Lacking confidence is a problem which almost everyone faces at some point. Even if someone seems very self-assured, at one time or another, he has surely felt like he’s up against the whole world and just can’t win. It’s times like these when we need a reminder that all we have to do is master ourselves.
Today’s Moment of Movie Wisdom is from “Pat and Mike” (1952). The scene I want to discuss takes place 67 minutes into this 95-minute film. Female athlete Pat Pemberton (Katharine Hepburn) advises young heavyweight boxer Davie Hucko (Aldo Ray) who is managed by the same promoter, Mike Conovan (Spencer Tracy). Seeing that Hucko thinks he needs Mike’s constant attention to prepare him for a fight, Pat tells him that all he has to do is beat himself to succeed. This advice makes a huge impact on the young man.
In the movie, Pat Pemberton is a physical education teacher at a girls’ college. She is a widow, but she is seeing another teacher at the college, Collier Weld (William Ching). At the end of an infuriating golf game with a potential donor to the college (Loring Smith) and his annoying wife (Phyllis Povah), Pat blows off steam by demonstrating her amazing golf skills. Bartender Charles (Jim Backus) sees her and persuades her to enter a golf tournament. When she ends up losing first place just short of victory because Collier’s presence on the sidelines unnerves her, she decides to rethink her life.
Now with no job and a postponed relationship with Collier, Pat heads to the New York office of Mike Conovan, a somewhat unscrupulous sports promoter who offered to make her rich after seeing her play golf in the tournament. She agrees to sign up with him, and he immediately starts training her and booking her in tennis matches around the country. Although she initially balks at the strict regime, Pat does well with Mike’s guidance, while he learns how much money can be made in sports through honest means. With all the time they spend together, the unlikely pair grows very close.
The Scene
Mike Conovan has several “athletes” under his management, heavyweight fighter Davie Hucko, racehorse Little Nell, and lady athlete Pat Pemberton. As Hucko is preparing for a fight after losing several matches in a row, he wants Mike to spend more time coaching him. When he tries to express this Mike, the manager responds by asking him “The Three Big Questions,” an intimation tactic he uses to maintain control over Hucko. Pat observes this and decides to talk to Hucko after Mike leaves. She tells him that he’s too old to be bullied like that and encourages him to belong to himself.
Its Significance
When this scene takes place, it seems at first that the message was totally lost on Hucko. However, he wins his next fight and exuberantly recounts every detail of his victory several times in the hotel, with Pat, Mike, and his personal trainer looking on proudly. He says that in the final round, he saw his opponent as himself, so he was able to “flatten himself.” He now adores Pat, since he realizes her pep talk made him win.After Hucko goes out for a walk, Mike wonders, “What’s all this ‘fighting yourself’ malarkey? How does a guy like that pick stuff like that up?” “I wonder,” Pat says demurely. Catching on, Mike asks, “You been talking to him?” Pat acknowledges that she has by asking, “Do you mind?” “No, no,” Mike replies, adding, “I was gonna suggest maybe you have a talk with Little Nell.” Coming from Mike, this is a generous acknowledgement of respect and admiration for her cleverness.
Speaking from Experience
In her little pep talk to Hucko, Pat acknowledges that she’s been trying to beat herself, as well. The whole movie is really the story of how she does this. At the beginning of the film, we see that she’s completely unnerved by her beau, Collier. It’s not that he’s a particularly dominant man or strong personality; he just has a way of getting under her skin. Pat is generally an intelligent, confident woman, but Collier’s little comments and subtle actions make her lose all her self-confidence because she thinks that the man who is supposed to love her doesn’t believe in her.This isn’t a feminist story, despite Katharine Hepburn’s real-life reputation as an advocate for women’s right. It’s a story about a woman who realizes that she is engaged to the wrong man, because Collier makes her place all her faith in his opinion instead of her ability. By getting away from him, she learns to have quiet confidence in herself. It isn’t necessarily about a woman getting away from a controlling man. It’s about the importance of any person learning that the only way to succeed is to acknowledge and conquer your own fears and problems. Once you beat yourself, you can beat anyone.
