday
Special Collector's Edition
Director: William Wyler
   NR   2002   1hr 58min
   
 

Movie Reviews

Diverting, but not their best
Dennis Littrell | SoCal | 09/05/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"One of the most amusing things about this romantic comedy is the fact that Katharine Hepburn was 44 years old when it was made. She played a super athlete. I think modern audiences would find it hard not to cringe watching her play tennis. Certainly Hepburn was in great shape for a woman her age, but the flight of imagination necessary to allow me to see her as a world class athlete was beyond my reach.Still this is a cute little story highlighted by the usual fine chemistry between Hepburn and co-star Spencer Tracy. He plays a grammatically challenged sports manager/promoter with the familiar Spencer Tracy heart of gold who falls in love with his "property." In small roles, Chuck Conners plays a cop and Charles Bronson a not too bright thug. Aldo Ray is a feeble minded heavyweight boxer and William Ching is Hepburn's incompatible boyfriend. The Ruth Gordon/Garson Kanin script was ahead of its time as it had Hepburn kicking male tail with the greatest of ease, albeit facetiously. This is worth seeing for the good snapshot of mid-century American values presented."
Tracy & Hepburn are CLASSIC in this remastered DVD!!!
forrie | Nashua, NH United States | 06/01/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"MGM does a grand job in restoring this 1952 comedy classic to DVD perfection!!! Presented in Black/White, Standard Screen size (4:3 tv aspect ratio - before WideScreen (1953)).This was Spencer Tracy's & Katherine Hepburn's 7th film together and as always are Classic Team mates!!! Now digitally remastered and on DVD makes it even better. Flawlessly digitalized makes the picture quality absolutely astounding to watch. Hepburns athletism can be more appreciated especially during the golf scenes when she drives the balls into the far distance (only now can we see these tiny spheres in the distance with DVD clarity!).Summary; Masterfully directed by George Cukor, Athletic Pat (Hepburn) plays a very skillful amateur female sports nut who seems trapped in a rich socialite engaged to be married life. Mike (Tracy) a sports promoter eyes Hepburn in a Pro-Amatuer Golf match & sees a gold mine to be had. Hustling her to turn pro & be his client Hepburn decides this is a way to escape her miserable dominating fiances & to be married life. Hepburn shows hows some amazing athletic talents in golf & tennis. Tracy & Hepburn are a grand pair to watch & Hollywoods 1950's happy ending prevails. This is a keeper and the DVD is a beauty! Special Features include: Cast & Crew, Behind the Scenes, Theatrical Teaser & Trailer.Pat & Mike is great family entertainment & Katherine Hepburn shows how women can be independent (wearing slacks), athletic (amazing golfer& tennis player) & feminine (beautiful & vunerable) all in one. Enjoy."
"You're a beautiful thing to watch... in action."
fwooshlet | Oxford United Kingdom | 08/07/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

