The 20 Best of Spencer Tracy
The twenty best performances of legendary actor Spencer Tracy.
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- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnFay BainterRival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.Tracy and Hepburn ignite their unique chemistry. Tracy was romantic, something he had struggled with previously. This film, as much as any other, helped to make him a super-star.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsClark GableJeanette MacDonaldSpencer TracyA Barbary Coast saloonkeeper and a Nob Hill impresario are rivals for the affections of a beautiful singer, both personally and professionally, in 1906 San Francisco.Tracy won his first Oscar for his portrayal of the loyal priest. This role changed Tracy's career and opened up doors for him.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsSylvia SidneySpencer TracyWalter AbelWhen a wrongly-accused prisoner barely survives a lynch-mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to fake his death and frame the mob for his supposed murder.Tracy is dynamite as the wrongly-accused man. This film, along with "San Francisco", vaulted Tracy to the A-list.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyFreddie BartholomewLionel BarrymoreA spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.Tracy would win his second Oscar in a row, with his portrayal of a Portuguese fisherman.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsSpencer TracyMickey RooneyHenry HullWhen a death row prisoner tells him he wouldn't have led a life of crime if only he had had one friend as a child, Father Edward Flanagan decides to start a home for young boys.Tracy was nominated for his 3rd Oscar in a row and won his 2nd in a row. He play Father Flanagan with warmth and strength.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsJean HarlowWilliam PowellMyrna LoyWhen a socialite sues a big paper for libel, the editor responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée and a former employee to frame her and make the false story seem true.Tracy was now on a roll. MGM was setting him up with great cast-mates and solid scripts, and Tracy was delivering career-defining performances.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsSpencer TracyRita JohnsonLynne Overman82-year-old inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison is honored in 1929 and he reflects back on his sixty-year career of scientific achievement.Tracy's uncanny resemblance to Edison, and his ability to bring a realism to even the most idealized characters, made him the perfect man for this film. He is wonderful in it.
- DirectorHenry KingOtto BrowerStarsSpencer TracyNancy KellyRichard GreeneTasked by his editor, American reporter Henry M. Stanley travels to a dangerous and uncharted region of East Africa to find the missing Scottish pioneer missionary Dr. David Livingstone.Tracy was loaned out to his old home for this adventure film. Tracy takes his mugging, street-smart character to the jungle.
- DirectorJack ConwayStarsClark GableSpencer TracyClaudette ColbertTwo buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a ten-year period, are in love with the same woman.Another Gable and Tracy affair. With a little too much going on, it does not reach the levels of "San Francisco", yet the two stars make a formidable team and carry most of the picture.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsSpencer TracyLoretta YoungMarjorie RambeauBill takes Trina into his depression camp cabin. Later, just as he finds showgirl LaRue who will support him, Trina becomes pregnant.This is a great forgotten little gem from Columbia pictures. Spencer Tracy is funny, tough, and charming as the homeless huckster Bill. Tracy works wonderfully with Loretta Young, as their off-screen romance spills over into their performances. This was easily Tracy's best performance up till then, as his Bill is utterly believable, whereas the dialogue in "The Power and the Glory" could, at times, seem forced.
- DirectorWilliam K. HowardStarsSpencer TracyColleen MooreRalph MorganThe tragic life story of a power-hungry industrialist is recounted in the aftermath of his death.Tracy is quite powerful as Tom Garner, an important railroad man. The story bounces between young and old Tom as he becomes more successful, but less happy. Tracy plays both the simple, gentle young Tom and the bitter, angry old Tom with genuine emotion. Though Sturges script isn't as good as some remember, it is still "Citizen Kane"- light, which is far better than anything else Tracy was being offered at the time.
