. . . the Fox Company blows the lid off the coming crock-pot terrorist bombing of virtually every American job site by Venal Corporate Fat Cats laughing all the way to their banks. The handwriting's on the wall in this whistle-blowing 1957 cautionary tale, and it amounts to a Death Sentence for at least HALF of the U.S. Work Force. When Demonic Pre-Schoolers such as Scott Walker, Steve Bannon, Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, and Paul Ryan were shown this flick by their Devil Nannies, they all rubbed their throbbing "666" birthmarks in nefarious unison at the DESK SET's single mention of Union Protection, and these precocious Toddler Imps vowed to eradicate the one single hope of We Normal Honest Average Patriotic Working Blue Collar Loyal Americans once they grew up. Of course, there's NO mention of Mexico in DESK SET, because ALL of our stolen jobs ACTUALLY were swiped by the Job-Killing Corporate Suits' robots and automation. Red State schools "teach" nothing but Fake "Facts" and Lies, but Fox sets the record straight BEFORE THE FACT with DESK SET. Now that the Oligarchical Red Commie KGB has allowed U.S. Billionaires to steal what little power they previously lacked, DESK SET shows that all of us non-Billionaires are totally doomed!

Right away, I have to say that those who like this movie are likely true fans of the Tracy/Hepburn combination. For me, that combination is overrated but did have its better moments. This is not one of them. The dialogue and interaction of the two is very standard for them and they seem very comfortable with it. Too comfortable if you ask me. Perhaps sensing that things will go along too smoothly, an attempt is made to make Tracy's character more interesting by showing a bit of absentmindedness but then that is dropped away. There are several scenes that stretch out with banter but these don't add to the plot and are not witty or clever in some subtle way, so inevitably, those scenes drag. In general, the plot is thin and there is a severe lack of sub-plots. If this was intended as a straight romantic comedy, it is not very funny and it is certainly not romantic. So let's look at the supporting cast. Joan Blondell is okay but basically she is there to give Hepburn someone to talk to when either Tracy or Young are not in the room. Others such as Dina Merrill are little more than office furniture with nothing interesting to do. Young's character is not likable and is not intended to be so I guess he did his job but it is not much of a role. Neva Patterson is there for a while as a stereotype but not for long. However, the contrast she provided to the other characters was welcome as long as it lasted. So why did I even give it 5? I like the colour, sets and style of that time and found the references to office automation and organization mildly interesting although not nearly as interesting as in say "The Apartment". Not much to go on really. That 5 rating is soft. However, if you are a die-hard Tracy/Hepburn fan who can't get enough of those two, you might like it but it won't be your favourite.

Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) is the inventor of a computer called EMERAC. Federal Broadcasting Network ordered one for the reference department which is led by Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn).I'm sure that an audience of its times would work much better. They would automatically root for Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as a couple. That may account for the lack of setup for a romance. But that's not really a mortal wound for this movie. An eye flutter here, a knowing smile there, sometimes that's all the setup a movie requires. The mortal sin here is making Spencer Tracy a computer science expert, and that over the top idea of what a computer is or does. There is no role playing here. It's simply Spencer Tracy playing Spencer Tracy. None of the jokes worked that well. Katharine Hepburn does a good job as a librarian supercomputer. Overall a minor disappointment.

First off, I'm updating my review based on the new Blu Ray edition of the film. Is it worth upgrading? A definite yes. It looks the best I've ever seen it. Beautiful colors, although I wish it had been just a little sharper. Great transfer.This is not the strongest, nor the weakest, of the Tracy-Hepburn films. In a few spots it suffers...seems to drag, but mostly it moves along fine. I was interested to note that the not very successful film (in terms of box office revenue), gets a decent 7+ rating here on IMDb. That is particularly interesting because is some ways the topic -- incoming technology -- seems a tad outdated now.Particularly fine moments in the film include Tracy and Hepburn in bathrobes after being caught in the rain...and then being caught by Hepburn's initial romantic interest (Gig Young). Watching Tracy here, it seemed as if he was enjoying this sequence very much At the end of this segment, watch for the apparently ad-libbed Spencer Tracy imitating a drunk Red Skelton! Tracy and Hepburn shine here...as they almost always did. Both with characters who seemed businesslike with love creeping up on them. Hepburn seems just right as the researcher whose personal life seems stalled out. Tracy seems just right in terms of personality for the slightly different kind of efficiency expert, but maybe a tad too old to be a computer expert? Joan Blondell steals a number of scenes...definitely one of her best appearances in film. Gig Young has a better role in this film than he did in similar roles where he is the runner-up romantic interest. Here he at least maintains his dignity and acted like a normal man, just on the wrong track for a successful romance. Dina Merrill may be the only other actor of note here, and she plays an assistant in the research office very pleasantly. Poor Neva Patterson seemed to have copyrighted the somewhat cold personality that we also saw in "An Affair To Remember". Tracy and/or Hepburn fans will want this on their DVD shelf, others will enjoy watching it at least once.