Spencer Tracy’s most frequent screen lady–and lifetime companion for 25 years–was the great Katharine Hepburn.
Together they had made 8 films together:
Woman of the Year (1942)
Keeper of the Flame (1942)
Without Love (1945)
Sea of Grass (1947)
State of the Union (1948)
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Pat and Mike (1952)
The Desk Set (1957)
Guess Whos Coming to Dinner? (1967)
Half of these movies were artistically weak.
The best ones were those written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, and directed by George Cukor, who helmed the couple in 3 of their 8 pictures.
The best of the Cukor-directed movie is arguably Pat and Mike, followed by Adam’s Rib. (see our reviews).
In both, the main concern is battle of the sexes, often set in contemporary social contexts.
The Desk Set, a mildly entertaining message oriented farce, marked the last time that Tracy played a romantic lead; he was 57 at the time.