Katharine Hepburn asked MGM to cast Clark Gable as Dexter and Spencer Tracy as Mike before she met either of them. Both Gable and Tracy were busy with other projects, so Cary Grant and James Stewart were cast instead. Playwright Philip Barry based the character of Tracy on Katharine Hepburn's public image at the time. She'd left her previous studio, RKO, on bad terms, which only worsened her (temporarily) unpopular image. This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Co ...[Read Story ]