Product Details

• Actors: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Robert Walker, Melvyn Douglas, Phyllis Thaxter
• Directors: Elia Kazan
• Writers: Conrad Richter, Marguerite Roberts, Vincent Lawrence
• Producers: Pandro S. Berman
• Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 123 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302208904
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #183,589 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's no surprise that Elia Kazan directed the oddly political Sea of Grass, the story of a man (Spencer Tracy) who reveres the grass plains and thinks they are no place for homesteaders and farmers. His wife (Katharine Hepburn) disagrees, however, and the two find themselves at odds. But putting politics aside, this is a melodrama with a capital "M," so throw in some adultery, an out-of-wedlock baby, and Hepburn speaking even more breathlessly than usual, and you might find yourself giggling at some of the more dramatic moments. Even more out of place, Strangers on a Train star Robert Walker plays Hepburn and Tracy's grown son, who cares more about cards and drinking than the land. There are sweet moments in this film, but the politics of the land is ultimately more compelling than the relationships. --Paige Newman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting and romantic!, August 19, 2000

By 

Justin R Ray (Springfield, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sea of Grass [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The fourth pairing of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy is pure magic. Kate is perfect as the southern belle who goes out west to marry a cattleman. Spencer Tracy is the cattleman whom Kate marries. From the start, Kate and Spencer don't see eye to eye on different issues, and an affair between Kate and Melvyn Douglas doesn't help the marriage. The cast is superb, even if parts of the movie seem to drag. Great ROMANTIC WESTERN/DRAMA!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A sad life, July 2, 2002

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sea of Grass [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is the saddest Spencer Tracy movie I've seen. Tracy plays a prosperous cattle baron, who, although he rules his range with an iron hand, can't rule his marriage or his family, and everything else goes sour for him, too. His high-society wife from St. Louis (played by Hepburn) doesn't see eye-to-eye with him on the question of the open range, she cuckolds him by having an affair with Melvyn Douglas and having a son by him (which both Tracy and the son eventually figure out), the land endures years of droughts, squatters move in on him despite his best efforts to keep them away, with even the U.S. Calvalry even coming down on him, and his devil-may-care son is eventually killed by a posse after he kills a gambler who was insulting Tracy's honor, and worst of all, he and his wife split up for almost 20 years after just a couple of years of marriage.

The story has a happy ending, though, after Tracy and Hepburn finally get together at the very end of the movie. Both are outstanding in their roles, and the movie is worth seeing despite the overall downer of a plot.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Different Sort of Tracy/Hepburn Movie, June 6, 2005

By 

Randy Keehn (Williston, ND United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sea of Grass [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this movie for the first time over the weekend. I enjoyed the movie which is a sort of Western soap opera. What I found most impressive was the relationship between the two stars of the movie. Both characters came across as quite reserved which is unusual given their other performances together.

I called the movie a Western soap opera and I do so because this one will bring a few tears to more than one set of eyes. Yet it starts out with the boldness of the tale of a cattle baron. The relationship between Tracy and Hepburn reaches a crisis and its' resolution changes the direction of the movie. There is a scandal that almost slips our attention after what we're used to seeing in modern movies. In fact, it wasn't until later that I figured out the impact of some of the previous dialogue. The ending is worth hanging around for.

This movie was well-made with good direction ad decent acting. I'm not trying to put down those higher up on the bill but I thought the best acting was done by Edgar Buchanan. I was doing some math in my head; the movie begins on the Great Plains in 1880. It culminates roughly 20-25 years later bringing it into the 20th Century. However, the clothes, backdrop, transportaion modes, and technology never left 1880. If that's my biggest quibble, it can't have been too bad. This was a movie that turned out to be better than I had expected.