You are right ... I've might be thinking someone else and I just can't put a finger on it.JackFavell wrote:Beery and Crawford seem nothing alike to me...their styles are so different that it's like comparing apples and dogs. I know they played the same types occasionally, but I don't even think of them in the same universe.
For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
- Rita Hayworth
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
I saw a movie where somebody said, "Whiskey and soda? Or would you prefer a cocktail?" What's the difference? What constitutes a cocktail?
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
I keep meaning to read that Spencer Tracy book, what a complex man, I bet he never understood himself. I've never heard anyone bad mouth Spencer Tracy despite his drinking.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
Little lawn furniture like umbrellas...RedRiver wrote:I saw a movie where somebody said, "Whiskey and soda? Or would you prefer a cocktail?" What's the difference? What constitutes a cocktail?
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
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The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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- moira finnie
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
A few people had encounters with Tracy that left them underwhelmed. People had respect for his talent, but William Wellman, Selena Royle, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Robert Wise and even Robert Wagner, who regarded him as a father figure, all had reason to be hurt and leery of Tracy at times, whether drunk or sober. Tracy was all too human.charliechaplinfan wrote:I've never heard anyone bad mouth Spencer Tracy despite his drinking.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
You know Moira, in interviews I've read and seen, Robert Wagner seems almost protective of Tracy.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
I've noticed Wellman rarely had a good word to say of any actor or actress.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
Very. I't pretty clear he truly cared for the man as a mentor and an individual, though in Wagner's memoir and in Curtis' bio, it was clear that Wagner was exposed to the man at his best and at times when things threatened to spin out of control, especially during the making of The Mountain together. Physically rigorous, the filming must have taxed Tracy's already failing heart and S.T.'s ways of coping with his various problems often led to isolating himself or trying to self-medicate with the usual unpleasant results for others and more guilt for Tracy.Western Guy wrote:You know Moira, in interviews I've read and seen, Robert Wagner seems almost protective of Tracy.
Could be. He and Tracy came to blows publicly in a nightclub in the '30s, reportedly after Wellman made a crack about Loretta Young. The pair had worked together in Looking for Trouble (1934), and then never spoke to one another after this incident until Batjac productions tried to get them together decades later. Tracy and Wellman almost worked together in The HIgh and the MIghty with Tracy in the role that eventually was played by John Wayne.MissGoddess wrote:I've noticed Wellman rarely had a good word to say of any actor or actress.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
Another interesting point regarding Spencer: As much as he liked Wagner, he possessed a strong dislike towards another young co-star, Robert Francis, during the initial filming of TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN, before Francis died tragically and Tracy left the picture. Seems that one was either in or out with Tracy, based on his own whims.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
And director Robert Wise was not too fond of Tracy either for all the fuss he made over the co-stars and the high altitude location work of Tribute to a Bad Man (1956). I suspect that the altitude in the mountainous area of Colorado where filming took place affected the actor's deteriorating health, making it more difficult for him to perform than a so-so script. Unlike the situation with Tracy and Francis, I have read that Cagney, who succeeded Tracy in the role, became very fond of his neophyte co-star Don Dubbins, and had him cast in a follow-up movie with him, These Wilder Years (1956).Western Guy wrote:Another interesting point regarding Spencer: As much as he liked Wagner, he possessed a strong dislike towards another young co-star, Robert Francis, during the initial filming of TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN, before Francis died tragically and Tracy left the picture. Seems that one was either in or out with Tracy, based on his own whims.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
Well, Irish though they both were, Moira, I think there's little doubt James Cagney possessed an entirely different temperament than Tracy. As long as his co-players were professionals, Cagney worked well with them (with the exception of Horst Bucholz, whom Jimmy actively disliked because, according to him, Horst was a selfish and inconsiderate scene-stealer). With Spence, seems to be touch and go. Not saying that Robert Francis was a great actor, but he certainly was effective in his part in THE CAINE MUTINY. Yet Tracy didn't take to him and apparently took no pains to display it. Could that be why Robert took off on that plane flight that ultimately killed him?
TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN certainly is not a great movie (watchable - yes) and you're right, Moira: The altitude accompanied by a mediocre script may have definitely affected Tracy's mood (as Jimmy said, both Tracy and Bette Davis suffered from thyroid conditions - 'nuff said). Still Tracy was apparently so distraught when released from the filming that he truly believed his career was over. And for that matter, so did Tracy's pal Bogie between pictures and waiting for the next script. Many lunches at Romanoff's were spent with Bogart (probably with drambuie in hand) lamenting that he was finished in Hollywood because a prime script hadn't been delivered to him in the last few hours.
Oh, the insecurities of even the great actors. Jimmy Cagney certainly maintained the right philosophy, bless him. It was a job. No stress. No strain.
TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN certainly is not a great movie (watchable - yes) and you're right, Moira: The altitude accompanied by a mediocre script may have definitely affected Tracy's mood (as Jimmy said, both Tracy and Bette Davis suffered from thyroid conditions - 'nuff said). Still Tracy was apparently so distraught when released from the filming that he truly believed his career was over. And for that matter, so did Tracy's pal Bogie between pictures and waiting for the next script. Many lunches at Romanoff's were spent with Bogart (probably with drambuie in hand) lamenting that he was finished in Hollywood because a prime script hadn't been delivered to him in the last few hours.
Oh, the insecurities of even the great actors. Jimmy Cagney certainly maintained the right philosophy, bless him. It was a job. No stress. No strain.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
I have often thought that Tracy stayed at MGM longer than he should have creatively, but he was self-aware enough to understand that the structure of the studio system provided him with a routine that nurtured and protected his volatile, sensitive nature. [He also needed the money]. Thank goodness people like John Sturges and Stanley Kramer came along with the material they had when they did. Such talented people helped to pull something excellent and exceptional out of Spencer after so many years on that MGM gravy train. They just had to handle him in a certain way.
Of course, not all the films Tracy did after leaving MGM were "epics" (The Devil at Four O'Clock might be the worst movie ever for Tracy, Sinatra and Mervyn LeRoy, but maybe it's just me who feels that way).
BTW, to return to the original point of this thread, I revisited Black Angel (1946) over the weekend and relished Broderick Crawford's exhausted detective, the aptly named Capt. Flood. He's disgusted with the human race and himself--especially when June Vincent keeps coming around asking him to re-investigate her convicted husband's case. And, as he explains almost as though he's talking to himself, the homicide division is "only" three months behind in their investigations.
Of course, not all the films Tracy did after leaving MGM were "epics" (The Devil at Four O'Clock might be the worst movie ever for Tracy, Sinatra and Mervyn LeRoy, but maybe it's just me who feels that way).
BTW, to return to the original point of this thread, I revisited Black Angel (1946) over the weekend and relished Broderick Crawford's exhausted detective, the aptly named Capt. Flood. He's disgusted with the human race and himself--especially when June Vincent keeps coming around asking him to re-investigate her convicted husband's case. And, as he explains almost as though he's talking to himself, the homicide division is "only" three months behind in their investigations.
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Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
I should watch Black Angel again, it's been a long time since I saw it and I don't even remember Brod being in it. I hope it's on the internet somewhere.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
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-- Will Rogers
Re: For Brod Crawford on the Centennial of his birth
Speaking of Noir (BLACK ANGEL) and Broderick Crawford, here's a clip from my favorite Crawford Noir, NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL (Russell Rouse 1955), wherein he is the head of the New York syndicate, and my favorite bio-pic Noir, THE PRIVATE FILES OF J. EDGAR HOOVER (Larry Cohen 1977), wherein he's the Grand Poobah of all crime fighters.
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Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles