Scholars’ Spotlight: Spencer Tracy – Part One

Introduction

Many famous people have often stated that gaining the respect of their peers is often the most satisfying reward for achieving excellence in their profession. In classic Hollywood, few actors received eternal admiration from their contemporaries for mastering the art of acting, as Spencer Tracy often did. The great Laurence Olivier once said:

“I’ve learned more about acting from watching Spencer Tracy than in any other way. He has great truth in everything he does”

In a long and storied career that began in 1930 and ended with his death in 1967, Tracy stood out on screen for his ability to make the mundane seem special. Despite not being a matinee idol such as Errol Flynn or Tyrone Power, he could at times overshadow some of his formidable leading ladies whether it was Myrna Loy, Ingrid Bergman, or his frequent collaborator and lover, Katharine Hepburn. Fellow actor and friend Sidney Pottier reflected:

“Spencer Tracy the actor had captured my allegiance years before I ever met Spencer Tracy the person. Without question, Tracy’s career could serve as a textbook for the craft”

Beginnings

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was born on April 5, 1900, in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He was the son of a sales manager. In his youth, he struggled academically while eager, no doubt, to find purpose or adventure. He joined the Navy when the United States entered the First World War. Fortunately for him, he missed combat duty while being deployed stateside in Norfolk, Virginia. After a brief return to college, he later decided to try his hand at acting. In 1922, He enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

From here began his acting journey. It would culminate with him being considered one of the finest actors of the twentieth century. In October of 1922, he made his New York debut in a play called The Wedding Guests. His first appearance on Broadway, came in 1923 playing a robot in Karel Capek’s R.U.R. Tracy would later earn roles in five more Broadway plays during the 1920s, including 1927’s Baby Cyclone where he received positive reviews. Tracy later commented about his early days on Broadway:

“In the old days, you had to go at it the long, hard way. Trains were as bumpy as a frog’s back. Hotels were boot camps for bedbugs and roaches. And an actor’s yearly salary would fluctuate like a broken spring”

Despite those unpleasant beginnings, Tracy would find love in 1923 when he married a fellow actress whom he met on the same Broadway circuit, Louise Treadwell. The young couple would later have two children, John and Louise. Sadly, his son John was born deaf which compelled Tracy and his wife to later establish the John Tracy Clinic for the deaf at USC. Little did Tracy know that years later, his inability to find closure in his marriage would lead to an enduring and bittersweet romance with his frequent co-star, Katharine Hepburn. As we shall see later in part two of this series, this romance along with an inner conflict regarding his own sexuality, would lead Tracy to his long battle with Alcoholism.

On to Hollywood

In these early years on Broadway, Tracy at least was able to work with fellow legends such as Ethel Barrymore in 1927’s The Royal Fandango, and George M. Cohan in Baby Cyclone. He toiled away still unable to secure a transcendent role that would propel him to greater heights. Finally, in 1930, that opportunity came to play killer John Mears in the Broadway crime drama The Last Mile. One of the theatergoers just happened to be film director, John Ford. Coming away impressed by Tracy’s performance, Ford eventually convinced Fox Studios to sign Tracy for his upcoming film Up the River (1930) set for that same year.

Up the River was not Tracy’s first screen appearance. However, it did offer him a chance to work with an elite film director like Ford, who became a legend in the industry. This film would also be notable for being Humphrey Bogart’s first film role. The two would later forge a strong friendship, lasting until Bogart’s death from cancer in 1957. The film was a comedy about life inside Bensonata Penitentiary. Tracy plays the role of one of the inmates who escapes and comes to the aid of paroled trustee Steve Jordan, played ably by Humphrey Bogart.

The film, although a “B” picture, was well received by Depression-era audiences. New York Times movie critic Mordaunt Hall writing in 1930, singled out Tracy for his comedic abilities. He noted that Tracy played his role “particularly well.” Tracy and Ford established a good rapport, and the two would later work together again in The Last Hurrah (1958). With the completion of Up the River, Tracy would spend the next five years of his career at Fox Studios.

America was deep in the Great Depression. As a result, the movie-going public was understandably transfixed with rags-to-riches stories and comedies. Many of Tracy’s movie roles at Fox Studios in the early 1930s reflected that market appeal. In those early years, Fox was still showcasing a young variety of actors in the hope one would become a star.

