At 5', 7", Katharine Hepburn was four inches taller than MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer. To make a strong impression when she went to pitch Woman of the Year, she wore four inch heels.

Hepburn's character, Tess Harding, got her surname from the star's close friend and frequent companion Laura Harding.

When Mayer first bought the story for Woman of the Year, he and producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz speculated that it had been written by Ben Hecht or Charles MacArthur, two playwrights among the most respected writers in Hollywood.

Hepburn had previously requested Spencer Tracy for the role of the reporter in The Philadelphia Story (1940), but fearing his fee would drive the budget too high, Mayer had insisted on assigning the role to the young James Stewart instead.

After warming to Hepburn on the set, Tracy told her he had tried to have her cast in his previous film, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941). He had wanted to mirror his character's divided nature by casting the same actress as both his aristocratic fiancée and the barmaid Hyde seduces and kills, and considered her one of the few actresses capable of playing both roles. Studio executives, considering the idea too "artsy," had insisted on casting Lana Turner and Ingrid Bergman, respectively, in the two roles.

Tracy always insisted on top billing in his films with Hepburn. When their friend writer-director Garson Kanin asked why that was so, suggesting, "Ladies first?" Tracy quipped, "This is a movie, chowderhead, not a lifeboat!" (Kanin and Tracy quoted in Tracy and Hepburn: An Intimate Memoir).

Hepburn had been a fan of Tracy's since seeing him on Broadway in The Last Mile. He, on the other hand, claimed never to have seen any of her pictures before they worked together on Woman of the Year.

During production, Hepburn upgraded her wardrobe, trading in her men's trousers for more tailored pants made specifically for women.

There are more kissing scenes between Tracy and Hepburn in Woman of the Year than in all of her previous films combined. Actually, the film is the only one in which they kiss passionately on-screen. In their other films, such blatant shows of affection would not have been appropriate to the characters.

Woman of the Year brought in $3 million in rentals, confirming Katharine Hepburn's comeback after her years as box-office poison and helping to make Spencer Tracy the year's number ten box-office star.

Famous Quotes from WOMAN OF THE YEAR

"Women should be kept illiterate and clean, like canaries." -- Roscoe Karns, as Phil Whittaker

"Are all these people unemployed?"
"No, they're all attending their grandmother's funeral." -- Katharine Hepburn, as Tess Harding, attending her first baseball game, with Spencer Tracy, as Sam Craig.

"You mean our paper sends two people to cover the game?"
"No, I cover the game, he just kicks it around in his column."
"We've got only one man at Vichy."
"Vichy? Are they still in the league?" -- Hepburn, as Tess Harding, and Tracy, as Sam Craig.

"I love you."
"You do?
"Positive."
"That's nice. Even when I'm sober?"
"Even when you're brilliant." -- Tracy, as Sam, stating his intentions to Hepburn, as Tess.

"Can I drop you someplace, Miss Whitcomb?"
"You can drop that 'Miss Whitcomb'." -- Tracy, picking up Fay Bainter, as Ellen Whitcomb, at the airport.

"You know, it's too bad I'm not covering this dinner of yours tonight, because I've got an angle that would really be sensational: the outstanding woman of the year isn't a woman at all." -- Tracy, trying to tell Hepburn there's trouble in their marriage.

"You're my woman of the century. I've always felt that you were above marriage." -- Hepburn to Bainter, as Ellen Whitcomb.

"Success is no fun unless you share it with someone." -- Bainter, as Ellen.

"No one will ever believe we were married sober." -- Tracy.

"I've just launched Gerald." -- Tracy, closing the film by announcing that he has just gotten rid of Dan Tobin, as Gerald Howe.

Compiled by Frank Miller