SPENCER TRACY’S SUCCESS

Evening Star, Issue 23833, 13 March 1941, Page 6

SPENCER TRACY’S SUCCESS

‘ EDISON, THE MAN ' Thomas Alva Edison came into' a world that was dimly lit, (hat groped only feebly for means to harness its tremendous latent power. He left it blazing with brilliant light, throbbing with power. In the span of ids extraordinary life he saw the birth of ail the modern miracles—the automobile, the aeroplane, electric light, wireless, the telephone, and all the myriad wonders of modern industrialism. And, more than any single man, he helped create and evolve these modern miracles. He was, truly, the servant of mankind. He gave the world light and power. He made progress possible. To tell the story of Edison in motion pictures was a task too big for just one picture. So Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made two films centred around his life. The first, 1 Young Tom Edison,’ starring Mickey Rooney, was screened just a Tittle while ago. The second, ‘ Edison the Man,’ will be presented to-morrow at the Regent. To portray Edison in his maturity, Mel.ro-Goldwyn-Mayor selected the screen’s finest actor. In portraying that role, Spencer

Tracy gives his greatest performance. That is said with full memory of his past ■ triumphs—his ‘ Father Flanagan ’ of Boys' Town,’ his priest of ‘ San Francisco,’ his • Manuel ’ of 4 Captains Courageous.’ Great, indeed, were these achievements. But, as Edison, Tracy tops them all. He is first seen as an old man, with the honours of the world heaped on his shoulders. Yet that old man is so human that ho does not disdain to keep hundreds of his 'most distinguished fellow-countrymen waiting, while he talks to two youngsters, reporters for a high school magazine. And it is this intense humanity and love for his fellow-men which distinguishes Edison throughout the whole course of his life, as the film excitingly traces it. You will see dramatic events—the creation of the first practical electric lamp, the discovery of the gramophone, the first practical application of electric lighting to a modern city—but overshadowing them is this human story of a great man. It is hero that Tracy shines. Audiences will sense the genius of the inventor, but will know and be warmed by the humanity of the man. An intimate "friend of Edison’s, after witnessing the film, remarked: “It is amazing. The Old Man was just like that. To me, it wasn’t Spencer Tracy talking; it was Edison himself.”