BEST KATHARINE HEPBURN MOVIES
“Morning Glory” (1933) Hepburn earned her
first of several Oscars as an aspiring actress who attracts three men who could boost her career ... but not necessarily for the right reasons.
“Little Women” (1933) While the Louisa May
Alcott story has gotten screen treatment a number of times, this early version with Hepburn has endured for the better part of a century.
“Bringing Up Baby” (1938) In one of the movies that define “screwball comedy,” Hepburn
plays a dotty heiress who makes life complicated – as does her pet leopard, the film’s “Baby” – for
a paleontologist (Cary Grant). The George Cukordirected treat is included in Turner Classic Movies’ “Summer Under the Stars” Hepburn tribute day Saturday, Aug. 21.
“The Philadelphia Story” (1940) Hepburn is terrific as a socialite whose imminent remarriage isn’t favored by her previous husband (Cary Grant) nor a reporter (James Stewart).
“Woman of the Year” (1942) In the first of their legendary pairings, Hepburn and Spencer Tracy play newspaper colleagues whose marriage is threatened by the wife’s seemingly endless ambition. “Adam’s Rib” (1949) One of the very best of the Hepburn-Spencer Tracy teamings features them as lawyers on opposing sides of the same case.
“The African Queen” (1951) Hepburn and Oscar winner Humphrey Bogart make an unlikely but great team as dissimilar people aboard a beaten-up boat that becomes caught up in World War I.
“Pat and Mike” (1952) Hepburn plays a pro golfer who hires a sports promoter (another role for Spencer Tracy) to help keep her mind, and everyone else’s, on her game.
“Summertime” (1955) Director David Lean casts Hepburn as an American secretary vacationing in Venice and hesitating to fall completely for an antiques dealer (Rossano Brazzi). “The Way We Were’s” Arthur Laurents wrote the screenplay.
“Suddenly, Last Summer” (1959) Tennessee Williams’ play features Hepburn as a wealthy woman who wants what her niece (Elizabeth Taylor) knows kept secret, even if it takes a lobotomy.
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (1962) Hepburn is superb as the matriarch of the troubled Thorne family in Sidney Lumet’s film of the Eugene O’Neill play.
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967) The subject of interracial relationships is handled by director Stanley Kramer in the final teaming of Hepburn (who won her second Oscar here) and Spencer Tracy, playing the parents of a young woman (Katherine Houghton, Hepburn’s real-life niece) who intends to marry a doctor (Sidney Poitier). “The Lion in Winter” (1968) A third Academy Award came Hepburn’s way – in a year in which she
tied with “Funny Girl’s” Barbra Streisand – for her depiction of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s stormy marriage to King Henry II (Peter O’Toole).
“On Golden Pond” (1981) Oscar winners both for this drama, Hepburn and Henry Fonda are perfect as a couple having a summer reunion with their estranged daughter (Fonda’s daughter, co-star Jane, who also produced the film).