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It's not the performers' fault, of course. You could give Hepburn and Tracy a Friday the 13th script and they'd work wonders with it, riffing in their professional yet sassy methods between stranglings and disembowelments. When these two get in a room together - you have to wait ten minutes for it to happen a first time in Desk Set, but after that it occurs with greater frequency (thankfully) - sparks fly. Spencer has his crotchety old man shtick down pat, and Kate's WASP-y, nasal voice absolutely cascades off the screen here, her wit and wisdom coming through loud and clear.

The technological questions at the film's center seem like a perfect match for the Hepburn/Tracy steam train. Where Adam's Rib (arguably their classic) pits them against each other in a court of law trying did-she-or-didn't she case and lets the gender politics at the center of the debate fuel the romantic yearnings between the two, Tracy's desire to replace the quotation-searching office ladies in his company with a soulless, hyper-efficient computer seems bursting with potential to let the two of them fight like cats for an hour-and-a-half.

Yet even though there is quite a bit of magic lying within Desk Set's dusty framework - even with the worst material, these two hit it out of the park every once in a while - the film as whole seems more flippant than it should be, more lackadaisical and aimless than it is punchy and involving. Again, it's all expectation: If the two lovers at the center of the film were anyone other than Spencer and Katherine, Desk Set would be a cheeky, romantic romp (I suppose I could picture Rock Hudson and Doris Day making a valiant go at it), but since fans of this team know how extraordinary their teaming can be, it's a shame to see them just go through the motions like this.

But Desk Set is a wonderfully wide film, and if anything, this DVD edition allows for the film to be finally liberated from the gross pan-and-scan VHS stranglehold that held it down for so long. The panoramas here definitely make the film seem a little better: If anything, it accentuates the excellent set design and art direction in the film (it must have cost a fortune at the time).

Even if it isn't the best Hepburn and Tracy picture, there's nevertheless more than enough to appreciate in Desk Set. It ain't their best, but if this is their worst (and it very well might be), then they really must have had something, don't you think?

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

At long last presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and anamorphically encoded, Desk Set looks delicious on this DVD edition. Detail is especially succulent - it's significantly clearer than this writer ever would have expected, even though there are still some clarity issues with certain shots - and black levels are thorough and firm. Some of the film's color contrast is a bit muddy - often the film's lighter greens and yellows get a little sloppy in presentation -but overall, this is an above-average transfer of a sparkling, wide print. Nice.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Presented in both Dolby 2.0 stereo and mono, Desk Set sounds fine. Dialogue gets a little mono-raspy and effects and atmospherics are either nonexistent or sonically burnt to a crisp, but it's of no matter: This is how the film was originally recorded, manipulated and mixed. A THX reference-grade mix of the film simply isn't in the cards, but what we have here is just fine.

Also included is a Spanish mono track, English and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

John Lee panels a screen-specific audio commentary with actress Dina Merrill, but he himself takes over for the majority of the track here. Merrill's contribution to the commentary is anecdotal at best - she predictably talks about what it was like working with Hepburn and Tracy and what effect the film had on her career - but Lee's information is most involving: He discusses the ins and outs of the film with encyclopedic precision. It's not the greatest commentary of all time, but for Desk Set fans, it should provide quite a lovely punch. (And watch out for false advertising: the back of the package claims that the commentary track is from Merril and Nina Patterson, but she's nowhere to be found.)

We also get a Movietone News excerpt, "Designers Inspired for New Creation by Film "'The Desk Set'" (notice the original "The" before the title that was eventually excised), the film's theatrical trailer (in 2.35:1 mono), a stills gallery, and additional trailers for other Fox Studio Classics on DVD - All About Eve, An Affair to Remember, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Seven Year Itch.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

There are no ROM extras on the disc.

Parting Thoughts