Hepburn and Tracy

It was surprising how personal Hepburn became in expressing her recollections about Tracy in that documentary. For some years after his death she'd kept her feelings private, and Garson Kanin's 1971 book, "Tracy and Hepburn: An Intimate Memoir," is said to have caused a temporary rift between her and the author; she felt her old friend had violated that privacy.

Sharing their relationship with the public was apparently something she wanted to do only in her own time and on her own terms, and she eventually became ready to do so, beginning with The Spencer Tracy Legacy, which aired on PBS in 1986.  

Got time for my own personal recollection? I was still working on the MGM lot the day she came to shoot wraparound segments for The Spencer Tracy Legacy; someone came into our office in the Garland Building and said, "Katharine Hepburn's outside," so my coworker Beth and I stepped out to gaze at the great lady. There she was, just across the studio street in front of Stage 21, in slacks and an outdoorsy jacket with a red sweater tied around her shoulders, accompanied by a minimal crew of cameraman, soundman and no more than two or three others.

We intended to watch for only a minute or two, but when she completed the shot, hoisted the strap of her bag over her shoulder and trudged off, her crew hastily gathered themselves up to follow, and so did we, like curious but shy puppies, maintaining a respectful distance. At each place they stopped, it was the same thing: all-business Hepburn would plant herself on her spot, a couple more onlookers would emerge from offices, and as soon as camera and sound were ready, she would do precisely one (perfect) take and briskly stride off for the next setup as her crew scrambled to keep up...followed by a few more onlookers.

By the time she reached the west entrance of the Thalberg Building to tell the story of her first meeting with Tracy on the spot where it happened (frame grab below), she'd amassed an itinerant audience of at least two dozen studio workers, all equally magnetized and mesmerized, following in her footsteps as though she was the Pied Piper of Hamelin, and remaining reverently quiet all the way as though to go unnoticed...which, as far as anyone could tell from her efficient attitude, we were.  

 

Our little mobile audience stood about fifteen feet left of camera as she made that shot, after which she and her crew took a break and the rest of us, A.W.O.L. for over an hour, returned to our offices. Fortunately for Beth and me, the V.P. for whom we worked was out of the office that day, but it would still have been worth it to have endured a bellowing, "Where the HELL have you two been?" We could hear him yell any old day, but it wasn't every day that the great Kate was in our midst.
   

Nice of you to take the trouble to say so, Lebowskidoo 🎄😷🎄.  

Thanks, and 

Thanks for reading. I was always willing to play hooky for a worthy cause (and I don't remember anything else I did on that otherwise ordinary day, so it must've been worthy). 

They may very well have; my recollection isn't sharp enough to say for sure. I hope to see it again sometime. 

I still haven't seen Desk Set. I will make a point to see that soon. Besides that, I think I have seen all of the movies they made together. Woman of the Year and Adam's Rib are my favorite movies that they made together.

I love Adam’s Rib, Desk set , and Woman of the year. Like the others including State of the Union and GWCTD. Keeper of the Flame has interest for me because of its theme of protecting the legacy of a strong man.

I think the problem with Garson Kanin’s mémoire was that Tracy’s wife was still alive. Tracy was a Catholic, and they had a hearing impaired son. Tracy would not divorce her, and Kate accepted that as part of the ground rules. She tried to keep their relationship out of the press, and largely succeeded. When Tracy died, she did not attend the funeral out of respect for his wife and children. Years later she developed a friendly relationship with Tracy’s daughter. But I believe her own public remarks and articles about Tracy, and their relationship only came after Mrs Tracy’s death.

It seems odd to devote so much energy to “respecting” a woman whose husband you are having an affair with. But life is often more complicated than the algorhythms.