Movies from the Heart—Pat and Mike

From the sweeping drama of last week’s The African Queen we come to a completely different kind of movie from the heart—Pat and Mike [1952] by Ruth Gordon & Garson Kanin. Interestingly, this writing team acted together often and wrote together as well. They’re particularly known for their sharp, witty repartee and their fast-paced comedy.

Pat and Mike is the story of a woman athlete who is also a professor of physical education at a small college. She’s good at tennis, golf—lots of sports. But whenever her fiancé is around, she chokes. It’s as if she imagines he’s criticizing her in some way and that negatively affects her performance. Outwardly, he’s saying all the right things—smiling and telling her she can do it—but his positive words come out as condescending and it’s as if she fears he doesn’t think she can do it and that makes her choke.

Then, along comes a manager—a bit on the shady side, but not too shady—and he really believes in her and thinks she can make it big in the world of female competitive sports. But he, too, notices that her fiancé is bad news and whenever he comes to watch her play, she loses.

Take a look at the trailer for the film.

Some background on this film: writers Ruth Gordon & Garson Kanin were friends of the stars, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy—they wrote the script for them, based on Hepburn’s athletic talents and Tracy’s ability to play a hard-nosed guy with a heart of gold. Now, if you happen to have best friends who are famous actors, feel free to tailor your characters to fit them!

This is a question I get a lot—should I, as a writer, think of a particular actor while I’m writing. The answer? Well, if it helps you write a well-rounded character. For some writers it’s limiting to think of a particular actor when writing. So totally your choice—whatever works for you.

One of the things I particularly liked about these two characters is their earnestness. Pat really wants to do well at these sports and worries that her fiancé isn’t her best cheerleader. And Mike wants Pat to do well—so much so that he asks the fiancé to stop showing up when she’s competing.

And in your typical romantic comedy, neither has any intention of falling in love with the other—in fact, when it happens, it’s almost as if they’re surprised. A sort of, “Wow—who’d ever have thought I’d end up with him [her]!” And that applies to both of them!

If you get the chance to watch this film, pay particular attention to the dialogue. One of the best ways to do that is simply to write out the lines—look at them on paper, let them give you a feeling for what good, fast repartee is like.

Next week, it’s off to Italy and Roman Holiday.

Copyright © Diane Lake

14Jan24

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com