He will best be remembered for his on-screen and off-screen partnership with Katharine Hepburn. Some of his greatest roles especially those in the comedy genre were made with her at his side.
Spencer Tracy was the type of actor who hungered for the difficult roles, those in which he could hide within and really show what he could achieve.
This is my list of my favourite Spencer Tracy performances and films. This is an incredible list of films, from an inspiring talent.
Running Time: 1 Hour 35 mins
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: George Cukor
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn
Pat and Mike was one of 9 films that Tracy made with Katharine Hepburn. Written by their friends Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin this film was written to show off Hepburn's athletic skills (she was an avid tennis and golf player). Her Pat could be a great sports star, says her new slightly shady manager Mike (Tracy) but the problem is her fiance, she never plays her best when he is watching. Mike's dominating character helps Pat overcome her problems as they become mutually attracted to each other and Mike tries to go straight for Pat and quit his dodgy dealings.
Running Time: 1 Hour 20
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: John Sturges
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin
A seemingly small story with a big cast this John Sturges directed classic casts Tracy as a one handed stranger (John J. Macreedy) who comes to a tiny town known as Black Rock. As soon as he steps off the train he is big news. No one ever comes to the town and the residents like it that way. Macreedy finds everyone inhospitable and hostile. It is obvious they have a secret and it turns out the person Macreedy is there to see might be at the heart of the secret they will do anything to keep hidden. A great bubbling suspence with a perfectly cast Tracy in the lead.
Running Time: 1 Hour 40 mins
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: George Cukor
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday
Probably the best of all the Tracy Hepburn partnerships, this comedy written again by friends Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon focuses on a husband and wife who both happen to be lawyers and both on opposite sides of the same case. The case in question whether a woman shot her husband causes both personal and professional tensions to rise between the couple with hilarious results.
With a great script and tow of the greatest actors in the lead roles this is a knock out! Outrageously funny, a must see comedy.
Running Time: 2 Hours 5 mins
Genre: Adventure
Director: King Vidor
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Young, Walter Brennan
An epic adventure film starring Tracy almost against type as Major Robert Rogers the leader of Rogers Rangers of which two friends join. The film follows the Rangers on their travels wiping out Indian villages and travelling to Fort Wentworth where they should find food and supplies but find none. Based on a book by the same name, Tracy is surprisingly good as the leader of a group of men hungry, losing faith and finding their surroundings difficult to manage.
A great Sunday afternoon film.
Running Time: 3 Hours 5 mins
Genre: Drama/War
Director: Stanley Kramer
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark
Judgement at Nuremberg is one of my favourite war films, though it displays no fighting or battles. Instead it takes place after the war has ended, in Germany where trials are ongoing as four Nazi judges are being tried by the American's for war crimes. Tracy plays chief judge Dan Haywood, retired and at the end of his career but with a formidable task. With a group of witnesses he must decide the fate of the four judges (including Burt Lancaster) who are accused of sterilisation amongst other crimes. A moving an dramatic piece of film. Tracy is magnificent with one of the best speeches of his career.
Running Time: 1 Hour 35 mins
Genre: Biography/Drama
Director: Norman Taurog
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Mickey Rooney
In Boys Town based on a true story and a real figure Tracy plays Father Flanagan who creates a town for boys. A place where wayward boys can live and learn to live right with responsibility and reliability. Also starring Mickey Rooney as Whitey Marsh a young man who is heading for serious trouble unless Father Flanagan and Boys Town can straighten him out. This won Tracy is second consecutive Academy Award.
Running Time: 1 Hour 30
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: Vincente Minelli
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett
A great comedy Tracy is perfectly cast as the poor father Stanley T. Banks left in the cold as his family plan his daughter's wedding whilst he struggles to come to terms with the fact that his little girl is old enough to leave and start her own family in the first place. Tracy stars opposite Elizabeth Taylor and they play excellent with each other (they stayed friends until his death 17 years later). The humour of the film comes from Stanley's reactions from a financial stand point and the organization of such a huge event. Tracy is at his comedic best, (if you like this check out Father's Little Dividend (1951); the sequel).
Running Time: 2 Hours 5 mins
Genre: 2 Hours 5 mins
Director: Stanley Kramer
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Frederic March, Gene Kelly
Tracy was always strong, tough and dependable, which made him perfect to play lawyer Henry Drummond who agrees to defend a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theories of Evolution in a public school. Frederic March plays the prosecution, undeniably one of the best court dramas of all time, with one of the best scripts in existence (most of which was taken from the transcripts of a real case). Tracy and March give a master class in simply incredible acting. This is a must see, just for some of Tracy's dialogue alone.
Running Time: 1 Hour 45 mins
Genre: Drama
Director: Stanley Kramer
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier
Remembered as the last film he ever made Tracy died just weeks after the production ended. He plays Matt Drayton one half of a solid but ageing couple who are shocked when their daughter brings home a fiancée who is a black man (Poitier). A delicate film for the time it discuss the racial issue that was at the height of many peaceful and violent debates in America at the time. But it must be remembered for Tracy's moving performance and speech which seemed incredibly close to the heart in relation to his life and relationship to partner Hepburn. She won the Oscar for her performance but always insisted it was for both of them.
01 - Captains Courageous (1937)
Running Time: 1 Hour 55 mins
Genre: Adventure/Drama
Director: Victor Fleming
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Freddie Bartholomew
Tracy stars as Manuel a Portuguese fisherman who becomes the minder of a rich, spoiled and insolent boy, Harvey (Bartholomew) who is picked up from the sea by a fishing boat just starting its season, after falling off a cruise ship. He tries to bribe them to turn back but they cannot afford to and do not believe him anyway. Harvey under Manuel's watching eye and innocent friendly manner learns the ways of the fishermen, to look after himself support other and most of all humility and kindness.
The film won Tracy his first Oscar he won his second the next year for Boys Town.
In a career spanning 37 years Spencer Tracy became like many of his characters to his loving audiences; reliable, sturdy and talented beyond measure. Any one of these films is a tribute to the great legacy he has left, he was loved by movie goers and his peers alike the latter naming him one of the best in their business. If the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury say your the best there must be some truth in it. Check out his work you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised, and remember your watching a natural.
