Katharine Hepburn, corsets, and some very polite rebellion

Is it worth your time?

If you like Katharine Hepburn at her most defiant, yes. If you need a movie that isn't obsessed with the rigid, stuffy rules of 1800s England, you might want to skip this one. It's a bit of a relic, but it has heart.

The whole thing kicks off with Pamela just wanting to be a person, not a prop. It’s exhausting watching her struggle to find a job that isn't just about needlepoint or boiling potatoes. When she finally lands a gig at a magazine, the pivot from 'how to bake' to 'how to not let your boss treat you like trash' is the best part of the first act.

Hepburn really carries the weight here. She has this way of looking at a man like he’s a particularly dense piece of furniture, and it’s always satisfying. She doesn't even need to say a word to tell you that she's bored out of her mind.

The middle of the film gets a little bogged down by the societal scandal of her having a child out of wedlock. You can almost feel the movie trying to squeeze in every possible dramatic trope from the era. Sometimes it’s a bit much, honestly. You want her to get back to the writing, but the script keeps pulling her back into Victorian melodrama.

There is a scene in an office that goes on just a few seconds too long. You can see the background actors just kind of standing there, looking like they forgot why they walked into the room. It’s a bit jarring compared to the sharp dialogue happening in the foreground.

Speaking of period pieces, it’s funny how different this feels from something like The Godless Girl. Both deal with authority, but this one is so much more concerned with the decorum of the era, even while it's breaking it.

Odd little notes:

• The lighting in the library scene makes everyone look like they’re being haunted by a very polite ghost.
• I swear the same background extra appears in three different scenes, each time wearing a slightly different hat.
• The pacing is a bit of a rollercoaster. It moves at breakneck speed during the magazine takeover, then hits a wall once the baby drama starts.

It’s not perfect. It’s definitely a product of its time, and the ending feels like it was written to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy rather than staying true to the fire we saw in the first thirty minutes. Still, watching Hepburn stand her ground is enough to make it a decent watch on a rainy Tuesday.