His next film, for example, was another comedy, Goldie (1931), featuring a young Jean Harlow in a supporting role to Tracy. That same year, this time in a crime drama, he plays a truck driver trying to cook up a get-rich-quick scheme in Quick Millions (1931). In what would become the norm for him, Tracy once again received glowing reviews. Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times again comments:

“Mr. Tracy’s performance is forceful, and he succeeds in impressing one with his characterization”

Unfortunately, the film was not lucrative at the box office, and Fox Studio executives were beginning to doubt whether Tracy could become a frontline star. The film’s failure could have been attributed to its crude depiction of the underworld, along with the director Rowland Brown’s rumored connection to it. In his five years at Fox, Tracy continued to play a variety of roles whether it was romantic comedies, gangster films, or dramas. While the majority were “B” pictures and didn’t make money for Fox, he still continued to receive positive reviews.

Another bright spot from this early and overlooked part of his career was the experience of working with other acting talents who were just a few years away from being household names. He worked with Bette Davis on a loan out to Warner Brothers, in the prison drama 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), with Alice Faye and Shirley Temple in Now I’ll Tell (1934), and with Claire Trevor in Dante’s Inferno (1935).

During the Pre-Code era, many of the actors were still transitioning from the acting styles perfected on Broadway to the evolving methods required in the early sound era of filmmaking. This along with Fox executive’s reluctance to feature Tracy in prestige pictures with the exception of The Power and the Glory (1933) meant that Tracy’s future at Fox Studios was nearing its end.

Metro-Goldwyn Mayer

Spencer Tracy despite limited success at Fox Studios, was promoted by MGM top executive Irving Thalberg to studio head Louis B. Mayer. Mayer despite misgivings that Tracy could be a star, relented and signed Tracy in 1935. His first film role at the prestigious studio was opposite Myrna Loy in Whipsaw (1935). This underrated crime comedy features Tracy playing a federal agent trying to use diamond thief Loy to infiltrate a mob racket. While the theme and romantic ending were similar to other earlier Tracy vehicles, both Tracy and Loy shined. Film critic Frank Nugent said of the duo:

“Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy demonstrate again that they are among the screen’s most interesting players. Under less capable direction and with less gifted performers, Whipsaw probably would have been just another picture. Thanks to Mr. Wood, Miss Loy, Mr. Tracy, and John Qualen – to mention its chief advantages – its quite a bit more”

Originally, this film was supposed to be another successful pairing of Myrna Loy and William Powell, due to their enormous success from The Thin Man (1934). Powell was unavailable due to another movie commitment, and Tracy was able to slide in seamlessly. This was the movie that changed the trajectory of Tracy’s career from being a “B” level movie actor to one as a major contract player for a top studio such as MGM. 1936 would prove to be the year where the beginning of the legend of Spencer Tracy was born.

By 1936, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Clark Gable, and William Powell, were the top stars at MGM. Tracy’s rise to stardom in 1936 would be enhanced by working with all of them that same year. First up was a comedy vehicle with the legendary Harlow called Riffraff (1936). Since Tracy last worked with her in Goldie, Harlow had starred in timeless classics such as Red Dust (1932) with Clark Gable, and Dinner at Eight (1933) with Marie Dressler.

Now more mature and at the top of her game, she and Tracy would work well together in Riffraff. Film Daily magazine that year praised the film calling it “a lusty picture, full of action and comedy, with “fine performances” by Harlow and Tracy. The film turned in a modest profit for the studio, and Harlow and Tracy would reunite for a more prestigious comedy classic later that year called Libeled Lady (1936).

Stardom

Tracy’s next role is the one that made him a star for the rest of his career. Fury (1936), struck a chord with moviegoers based on the story Mob Rule by Norman Krasna. Directed beautifully by Fritz Lang in this film adaptation, Tracy plays a man who after moving out west to secure a better life so he can marry his fiancee, is unjustly arrested for a kidnapping he had no part of. His fiancee played splendidly by Sylvia Sidney, journeys to see him after she finds out what happened. By the time she arrives, a mob had breached the jail and set it on fire. Tracy’s character barely escapes with his life, and the near-death experience changes him for the worse. He becomes embittered and sets forth on a campaign of revenge.

