Released: November 18, 1949
Director: George Cukor
*****
The fundamental problem with Adam's Rib, featuring a married couple at odds over a court case, is Amanda's (Katharine Hepburn) position: a cheating husband is held to a different standard than a cheating wife would be when confronting the lover-on-the-side with a gun. There is no doubt Doris Attinger (Judy Holliday) did shoot her husband and tried to shoot his mistress. Amanda wants to make this the ultimate equality fight between the sexes while Adam sees it as a strict case of the law.
The only thing which keeps the film, a screwball comedy apparently, afloat is the interplay between the two leads. Verbally sparring with one another and making laughs where none should be (notice the door slamming episode) is more than just screen chemistry or good acting: it's people who understand how the other works...and uses that against them. The story and supporting players all let the duo down, though.
For a screwball comedy, there isn't much screwball in the proceedings. Some events, like Adam being lifted in the courtroom, fall into the category, but by and large Adam's Rib is a message film...a heavy handed, 2 x 4 to the head message film whose problems are further compounded by a neighbor with the hots for Amanda and a concurrent plot about the couple's issues at home during the trial.
This is hardly their best collaboration. For that, check out Desk Set or Guess Who's Coming to Dinner