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Woman of the Year Overview:

Woman of the Year (1942) was a Comedy - Romance Film directed by George Stevens and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

SYNOPSIS

This is the first of the Hepburn-Tracy on-screen sparring matches, and perhaps the best. Hepburn and Tracy work for the same newspaper, he a sports writer and she a political commentator. They meet after his angry response to her opinion that baseball should be called off during the war. To the surprise of all, they marry. The odd-couple pairing results in sharply observed scenes from a marriage: her fumbling at housework and devotion to her work, his drinking and resentment of her career. The inevitable bumps lead Hepburn to consider divorce just as she's chosen Woman of the Year. Originally developed by Garson Kanin, he turned it over to Lardner and his brother Michael, who earned Oscars.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Woman of the Year was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1999.

Academy Awards 1942 --- Ceremony Number 15 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressKatharine HepburnNominated
Best WritingRing Lardner, Jr., Michael KaninWon
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Woman of the Year BlogHub Articles:

ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES: Woman of the Year (1942)

By Carol Martinheira on May 12, 2022 From The Old Hollywood Garden

ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES: Woman of the Year (1942) On May 12, 2022 By CarolIn Uncategorized Image from Pinterest It’s Katharine Hepburn’s birthday and you know what that means. May’s edition of ONE MOVIE, THREE QUOTES goes out to her! No, not The Philadelphia S... Read full article

Woman of the Year (1942)

on Sep 15, 2017 From Journeys in Classic Film

Out of all the on-screen teams the studio system created, none endures as strongly as the teaming of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The two made nine films together, and had a strong romantic relationship off-screen, and nearly every film they made is magic distilled in some form. Their first ... Read full article

WOMAN OF THE YEAR On Criterion Blu-ray

By Dan Day Jr. on Apr 30, 2017 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

One of the greatest romantic comedies of all time gets the Criterion treatment. WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942) is the very first collaboration between screen legends Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, and many believe it is the best. When one watches WOMAN OF THE YEAR, it's hard to believe that Tracy &... Read full article

“A Mulher do Dia / Woman of the Year” (1942) e a mulher que eu quero ser

By Lê on Aug 14, 2015 From Critica Retro

“A Mulher do Dia / Woman of the Year” (1942) e a mulher que eu quero ser Este texto contém spoilers. Quando somos crianças, nos fazem a pergunta: “o que você quer ser quando crescer”? Acredito que seria mais sensato reformular a questão, e perguntar: &#82... Read full article

THE GREAT KATHARINE HEPBURN BLOGATHON. WOMAN OF THE YEAR ( 1942 )

By Crystal Kalyana on May 12, 2015 From In The Good Old Days Of Classic Hollywood

THE GREAT KATHARINE HEPBURN BLOGATHON “WOMAN OF THE YEAR” ( 1942 ) Today marks the 108th anniversary of Katharine Hepburn’s birth back in 1907. To commemorate her legacy and her extensive body of work, Margaret Perry is hosting a blogathon to pay tribute to the great Katharine... Read full article

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Woman of the Year Quotes:

Ellen Whitcomb: Success is no fun unless you share it with someone.
Tess Harding: I'm going to be you wife. You don't think that I can do the little ordinary things that any idiot can do, do you?
Sam Craig: No.
Tess Harding: Why not?
Sam Craig: Because you're incapable of doing them, that's why. You can't expect Seabiscuit to stop in the middle of the stretch, drink a glass of water, and count to seven at the same time, you know. That takes training.
Tess Harding: Well, I'm not Seabiscuit.
Sam Craig: I don't want to be married to Tess Harding any more than I want you to be just Mrs Sam Craig. Why can't you be Tess Harding Craig?
Tess Harding: I think it's a wonderful name.
Sam Craig: [on his and Tess's very short wedding ceremony] No one will ever believe we were married sober.
Phil Whittaker: Women should be kept illiterate and clean, like canaries.
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Woman of the Year Facts
The entire final sequence where Tess tried to win Sam back by making him breakfast and thus proving her marriage to Sam worth saving was written and filmed after the original ending tested poorly in preview. Apparently the original final sequence is lost.
Both Connie Gilchrist and Grant Withers (as Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap) are in studio records/casting call lists for this movie, but were not seen in the final print.
The first of nine films to feature Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn.
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 19, 1943 with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy reprising their film roles.
The reason for the changed ending is revealed in the book 'A Remarkable Woman: A Biography of Katharine Hepburn' by Anne Edwards. It says, "Mankiewicz and Stevens were concerned that 'the average American housewife, seated next to her husband, staring for two hours at this paragon of beauty, intelligence, wit, accomplishment, and everything else, (could not) help but wonder if her husband (wasn't) comparing her very unfavorably with this goddess he sees on the screen.' Stevens, who for all his charm was a dedicated male chauvinist, decided with Mankiewicz that Tess Harding had to have her comeuppance." This is why the ending was added showing Tess as incompetent in the kitchen.
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