While it is always wonderful to see gifted individuals in the film industry collaborating with a wide array of people, it is undeniable that certain people are better suited to working with certain people than others, not because they are limited, but rather due to the fact that they bring out the best in each other. Few collaborations have yielded more positive results than those George Cukor undertook with Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, the married screenwriting couple than penned many of the director’s most acclaimed films. Often joining them for the journey were either Katharine Hepburn or Spencer Tracy, who were almost always given plum roles in these films, especially since they made it so clear that they would always have time to work with Cukor, who helmed some of their best work as actors. One of the films that unite this quintet is Adam’s Rib, which is likely their most popular collaboration, not only due to the nature of the work they are doing, but how this film has aged so wonderfully in the nearly eight decades since its release – and throwing in Judy Holliday (who would become another preferred collaborator during this era of the director’s career) only makes it more entertaining. The story of a pair of married lawyers who absolutely adore one another, until they find themselves on opposite sides of the same criminal case, has led to this film being categorized as a true classic of the romantic comedy genre, a classification that is undeniably earned, even when the film is slightly more conventional in spirit than many would like to remember it as being. Yet, minor shortcomings aside, Adam’s Rib is a truly delightful film that consistently reminds us of the virtue of faithfulness and trust, all the while evoking hearty laughter and fascinating discussion along the way

There are few directors who are more appropriate for handling some of the more complex stories produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood than George Cukor, whose perspective was one that was consistently forward-thinking, perhaps even too much for an industry still influenced by puritanical beliefs. Adam’s Rib may seem tame from a modern perspective, and perhaps even dated when we look at it from a cursory glance. In all fairness, the surface-level premise doesn’t imply what a wonderfully progressive film this is, since it patiently awaits the viewer to figure this out themselves, a gradual but significant development in a film that is unexpectedly deep. Over time, we’ve seen so many films focused on the proverbial “battle of the sexes”, where members of the opposite sex find themselves in some kind of duel, whether physical or mental, proving to each other (and the world) that they are dominant – and if history has taught us anything, it is that such instances of sparring rarely prove anything significant, other than the tendency for society to pit individuals against each other in unfair ways. This is the foundation for Adam’s Rib, which uses this common narrative pattern to construct a well-composed story of two urban professionals engaging in a battle of the wits, doing whatever they can to gain dominance over the other, and have the ruling of one particularly troublesome defendant go their way, or else lose all credibility as legal experts. It’s a familiar set of conventions placed alongside a more subversive approach to social commentary, something that Gordon and Kanin (in their capacity as two of the most keen observers of everyday life) manage to infuse into every word of this script, which just works perfectly when filtered through Cukor’s assured vision, leading to a film that may seem conventional, but is anything but straightforward when we start to see the more obscure elements that make Adam’s Rib such a complex film.

This may be a far more sensible approach to the genre, but it is certainly not anything close to a heavy-handed film, nor is it one that necessarily sells itself as a particularly tender comedy. The presence of Cukor should immediately indicate that Adam’s Rib is going to be something slightly different, with the director (as well as Gordon and Kanin) putting together a blisteringly funny story that never aims for the low-hanging fruit, and instead produces jokes of a much higher calibre than the garden-variety comedy centred around sexism, which are still dominant today, despite leaps and bounds being made previously. While it would be foolish to imply that everything about Adam’s Rib is perfect (since there is a lot of work to be done here, as the battle was barely even started when this film went into production), the fact that a broad romantic comedy made in the late 1940s could be one of the most insightful commentaries on life in post-war America, particularly in terms of gender dynamics. The 1940s produced many examples of more feminist-oriented media, whether it be Rosie the Riveter standing as the stalwart for woman war workers, or the growing dominance of female artists in all areas of the entertainment industry – and squarely at the heart of this movement was Adam’s Rib, a film that may seem simple in retrospect, but was something of a minor miracle at the team, especially in contrast to many other romantic comedies being produced at the time. With less than a decade since the first seeds of second-wave feminism were initially sown, there is something to be said about this film as one of the pioneering works of a major movement within the film industry, something that many don’t even consider when looking at this otherwise delightful film. As we’ve seen many times before, simply starting the conversation is half the aim already achieved.

Yet, despite the very valuable storyline, Adam’s Rib would likely not have been nearly as successful had Katharine Hepburn or Spencer Tracy not played the central roles. This is not even a case where simply having one of them would have worked – what makes this film such an unmitigated delight is the magic that occurs when these two incredible actors step in front of a camera together. As far as legendary performers go, you’d be hard-pressed to find two actors capable of the sheer amount of chemistry that Hepburn and Tracy regularly exude on screen. Naturally, we understand the reasons behind their frequent artistic symbiosis (since they had a long relationship outside of their careers), but their romantic entanglements with one another rarely factor into what make their collaborations so special. Instead, it’s the fact that they’re both such magnificently gifted actors in their own right, but bring out something so much more endearing when they’re acting across from each other. Adam’s Rib is one of the best examples of this in practice – it never feels as if its two professional actors playing roles across from each other, but instead the steady process of placing two gifted actors and lifelong friends in contrast to each other, and watching as the sparks fly – the only difference being, these are less the spark associated with romance, and more those with the intense clashing of two iron-clad personalities, which eventually culminate in this delightfully irreverent comedy that finds this pair inextricably linked in ways that would serve them well in the years that would follow, as they continued to fit in collaborations in between other productions, but never quite managed to reach the heights they did when they were together, which only further consolidates the idea that Hepburn and Tracy are bound by their incredible talents and extraordinary collaborations that yielded only the most genuinely interesting results when it comes to looking at the film as a whole.

Adam’s Rib has left an enormous legacy, which is ultimately an undeniable fact. It’s rare to find a more well-crafted romantic comedy than this, mainly in how it is the perfect blend of humour and genuine heart. It never resorts to the cheaper jokes, and instead maintains a high-quality of authentic, meaningful humour that never feels constructed, especially when delivered by actors who could not only make even the most trivial of situations absolutely outrageous, but worked together in a way that has rarely been matched, if it even has to begin with, since the countless attempts to imitate the close working relationship between actors have consistently fallen apart, which only further proves the value of authenticity in these stories, since while there may have been many actors who could’ve played these roles well, none of them are Tracy and Hepburn, and likely won’t ever be able to attain this level of brilliance. This is a film that is luckily extremely cherished, and remains so resonant today, for a number of reasons. The main reason is that it possesses such a progressive spirit, endeavouring to tell a story about how women are equal to men, which we now acknowledge as a fundamental (and perhaps even biblical) truth , but which has not always been the case, as demonstrated consistently throughout this film. It’s a fascinating idea that feels like it is organic and well-composed, rather than just being bold, provocative ideas thrown together to stir discussion. For a film made in 1949, Adam’s Rib is certainly a major step forward in terms of addressing gender issues – and its ability to still be extremely funny while focusing on these very serious matters, only further proves what an absolute delight of a film this is, and how it remains the gold standard for comedy, romantic or otherwise.