Vicki Schuster answers our June classic film questionnaire.
1.) What’s your favorite Katharine Hepburn film?
It’s a tie: Adam’s Rib and Desk Set
2.) What do you consider to be her three best performances?
The African Queen, Adam’s Rib, and The Lion in Winter
3.) Hepburn was nominated 12 times for an Academy Award, winning 4 Oscars (nominated for: Morning Glory [win], Alice Adams, The Philadelphia Story, Woman of the Year, The African Queen, Summertime, The Rainmaker, Suddenly Last Summer, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner [win], The Lion in Winter [win], and On Golden Pond [win]). What movie outside of these do you think she most deserved an additional nomination?
Rooster Cogburn
4.) What’s your favorite movie in which she co-starred with Spencer Tracy?
Desk Set
5.) What’s your favorite movie in which she co-starred with Cary Grant?
The Philadelphia Story
6.) Of her later features/TV movies, post-On Golden Pond, what do you think is her best work?
Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry
7.) What’s your least favorite of her films?
Bringing Up Baby (I know, this is a very popular movie— but I like so many of her other movies better!)
8.) Why do you think Katharine Hepburn is considered among the greatest screen actresses of her generation?
On screen, she knew her craft and is an excellent actress, commanding the screen and attention: off screen, known for her candid, free-thinking opinions and was totally a one-of-a-kind woman.
9.) Wikipedia notes that she’s remembered as an important cultural figure. What do you think her cultural impact has been?
Women’s rights— she felt there wasn’t anything a woman could not do if she set her mind to it.
10.) What Katharine Hepburn movie you’ve already seen, would you like to see again right now?
Desk Set