"Desk Set" with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy

So I just finished watching "Desk Set" (1957) starring the romantic duo, Katherine Hepburn (sigh) and Spencer Tracy. I had seen this movie years before, but I must say that watching it from the point of view of a librarian truly changed my filter. In the movie, 4 lovely ladies are the "Reference" department for a major company. They are surrounded by books and maps and answer their phones all day long, giving out information. Along comes Tracy, playing the part of an "effeciency expert" who has created a "big brain" (a huge, sci-fi looking computer) that threatens to take over their jobs. It was with a bittersweet smile that I thought about how the "big brain" (otherwise known now as the Internet) has indeed taken over the job of ladies in business wear and high heels, tromping all over the room, looking up facts and getting back to their corded phones. I think about how the language arts classes in the high school where I work needed poems for their class and few looked in the hundreds of poetry books we have in our collection. The Internet happily fetched poems that were "good enough" to use, as the students had the one, 45 minute period in which to get it done. No need to pour over the books, finding one that speaks to their soul, and I didn't have to shelve the books, either. Give and take, I suppose. As I watched the flick, the back of my mind was embracing the romance building between the two characters, knowing that Tracy and Hepburn had been lovers in real life. Their chemistry was sweet. I love old movies. I love the often spontaneous inflections that are glossed over in today's well-pieced-together flicks. Don't get me wrong, I am pulled in by the beauty of many modern movies and love the amazing special effects as much as the next guy, but there's just something about the old black and whites that can really draw me in. Thanks for listening. Stay tuned for more babblings.