Katharine Hepburn first met Spencer Tracy on the set of Woman of the Year. In the movie, she plays a multilingual international-affairs journalist who reports on the situation in wartime Europe. Her character was partially modeled on Dorothy Thompson, who’d been reporting for the Post on the rise of fascism in Germany. She filed such unflinching reports on the Nazis that she became the first reporter ejected from the country.
Tracy plays a sports reporter who marries Hepburn. Unusual for a 1940s film, the story doesn’t end with Hepburn’s journalist giving up her career to become a homemaker.
When Hepburn first walked up to Tracy, she noticed she was an inch taller than him. She said, “I’m afraid I’m a bit tall for you, Mr. Tracy.” The producer who was introducing them said, “Don’t worry, Kate, he’ll cut you down to size.” It was the beginning of a long working relationship, and romance, that continued through nine films.
This article is featured in the January/February 2026 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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Comments
A classic film I’ve only seen clips of, and need to finally see it. With two of Hollywood’s greatest stars from its Golden Age, no less.
The ad’s referencing The Saturday Evening Post at the top was certainly an additional selling point, then and now.