In Defense of Hollywood’s Old Code: Debunking the Common Myths

A behind-the-scenes photo from the film "Woman of the Year" (1942) with (L-R) director George Stevens, Katharine Hepburn, and Spencer Tracy. MovieStillsDB

Commentary

“Woman of the Year” from 1942 was the first movie Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made together. In this film, which began their dynamic partnership spanning eight films and three decades, they both are journalists working for the same paper. Sam Craig (Tracy) is a sportswriter, and Tess Harding (Hepburn) has an opinion column on world affairs. When Sam hears Tess say on a radio program that U.S. sports should be put on hold for the duration of World War II, he is deeply offended by her assault on the American way of life. He writes a reply to her statements in his column. As soon as Tess sees it, she has to write her own witty comeback in her column. Before this journalistic repartee can escalate into a war of the columns, their editor calls them both to his office and makes them call a truce, since it doesn’t look good for two writers on the same paper to get into a full-fledged fight!