"PAT & MIKE is the seventh Tracy-Hepburn collaboration, and it stars Spencer Tracy as Mike Conovan, the moneyminded sports racketeer with a heart of gold, and Katharine Hepburn (looking a great deal younger than she did in 1951's THE AFRICAN QUEEN) as his beautiful 'property', Pat Pemberton. Pat is an all-round 'lady athlete', adept at golf and tennis (not to mention shooting, basketball and presumably swimming), but completely frazzled whenever her fiance Collier Weld (a suitably smarmy William Ching) is around and watching her. In a bid to become more in control of herself and her life, she (contrarily) submits to Mike's management and he takes her around the country as a golf and tennis pro. It doesn't take much imagination to realise what happens next--Mike's 'handling' of Pat is the kind of handling she's willing to accept (switch 'Tracy' for 'Mike' and 'Hepburn' for 'Pat' and you get also a description of Tracy and Hepburn's real-life relationship), and before long, Collier is pretty much left in the dust.This film is evidently a star vehicle for Tracy and Hepburn, containing next to no artistic pretensions or even any real attempt to press a subtle feminist point (in contrast with other Tracy/Hepburn films like WOMAN OF THE YEAR or ADAM'S RIB). In fact, the film seems to be just a comfortable, familiar joke between actors, writers and audience--we know these characters, we know these actors, we know what kind of relationship they always have (bantering, sparring, and in the end just a perfect fit)... the only thing that's different is the names of the characters. Sam, Adam, Mike--Tess, Amanda, Pat--what's the difference?To be fair, Hepburn's character of Pat Pemberton is much softer and more vulnerable than either Tess Harding or Amanda Bonner. This character variation doesn't hide the real point of the screenplay though--Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin evidently wanted a chance to display both Hepburn's natural athletic abilities (phenomenal for a non-professional, but possibly not 100% believable against sports stars like Babe Zaharias) and her incredible legs. Well, they did succeed at both of these things, to great effect. It's great fun for a Hepburn fan, having read about her deep and abiding love of any and all sports, to get a chance to actually watch her playing golf and tennis onscreen. (This doesn't mean, of course, that the frequent and long golf scenes don't test one's patience occasionally!)Spencer Tracy has great fun as Mike as well, the sports agent who originally wants Pat to flub a game and come in second. He claims early on in the film that the trouble with her is that she's got too honest a face--it's only Tracy's ability to make rough-and-tumble characters believably vulnerable at heart that makes his later declaration ("I must have caught something from you" i.e. honesty) acceptable. The chemistry between the two is probably closer to the comfortable rapport they shared in ADAM'S RIB as man and wife than the fireworks that went off between them in WOMAN OF THE YEAR. Whatever the case, it is still always a joy to watch Tracy and Hepburn together onscreen, and it's largely because this film stars who it does that you can allow yourself to enjoy and be taken in by what is evidently a cutesy star vehicle written by the stars' friends (Gordon and Kanin), and directed by the leading lady's best and favourite director George Cukor. (Some of the visual tricks, particularly Hepburn's face appearing on that of a horse, are actually more disturbing than flattering, and I--for one--would prefer not to pursue the metaphor through to its end.) Tracy and Hepburn are also boosted by an excellent supporting cast, particularly William Ching as Pat's obnoxious suitor and Aldo Ray as Mike's dimwitted star protege (until Pat comes along, that is!).PAT & MIKE is a romantic comedy, but it's also romantic-comedy-*lite*. There are no forced or fake separations that are geared towards wringing tears from viewers before a reconciliation (contrast again with ADAM'S RIB and most formulaic films in recent years). The film is just a little piece of joyful fluff--not taxing at all for either the writers, the actors, or the viewers. For a brilliant comic set-piece, watch out for the scene in which Pat takes on the two seedy sports racketeers and dispenses them with remarkable ease and efficiency. Otherwise, watch PAT & MIKE with the knowledge that this is neither Tracy and Hepburn's best, nor is it their worst. If you keep your expectations down, you'll certainly enjoy watching this film because it aims low (aiming only to please and amuse, and not necessarily to engage and thrill), and fulfils those aims very well. 8/10."
Surprising, Charming Comedy
Gary F. Taylor | Biloxi, MS USA | 04/25/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

"According to film lore, writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin were inspired to write PAT AND MIKE when they realized that Katherine Hepburn was a near-professional-level golfer and tennis player. The result is a sprightly tale of a college physical education teacher named Pat (Hepburn) who turns pro with the help of a slightly shady promoter manager named Mike (Tracy.)As always, Tracy and Hepburn make for an engaging pair, and the supporting cast is crammed with memorable faces, including Jim Backus, Chuck Conners, a very young Charles Bronson, and even Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer--and every one plays with the same charming touch. The sports scenes also gives sports fans a glimpse at such legendary atheletes as Babe Didrikson Zaharias. But the real interest here is the script itself: in an era noted for sexism, PAT AND MIKE is flatly feminist, and the story finds Hepburn first rebelling against fiance William Ching's "little woman" mentality and then straightening out Spenser Tracy on the same point--and in one of the film's most memorable scenes, Hepburn effectively shoves Tracy aside to beat up two men who threaten him!Given the nature of its story, PAT AND MIKE spends quite a lot of time on the golf course and the tennis courts, and those who have little interest in sports may not find it to their taste; that said, in spite of its many charms, the film isn't really in the same league with Tracy and Hepburn's ADAM'S RIB. Still, fans of the screen team will enjoy it quite a bit, and even purely casual viewers will have a good time."