SPENCER TRACY - October, 2012 SOTM

[JackFavell]

I forgot how much I enjoyed the movie Me and My Gal.

Tracy brought something delightful out in Joan Bennett whenever they appeared together. I'm sure it didn't hurt that the director clearly loved all his characters either. The breaking of the fourth wall by J. Farrell MacDonald at the two weddings in the movie was an unexpected delight. Really an amusing and truly naturalistic pre-code. The little conversation about social economics between the down-and-outer and Tracy the cop was subversive and told you all you needed to know about the setting of the characters' lives without milking it all for pathos.

Another favorite part for me is the Strange Interlude (or innertube) scene, where the two characters chat about nothing, while we hear their thoughts, mostly about sex, flit by in the pauses. Walsh really does some crazy things in this film, but they work just great within it's context.

[movieman1957]

Thanks, Wendy. You're always so kind.

[Western Guy]

Really enjoying these vintage Spencer Tracy pictures and adored the documentary. That Kate Hepburn was one heckuva lady and her love for Spencer sure was obvious.

Only complaint: Why can't TCM dig up a print of QUICK MILLIONS? Early Tracy (okay, and of course there's my guy George) and quite a neat little gangster picture, a bit different from the norm. TCM was able to secure a really butchered print of UP THE RIVER; the prints I've seen of QUICK MILLIONS are in much better condition and should not be difficult to secure. Seems to be the one early gangster flick that TCM has not aired.

[MissGoddess]

I too thought The Power and the Glory a prescient performance for Tracy in a flawed movie, and it even seemed to harken ahead to Citizen Kane in the characterization.

Moira, thank you for the background on Dante's Inferno. I recorded it and hope to watch this unusual little movie again soon.

[CineMaven]

...Tracy slipped into the scene so casually and without note that I didn't even realize it was happening until he had reduced me to tears already. Simplicity, that's the key, and it would be the key all through his career. No theatrics, no fuss. Just a guy, speaking as if there was no camera watching, and nobody else there.

This hot and heavy political season is winning me over and I find I cannot pull away from MSNBC even though the shows are repeated throughout the nite, but I enjoyed how you speak of Spencer Tracy. I must make time to record this fine actor. I wonder how the thespian connection was between he and Deborah Kerr during "Edward My Son." They both seem so natural, to me.

[JackFavell]

movieman, I believe you should be thanking MissGoddess instead of me, although I felt just the same way about what you wrote!

Maven, I find Edward My Son very hard to watch, just because Tracy is such a difficult character in it. I really should give it another try.

[movieman1957]

I always thought all the wisdom of the world had been carefully stored in him.
chris you always have a way of putting everything in one sentence...that takes me 22 of them and still doesn't say it all like you just did.

Thank you April. I just washed my brain and I can't do a thing with it. (Forgive me.)

P.S. Thanks Wendy for correcting me.

[CineMaven]

Maven, I find Edward My Son very hard to watch, just because Tracy is such a difficult character in it. I really should give it another try.

Yeah, that's a tough one Jaxx. I was just thinking about what it was like for each of them to work with each other during the movie. I hoped it was a good experience for the both of them. This one is early in Kerr's career. I hope Tracy was helpful to her.

[MissGoddess]

lol! Maybe the critic meant Tracy was underplaying in comparison to Joan Crawford. I like Mannequin, but it doesn't feel like a Borzage picture at all, I'll agree.

Edward, My Son features probably Tracy's least pleasant character---he played at least two or three others that come close---and though I don't care for the film I can't help but admire him for making no attempt to make the character likable.

[JackFavell]

That's funny, kingrat!

One reason I find it hilarious is that this morning I watched part of Rifraff again, and the same could be said of this film. My very favorite scene (without Joseph Calleia) occurs between Tracy and J. Farrell MacDonald, two scene stealing pros:

Tracy is hungry, he's been on the run and hasn't eaten anything for we don't know how long. He's contrite, he's been a blowhard and a heel throughout most of the picture, and this is his chance to show how much he's changed over time.

He walks into the room, and MacDonald's wife goes to find the older man so Tracy can plead with him to have his job back. In the moments before MacDonald comes in, Tracy looks longingly at a bowl of apples on the dining room table. He reaches for one, looking furtively around, then decides not to take it for fear of showing how hungry he is. He looks around at pictures on the wall, then maybe a newspaper on the table, then, unable to help himself, reaches back for the fruit. He picks it up and starts to take a bite. Suddenly, he hears the old man coming from the hallway. As MacDonald enters, Tracy fumbles the apple and only succeeds in putting it back at the last moment.

The funny thing about this shameless stretching of the scene and stealing of an entrance by another actor is that MacDonald steals it right back! As Tracy puts the apple back in the bowl, MacDonald shamelessly pulls focus. He watches him intently, staying behind Tracy in the hallway. Sweetly, as Tracy fumbles with the fruit, he turns away for a moment, pretending not to have noticed, and goes back and REMAKES HIS ENTRANCE so that Tracy will have time to put the apple back in the bowl... he completely draws your eye, making himself the center of attention. He's the lovable curmudgeon who will let Tracy save face. I don't think I've ever seen Tracy blown off the screen by any other actor before, nor quite so effectively.

[Rita Hayworth]

Edward, My Son features probably Tracy's least pleasant character---he played at least two or three others that come close---and though I don't care for the film I can't help but admire him for making no attempt to make the character likable.

Miss Goddess ... Edward, My Son is one of my least favorite Tracy Films ... I never really cared for it at all because Tracy (like you said) tried to make it likeable and that alone made it very unbearable for me to watch. I seen it once and don't have the guts to see it again!

[RedRiver]

I almost never do this. Bumping this thread on a performer with such depth it warrants further discussion. The man was funny. If anything, character based comedy was his forte. Certainly, his dramatic work was exemplary. Soul piercing. But the way he wrangles with ironic situations, trying with limited success to manipulate them to his advantage, is all but dumbfounding.

It's a losing battle in ADAM'S RIB. A daunting challenge in PAT AND MIKE. FATHER OF THE BRIDE may have been intended as a vehicle for the ravishing starlet. But it's the overwhelmed patriarch who gets the laughs! An amazing actor. A very funny man!

[JackFavell]

I LOVE Spence in his comedies, and especially the later ones. Father of the Bride and Father's Little Dividend, I never miss them. Adam's Rib always makes me laugh especially the line, "Licorice. I love licorice." Pat and Mike is charming, I may be one of the few who just loves this movie, Tracy's accent and all. Aldo Ray as the big dumb boxer - I love the way he says "I trew up" . Desk Set is a great favorite, and you get Joanie along for the ride. The Actress has some very funny moments, though I find it very painful as well. I greatly enjoyed Guess Who's Coming to Dinner when it was on recently, much better than I remembered it. Ah, I'm just rambling on, with nothing to say except that I just love the expressions that cross Tracy's face in all of these movies, mostly when he's just listening. He's priceless.

[MissGoddess]

my favorite expression just may be the face wipe. he did it a lot in his younger years but it starts with the hand over the forehead and he rubs in downward with such exasperation and barely suppressed frustration it breaks me up every time. sometimes it ends over his mouth, that hand, just covering it as if trying to stifle the (probably bad) words that are aching to pour out. occasionally it stops midway to rub his eyes, too. these are "tricks" of an actors trade, and when they work they endear a performer. he slays me with that one.