So, every now and then I present readers with a question. And in my drugged haze of Tylenol and dear codeine I find myself with a distraction.
I like Classic films. Desk Set with Tracy and Hepburn… A classic pairing…
So.. I put it out there…
Who would you cast as a contemporary Tracy/Hepburn?
Now I don’t mean remakes of their work. I mean, what male/female comedic pairing do you think could be termed the new Tracy/Hepburn….
I’m going to post my opinion and then screen it. I’ll show mine before the end of the week. You show me yours :?)
Without a doubt…
I honestly believe it has to be Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore… elaborations forthcoming
Re: Without a doubt…
I’ve posted my opinion on the topic. Just to let people know I’m not changing my opinion 🙂
I have a very definite belief on this and I’ll elabourate on it when I expose the answer.
Wow… very drugged today…
I like Bogart/Bacall on the classics. I have no opinion on modern pair ups.
Whoops! I do have an opinion afterall! I don’t want to see Adam Sandler kissing anyone… 8)
Offhand very few could even come close. You mention Tracy/Hepburn, and Sententia, Bogart/Bacall. Two of the great romances of Hollywood in the mid-century. And at the same time, four notable actors in their own rights.
(Mmmm…TCM ran Have And Have Not this weekend. Twice! Kathy had to endure watching me howl with delight and lust this weekend. Twice!)
The fragility of modern pairings may be an issue (though Tracy and Hepburn derived so much of their chemistry from the star-crossed nature of their affair – but it lasted). Could Dick Benjamin and Geena Davis have reached that level, even if they’d lasted? She might have, but I don’t think he could. Don’t see Baldwin and Basinger doing it either (are they still together?).
Of course, great pairings don’t have to mirror offscreen partnership. One of the great onscreen pairs crosses the two classics we’ve already looked at: The African Queen. But these are unique instances. Besides, Kate Hepburn made sparks fly with all her strong leading men – just looking at the later films, you have her work with Fonda, Wayne, O’Toole. And look at earlier work without Spence. Philadelphia Story (sparks off two peers, Grant and Stewart). And the same applies to the others.
So you need two stars of that stature who are going to do a semi-franchise to build up a dual current that people will respond to. Another issue is that where film presented that kind of work to the public up until the 1950’s, that kind of role for film has been replaced by TV series since then. So instead of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, Guildersleeve and his family, Nick and Nora Charles, et al, on screen, we have pairings of that caliber on the small screen, starting with two pairs that established the genre (Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Ralph and Alice Kramden) and moving on from there.
Of course, while the Tracy/Hepburn characters in their classic pairings were usually similar (I except their last film, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, as it was doing other things) they were’nt the same characters. Bunny Watson isn’t Amanda Bonner isn’t Tess Harding, etc. desite their similarities. Ditto Richard Sumner isn’t Adam Bonner isn’t Sam Craig.
And the thing above all that sets these films apart from the Andy Hardy’s, Ma and Pa Kettle’s, etc. etc. or even immortal ensembles like the Marx Brothers is that they are, after all, Tracy and Hepburn. Each an actor (and, to be sure, a star) of immense power, with a body of work that would be remarkable even if their films together had never been made (though the rest of us would be poorer if they hadn’t).
No they are not. Havent been for a while. Nasty child custody issues. But I do agree they may have been a contender.
I’m not certain there is a modern Hepburn and Tracy, if only because Romantic Comedies, on the level of the classic ones, in cinema, aren’t really found outside of Britain.
On the small screen, you had Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd in the 80s. And in my own opinion, Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson have that chemistry on “Gilmore Girls”. But for film…
Tea Leoni has really good comedic timing, she just hasn’t been paired well. So does Julia Siles. But who do you pair them with?
Paul Bettany was a fair standout in Wimbledon, but beyond that, nobody stands out to me.
I just know it isn’t Gwenyth and Jude (or Gwenyth and anybody, really).
In the end, I’m going with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
Interesting thing about Scott Patterson and Lauren Graham is that from what I’ve read they don’t really have that chemistry offscreen at all. Graham has even been quoted as saying that she thinks her character ought to end up paired with Rory’s father and not Luke.
Which is good. I don’t know what it is about modern times, but off-screen romances tend to turn into bland on-screen chemistry.
And Lorelei ought to end up with Luke. It is clear as day that they were made for each other. Silly Lauren.
I agree.
I’ll second the Willis/Shepherd pairing from the 80’s and add in Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. (Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile and War of the Roses – although it is a stretch to call WotR a comedy).
p.s. Hi, this is Taurus from Seattle’s Luna cast. Welcome to the Emerald City.
Greetings Taurus
We have our new address and will be in the Emerald city at latest July 1 🙂