The film was a hit for the studio, as it resonated with Americans who had experienced the injustices and misery of the Great Depression, along with the mob violence that engulfed the nation after the First World War. English novelist and journalist, Graham Greene, echoed what many thought about the film, writing for The Spectator in 1936:

“The only film I know to which I have wanted to attach the epithet of ‘great’”

Frank Nugent of The New York Times, praised Tracy, Sidney, and the rest of the cast “for their sincere and utterly convincing performances.” The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Original Story. Tracy was nominated by the New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Actor. He was starting to establish the screen persona of the everyday man who stood tall against any challenge posed by those more powerful than he, or when need be matching the wit and charm of a desirable woman.

Fresh off the success of Fury, Tracy would now receive third billing to fellow stars Clark Gable and Jeanette McDonald in the classic, San Francisco (1936). The film was highly anticipated because it would be the first time Gable and McDonald worked together. They each had scored major hits for the studio earlier in the year, with Gable doing Wife vs. Secretary (1936) and McDonald’s Rose Marie (1936) with long-time co-star Nelson Eddy.

San Francisco was a romantic drama set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. McDonald’s majestic singing, Gable’s irrepressible persona, and Tracy’s powerful portrayal of a priest, along with the impressive special effects, made the film a smashing success. It was nominated for six Academy Awards including Spencer Tracy for Best Actor. Though Tracy’s character, in reality, was a supporting role to Gable’s main character Blackie Norton, it still did not stop voters from recognizing Tracy’s impact on the film. Frank Nugent again of The New York Times, in 1936, wrote about Tracy:

“There must be special mention of another brilliant portrayal by Spencer Tracy, that of Father Mullin, the two-fisted chaplain of a Barbary Coast mission. Mr. Tracy, late of “Fury,” is heading surely toward an award for the finest performances of the year”

Though Tracy would lose to Paul Muni for his powerful portrayal of Louis Pasteur in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), the studio would bask in the glow of success when later in the year San Francisco had become the second-highest movie at the box office that year. It made a profit of almost $2.3 million.

Comedy and Oscars

Tracy’s comedic strengths would once again shine in one of the best screwball comedies of the 1930s, Libeled Lady (1936). This all-star fest included Harlow, Powell, Loy, and Tracy himself. It was no surprise that MGM could say that they had “More Stars than Under Heaven” considering that Tracy, who was having an impressive two-year run, would receive fourth billing in this film. The hilarious plot revolves around Loy’s character suing a New York City newspaper for libel, for reporting she was a home wrecker. Tracy, playing the editor of the paper, hatches the doomed-to-fail scheme of enlisting Powell to discredit Loy by setting her up to be alone with him.

The chemistry between the stars was palpable and audiences loved it. A major hit for MGM and its stars, the film grossed over $2.7 million. It was apparent now to MGM that Tracy was a bonafide star, and it was time for the studio to put him in prestigious pictures where he could carry the picture. The studio purchased and secured the rights to make a film adaptation of famed English novelist Rudyard Kipling’s story called Captains Courageous (1937).

MGM invested heavily in the picture, filming scenes on location throughout Canada and the United States. The story is centered on a wealthy and spoiled young boy whose life and character change after being befriended by a fisherman after he rescues him. Freddy Bartholomew played the part of the young boy beautifully, and Tracy captivated movie audiences with his role as the kind and humble fisherman, Manuel. Tracy’s death scene and Bartholomew’s reaction to it still can tug at the heartstrings and was classic Hollywood at its finest.

Lionel Barrymore and Mickey Rooney rounded out another brilliant cast for the film. The result was another masterpiece for MGM and for its director Victor Fleming. Tracy’s signature moment at the beginning stages of his career had finally arrived. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, while the film received three other nominations. What was impressive about Tracy’s performance, is that he initially had misgivings about the role, and almost didn’t take the part. Tracy stated:

“Fought against it like a steer…Thought the characterization to be phony. Didn’t see how the pieces would fit together. Didn’t know where I could borrow an accent”

Thanks to the prodding of Victor Fleming, screenwriter Louis D. Lighton, and the personal opinions of his wife Louise, he accepted. Tracy felt more reassured once an actual Portuguese sailor visited the set. From that experience, Tracy knew he had what it took to bring the character to life. Tracy was especially thankful to his young co-star Freddy Bartholomew. Tracy stated:

“The way he would look at me, believe every word I said, made me believe in it myself”

Boys Town and MGM

Tracy and Mickey Rooney would work together in another classic the following year called Boys Town (1938). This film featured Spencer Tracy in one of his iconic roles playing the real-life Father Edward J. Flanagan, who opened the famed Boys Town home for underprivileged children in Nebraska. While the film does have fictional elements to the story, Tracy gives a stirring performance as the compassionate Flanagan who is tireless in his crusade to mentor and protect troubled youth.