- DirectorFrank BorzageGeorge B. SeitzStarsSpencer TracyLuise RainerCharley GrapewinTo avoid a taxi war, city officials blame a gang bombing on driver Joe Benton's wife Anna and put her on a ship to deport her. The mayor is speaker at a boxers' banquet where Joe pleads for them to go with him to the wharf and rescue Anna (about to deliver their baby) from the ship.The stars Louise Rainier and Spencer Tracy were both riding high as recent Oscar winners.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsSpencer TracyBette DavisArthur ByronBrash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.Spencer Tracy deliver in this drama directed by Michael Curtiz. Tracy co-stars with the incomparable Bette Davis in this prison film. He gets to display his volatile acting style and worked wonderfully with the young Davis.
- DirectorJ. Walter RubenStarsJean HarlowSpencer TracyUna MerkelFisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie and quits his poorly paid job to concentrate on getting better working conditions as union leader. Unfortunately, the union members disagree with Dutch's ideas and kick him out. Without a job or union card to get another, he leaves Hattie to look for work. Hattiee steals money to help him when she learns he is really down on his luck and she goes to jail. He gets a new job, foils a plot to dynamite the ship, and promises to wait for Hattie.Tracy has great chemistry with Harlow and is, of course, good as a fast talking mugg. This was Tracy's first picture as a contract player at MGM, and he immediately benefits from that studio's sense of artistry. Though the picture was a quickie by MGM's standards, it was still much better than the films that Tracy was working in at Fox, his previous studio.
- DirectorJohn W. Considine Jr.StarsSpencer TracySally EilersEl BrendelWhen motorcycle cop Dick Fay gives a ticket to Phyllis Crawford, her father's graft-fed influence leads to his demotion to foot patrolman. When Fay leads a raid on a gangster's place he discovers Phyllis there, helps her escape, then blackmails her father.Finally, Spencer Tracy was able to open up, and deliver a really good performance. Of course, being Fox in the early 30's, the material was second-rate. However, Tracy was able to deliver an electric performance as a cop who makes one terrible mistake.
- DirectorKing VidorJack ConwayW.S. Van DykeStarsSpencer TracyRobert YoungWalter BrennanLangdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth, but when they arrive they find no soldiers and none of the supplies they expected.Tracy plays the leader of men with aplomb.
- DirectorRowland BrownStarsSpencer TracyMarguerite ChurchillSally EilersTruck driver Bugs Raymond organizes the trucking associations and takes protection money. Now rich, he decides to marry socialite Dorothy Stone. She rejects him for another, so he plots to kidnap her on her wedding day.Spencer Tracy plays the lead in this B-picture from Fox. He is much better here than in his first feature, "Up the River". He again plays a good guy, who slowly loses his morals, and ends up a bad guy. This time, however, he is much more convincing than in "Up the River".
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsSpencer TracyJoan BennettMarion BurnsYoung New York cop Dan falls in love with waterfront waitress Helen. Helen's sister Kate falls for gangster Duke. Dan must do in Duke.Tracy gets to play opposite Joan Bennett for the second time in his short career, and shines. This was his eighth and final film in 1932, as Tracy worked for both Fox and was loaned out to MGM and producer Howard Hughes.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnRichard WhorfJournalist Steve O'Malley (Spencer Tracy) wants to write a biography of a national hero who died when his car ran off a bridge. Steve receives conflicting reports and tales that make him question what the truth about the hero is.Tracy and Hepburn's second movie together. Tracy gets to play the more interesting character while Hepburn struggles with a poorly written character.
- DirectorCharles ReisnerStarsSpencer TracyMadge EvansHenry WadsworthAubrey cons Amy into thinking he's a railroad bigwig. After they marry Aubrey overspends in setting up their home. When their financial situation gets dire they go back to her parents house until Aubrey changes his ways and they can get on stable footing. When he loses his job he takes one wearing a sandwich board. After he helps Joe sell his patent for a good price and an old railroad deal comes through, he's back on top and ready to live high on the hog again.Probably the only good thing in this well-worn narrative was the performance of Tracy.
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSpencer TracyRobert RyanAnne FrancisA one-armed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary.