Taking literally the term "battle of the sexes," Adam's Rib takes two marriages to court: that of Judy Holliday and her philandering husband Tom Ewell; and that of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, lawyers on the opposite sides of the Holliday case. (Perhaps we should say three marriages, since the script was written by the team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon.) Hell-on-heels Holliday has sent her spouse to the critical ward to protect their happy home. Hepburn and Tracy's skirmishes are far more civilized-hilariously civilized-but the issues are the same: women's rights are on trial, in the courtroom and the kitchen. The sparkling, sassy script is directed by Cukor as a model of polished theatricality, giving the farce, with its role-reversals, dirty tricks and counter-moves, the measure of dignity it deserves.