As more books come out recounting his life, it is clear Tracy was an enigmatic, very depressed person. But I don't like to dwell on that, instead on his great film career. I am especially fond of ADAM'S RIB and all the films he did with Hepburn for that matter.
f you look at the list on IMDB, it is clear he did it all: horror, western, poltical, romance, crime. He always radiated a natural intelligence though.
What is your favorite Tracy film?
I can never pick one. These will always stand out for me:
ReplyDeleteINHERIT THE WIND (should've won the Oscar over Burt Lancaster in Elmer Gantry)
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
A GUY NAMED JOE
DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE (the most interesting version of the movie adaptations, too)
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
ReplyDeleteWas there ever an actor whose on-screen persona differed so much from his "real" one. What I loved about his characters were that they always seemed so comfortable in their own skin. I'd have to go with Woman of the Year or Father of the Bride, but there are so many to choose from.
ReplyDeleteJudgment at Nuremberg.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Deb. He fooled us all-even the Kate romance was a sham pretty much.
Yes--I read that in a Hepburn bio. He was essentially an alcoholic who allowed her to take care of him, but his deeper emotions were never really touched. She was a strong women, but when it came to Tracy, she could never see him clearly. Live truly is blind,,,
ReplyDeleteLove
ReplyDeleteBAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, definitely, but he was also very good in SAN FRANCISCO.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't pick a favorite, though he's magic with Hepburn. For a western, I'd pick BROKEN LANCE, in which they both starred.
ReplyDeleteI've read that he never respected his work as an actor, but that may have more to do with the bottle than honesty. I love him. Funny how drinkers can suck us in that way.
Since I just walked out of a terrible musical, JEKYLL & HYDE, I'll pick Spencer Tracy's brilliant film version: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
ReplyDeleteBAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
ReplyDeleteADAM'S RIB
and one searing early one:
FURY
Jeff M.
haven't thought of FURY in years.
ReplyDeleteHe's great in everything I've seen.
ReplyDeleteI'll add Desk Set just for its librarian-power quips.
And soon will rewatch Judgment at Nuremberg,, whch I haven't seen since I was a kid.
PAT & MIKE: "Not much meat but what there is, is cherce."
ReplyDeleteTCM showed Judgement at Nuremberg over the weekend. He was amazing in that.
ReplyDeleteHis biographers talk of his Catholic guilt. He could never reconcile his adult conduct with his upbringing. He was riddled with guilt about his impaired son. My mother knew him slightly; he was a year ahead of her at Ripon College.
ReplyDeleteSad to think he was so outwardly successful and so inwardly in agony.
ReplyDeleteBAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK
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