The film was a major hit for the studio resulting in a box office of over $4 million. Boys Town won two Academy Awards, including Best Writing, Original Story and Tracy’s second consecutive Best Actor win. The film was so successful, that the sequel “Men of Boys Town” was released in 1941 and also was profitable.

Tracy’s movie catalog for MGM from 1936-1941, revealed his versatility and adaptability to working with a variety of stars. For an actor as accomplished as Tracy, it was not easy to play roles that demanded sharing the spotlight with other equally accomplished stars. To his credit, he shined alongside Joan Crawford in Mannequin (1937), once more alongside Clark Gable and Myrna Loy in Test Pilot (1938), and the beautiful Hedy Lamarr in I Take This Woman (1940).

He also played famed explorer Henry Morton Stanley in Stanley and Livingstone (1939), British Army Officer Robert Rogers in Northwest Passage (1940), and legendary inventor Thomas Edison, in Edison the Man (1940). For his role in playing Thomas Edison, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that Tracy’s performance brought “human and vital substantiality” to the role. It was now common to hear movie critics and fellow actors anoint Tracy as the finest actor in Hollywood. American audiences in 1939 agreed as well when Fortune magazine released a poll showing Tracy to be America’s “Favorite Movie Actor.”

A Versatile Actor

Tracy would end 1940 teaming up once again with Clark Gable in the comedy western Boom Town (1940). This time Gable shares co-billing with Tracy and features fine performances from Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr. The plot of two oil wildcatters trying to strike it rich while discovering they were in love with the same woman, was popular with moviegoers. It was the highest-grossing movie of 1940 making $5 million. Despite the phenomenal success of the film, it would be the last time that Gable and Tracy would work together in a film.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) reinforced Tracy’s broad range and versatility. Considering that the earlier 1931 version featuring Fredric March was a success, it proved that MGM was right to place its confidence that Tracy could match or even surpass March’s earlier Oscar-winning portrayal. Victor Fleming of Gone with the Wind (1939), and The Wizard of Oz (1939) fame, directed Tracy, and his radiant co-stars, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner. Variety magazine that year wrote that “Tracy plays the dual roles with conviction.”

Ingrid Bergman in her inevitable ascent to film stardom had also received high praise from critics for her performance in a grittier role than she was accustomed to. Variety wrote of Bergman that: “…she is Tracy’s equal as a strong screen personality…” Though Tracy was not nominated for an Academy Award for his fine performance, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde did receive three nominations for Cinematography, Film Editing, as well as Best Music.

By the beginning of 1942, Tracy had several watershed moments in his young career. First, it was his discovery by John Ford on Broadway while watching his performance on The Last Mile that led to his first studio contract with Fox Studios. His career was on life support when favorable circumstances led Irving Thalberg to convince Louis B. Mayer to bring Tracy into the most prestigious movie studio in Hollywood.

Tracy was not only up to the challenge of working with all of MGM’s top stars such as Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, William Powell, and Clark Gable but in the period from 1935-1941 he eclipsed them all to become regarded by his peers as Hollywood’s finest actor. At the age of 41, Tracy had two Academy Awards for Best Actor and had worked in several movie classics which made millions for the studio.

More to Come

For any other actor, those accomplishments would have been plenty. However, beginning in 1942, the second half of Spencer Tracy’s career would convincingly surpass the first. Not only would he and his wife start the pioneering John Tracy Clinic to help young hearing-impaired children that year, but he would forge an enduring screen and romantic partnership with possibly Cinema’s greatest actress, Katharine Hepburn.

During this next phase of his life, Tracy’s insecurities about his marriage and possibly his own sexuality led to his severe bouts with Alcoholism and a decline in his health. Still, despite these struggles, more acting masterpieces from Mr. Tracy and Ms. Hepburn would change cinema history forever. This will be the topic in part two of our Spotlight series on Spencer Tracy’s illustrious career.

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