Potenza e gloria

The film begins with a funeral to the sound of "nearer my God to thee" and the soundtrack includes Gounod's "Ave Maria" as well.

This is the story of a self-made man,the American dream come true.From a track walker to a railway society tycoon,through the strikes and the strife of life ,Tom makes his way of life,abetted by wife Sally who taught him reading,writing and arithmetic when he was already a grown-up.

This is some kind of "Citizen Kane" in miniature ,relatively speaking ,a decade before Orson Welles' masterpiece happened.The story is told by Tom's good friend Henry,with wife making frequently unsympathetic comments .The movie alternates between present and past,back to childhood's days when Tom taught Henry to swim and to dive.

The story is a bit melodramatic ,mainly towards the end when the son falls in love with his stepmother and illustrates the famous sentence "you gain the world and lose your soul" ,which Tom's last word reinforces.

Henry was an educated man whereas Tom was essentially a self taught person .Tom got it made ,but in the end ,according to Sturges' screenplay,it's Henry's way which leads to true happiness.

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.

This movie, apart from its innovative narrative style and a few great scenes, is rather disappointing. It tells the story of a millionaire, Tom Garner, by inter-cutting between two series of flashbacks, one telling the story of him as a young man -- his rise; the other of him as an old man -- his fall. The inter-cutting, though innovative, doesn't serve much purpose, and seems haphazard. Moreover, it concentrates too much on him as an older man, on the lurid melodramatic tale of how he and his wife meet similar ends through suicide brought on by the adultery of their respective spouses. Hardly as much time is spent fleshing out the character of Tom himself. No scenes are given to the development of the adult friendship between Tom and Henry, Tom's best friend who also serves as narrator of the film. This makes a scene where Henry argues with his wife that Tom was a good man seem pretty hollow; it's hard to take a stand, since so little insight is given into what made Tom truly tick. If this film served as an inspiration to "Citizen Kane," at least those behind Kane remedied the main flaw of "The Power and the Glory," by fully realizing and exploring its main character. 6/10

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

Paauline Kael--who made many claims, mostly unfounded, about the "true origins" of 'Citizen Kane'--was by no means the first to mention Sturges' script for 'The Power & the Glory' as a forerunner to Welles & Mankiewicz.

Jorge Luis Borges, in his 1941 review of 'Kane' in the periodical Sur, noticed the similarity in storytelling: "A kind of metaphysical detective story ... the investigation of a man's inner self, through the works he has wrought, the words he has spoken, the lives he has ruined. The same technique was used by Joseph Conrad in 'Chance' (1914) and in that beautiful film 'The Power & the Glory': a rhapsody of miscellaneous scenes without chronological order."

Of 'Kane' Borges also said: "In a story by Chesterton ... the hero observes that nothing is so frightening as a labyrinth with no center. This film is precisely that labyrinth." (Translation by Suzanne Jill Levine, from "An Overwhelming Film" in Borges, 'Selected Nonfictions,' Penguin 1999.) Famous remarks from a famous review, at least in the non-Anglo-Saxon world ... though Borges was critical of 'Kane' as well as complimentary.