Desk Set

The movie touted as the best librarian movie ever, really is the best librarian movie ever. In fact, Desk Set is actually a good movie.

Katherine Hepburn plays Bunny Watson the unmarried, yet very cool head of the reference department for a TV studio. According to IMDB, Hepburn was born in 1907, making her 50 yrs old when the movie was released. A 50 year old spinster librarian, “how typical” you say. But it was far from it. Hepburn is no mousy librarian, she’s quick witted, smart, well dressed, and I want to grow up and be just like her. 3 younger women work under her in the reference department, all of them well dressed, smart and likable.

Enter Spencer Tracy as the quirky computer guy. He comes in and starts measuring things and observing the reference girls straightaway. (remember what a computer looked like in 1957). And from the first interview, we see he’s taken with Hepburn’s brain and her quirky brand of charm.

As things are with large corporations, there is no communication between top management and everyone else. So the girls in reference are sure they’re going to be replaced by this new monstrosity of a computer that’s supposed to come in, but they keep right on being fantastic at reference, because they are fantastic.

Meanwhile we find out that Hepburn has been casually dating a jerky man upper management for 7 long years. 7 years, and he can barely remember to ask her out in a timely manner. And then ends up breaking the date to do upper management things. And at one point he has the audacity to give her carnations as an “I’m sorry.” Carnations!!! Any boy who brings me carnations had better be trying to break up with me, because that will be the response. I’m willing to give a little for the time, almost winter in New York in 1957, there probably weren’t a lot of options. But he’s management, he could do better, if he cared.

Christmas is where it all comes to a wonderful head. Everyone is dressed festively, and the girls in reference, especially Hepburn, have had a few too many celebratory sips of champagne out of paper cups. Oh the librarians, oh the drinking, oh the drunkenly, yet correctly answering reference calls. Hepburn is even awesome when she’s drunk. And as a present Bunny receives a very large stuffed rabbit. Large enough to have a zipper in the back from which to pull another large bottle of champagne. I must have that bunny!

I don’t want to spoil the movie, since it’s actually good. But obviously, in the end, Hepburn is no longer a spinster. The movie is much better than I’m making it sound, because I can’t possible recreate Hepburns mannerisms and style. You should watch it. Your local library probably has a copy, that’s where I got mine. I think I may actually buy this movie and watch it when I’m depressed. It’s also a slightly different frame for the usual “will computers replace people” arguments.

Hepburn’s character could kick that Noah Wyle’s character’s ass any day.