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The Complete Films Of Spencer Tracy

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The Complete Films of Spencer Tracy by Donald Deschner.

The Complete Films of Spencer Tracy was originally published by Citadel
Press as part of an illustrated "films of" series in 1967. I have the revised edition published in 1993 which has a few more detailed listings including a couple of early appearances in film short subjects.

Briefly, this is a well illustrated look at Spencer Tracy's film career with the empahsis on the well-known pictures of the late 1930s to the end of Mr. Tracy's career.

Unfortunately for me, I was primarily interested in Tracy's earlier, lesser known films, mostly done for Fox studios from 1930 to 1936 or so.
This book gives scant coverage to this part of Mr. Tracy's career and in one article sort of dismisses this era as one of Mr. Tracy playing thugs and hoodlums.

In fact, in the earlier part of his carer, Mr. Tracy played many more or less lawful average Joes, who are up against it in different situations
in which Tracy uses his guile, toughness and natural magnetism to help work his way out of difficult and dangerous situations. These films are much different than the later well known hits of Mr. Tracy's career and should have been covered with a bit more detail in The Complete Films of Spencer Tracy.

Throughout the book all of Tracy's films are represented by at least one picture and are given a complete list of credits and cursery synopsis with no contemporary reviews or any description of what the particular movie meant to Tracy's career or the film culture of that time. A very disappointing approach to one of the legendary careers in American movie history.

Spencer Tracy has long been heralded as the cinema's greatest actor and this volume serves him well. Besides a detailed look at each of his films, we're given biographical information and articles/reflections by those who knew him. A fine tribute to a gifted artist.