The Power and the Glory

When I first saw Colleen Moore it was in the excellent series about silent films called "Hollywood". There she was in 1980, her hair defiantly bobbed as it was in the Twenties, a sparkling, witty and charismatic elderly lady - the very definition of "presence". Then I saw her fabulous silent comedy work in films like "Ella Cinders" and "Orchids and Ermine". Then the disappointingly sombre talkie "The Scarlet Letter". And now here she is in "The Power and the Glory" giving a performance of staggering power, working expertly alongside one of the talking cinema's finest actors - Spencer Tracy.

I found the movie a little lack lustre story-wise, but Moore and Tracy give such brilliant performances that the story hardly seems to matter. Both actors age from youth to old age in the course of the film - and this is done mostly through acting alone with minimal make-up and hair changes. Moore is almost unrecognisable as the elderly wife, and the scene where she finds out her husband is seeing a younger woman is one of the most magnificently performed scenes I have ever seen. She does most of the scene without dialogue, which is where her silent acting experience gives her the edge, even over Tracy. Contrast this with her delightful comic playing in another silent sequence when she is a young woman and Tracy is struggling to propose to her. Astonishing! What this film reveals more than anything else is how shameful it is that Hollywood let this remarkable actress slip through its fingers and spend most of her life in retirement.

During Spencer Tracy's period at Fox, he mostly played as rugged action adventure heroes in forgettable programmers. Very rarely did he get any parts that demonstrated his talents until San Francisco when he was with MGM. The Power And The Glory should have been the career changer that San Francisco later was.

This film is light years different than what he was doing at Fox Films and more typical of his MGM period. It tells the story in the same fashion that Citizen Kane later perfected of the life of a railroad tycoon after his demise. Instead of from many points of view, the film is only told from the point of view of Tracy's best friend as he recalls different points of Tracy's life out of chronological order, the friend being played by Ralph Morgan.

There is an important difference in subject matter as well. Charles Foster Kane is a kid born to wealth and privilege whereas Tracy's Tom Garner was a self made millionaire. Starting out as a track worker and encouraged by his first wife who was a school teacher, Tracy goes to school learns the engineering trade and begins acquiring stock.

But as the demands of acquiring and later maintaining a fortune draw from his time Tracy is less and less attentive to his wife Colleen Moore who becomes something of a harpy. They have a son in Phillip Trent who grows up spoiled rotten.

Later on Tracy marries the daughter of another railroad owner, the much younger Helen Vinson. She carries the ultimate seed of his downfall.

Although the subject matter is far from what he later would do as a director, Preston Sturges wrote the original screenplay for The Power And The Glory. As Sturges was a well read man he might have taken his inspiration in part from our 17th President. Andrew Johnson was a man who did not spend a day in school and what education he did receive came from his school teacher wife. The early years of Tracy and Moore play very much like Andrew Johnson and Eliza McCardle Johnson were supposed to be.

In the underplaying and subtle style that he practically took a copyright out on, Spencer Tracy carefully delineates a character at all stages of his adult life that holds your interest throughout. Colleen Moore does as well. It's a pity that The Power And The Glory was one of her last films, she made the transition from the silent screen apparently easy. But she retired young and wealthy and saw not the need to work. And even though she made a career of playing 'the other woman' Helen Vinson actually does get to marry Tracy as a second wife though in point of fact she is indeed the other woman.

The Power And The Glory proved that they were asleep at the switch at Fox. Tracy's performance should have led to greater roles for him. He would have to wait until he was at MGM for his real glory years.

A precursor to "Citizen Kane" in its analysis of the life of a just deceased tycoon, here reviewed by his faithful secretary in a series of interlocking flashbacks. In Spencer Tracy's 15th film he already looks middle-aged even in the scenes where he is meant to be young!

A little silent-screen type emoting is understandable given the vintage but this is a most enjoyable, well-written drama.

Spencer Tracy plays a self-made industrialist who worked like a dog to become a major railroad baron. Somewhere along the way, though, he lost track of what motivated him to do this in the first place and by the end of the film he realized, too late, that his work was in vain.

The review by jdeamara seemed right on when it said that this movie suffered because the way of presenting the movie by bouncing back and forth to tell the story seemed haphazard and that the characters needed to be further developed. Spencer Tracy is a complex character but instead of showing him in a comprehensible manner, the story bounces around so much that you never really come to know who he is or his motivations. The same went for many of the supporting characters--especially his wife. When he and his wife argued, it seemed like much of the context was missing. Plus, whether or not Tracy played a jerk or not wasn't really answered--and this question is the basis for the movie that is told by Ralph Morgan through flashbacks.

An interesting effort but that is all. For a much, much better film about the millionaire industrialist starring Tracy, try watching EDWARD, MY SON--a far more complex and enjoyable film.

By the way, according to IMDb the rumor started by Pauline Kael that this film was the inspiration for CITIZEN KANE was unfounded. As for me, I didn't see the parallel either.

After despised railway tycoon Spencer Tracy (as Tom Garner) dies, boyhood pal Ralph Morgan (as Henry) recounts his friend's life. As we flashback, the young lads become friends during a near-drowning incident. Growing up illiterate, Mr. Tracy meets his perfect match in schoolteacher Colleen Moore (as Sally). Alas, Tracy's life is filled with triumph and tragedy. With Ms. Moore's edging, he rises to the top but becomes corrupt. Despite denials, "The Power and the Glory" provided Orson Welles with the blueprint for a revered classic; he needn't have worried, this does not diminish "Citizen Kane" (1941) in any way. Proving films can inspire without being innately inspirational, "The Power and the Glory" has the prerequisite flawed classic qualities...

Tracy is terrific, but does not really excite; however, this is a technical concern. A former "silent movie" star taking a few years off, Moore contributes a notably adroit supporting performance. Director William K. Howard gets to work with photographer James Wong Howe and an innovative Preston Sturges story. The non-linear narrative was new to talking films, and thus disarmed contemporary viewers. There looks to have been an unwelcome studio-ordered edit as the story seems shortened; and, of course, Mr. Wells (and I) would have ended it differently - the scene with Tracy kneeling by his bed, bathed in sunlight, with son Phillip Trent (as Tommy) and Mr. Morgan, should have ended with a close-up of the scar on Tracy's outstretched hand...

******** The Power and the Glory (8/16/33) William K. Howard ~ Spencer Tracy, Colleen Moore, Ralph Morgan, Helen Vinson