Comments on: Spencer Tracy IS Klaatu!

By: moirafinnie

moirafinnie — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:06:35 +0000

Hi Joanne, Al, Vincent and 42nd St. Memories,
Thank you for your comments. I also have some difficulty wrapping my mind around Spencer Tracy as Klaatu, but found some of the casting consideration given him pretty amusing, though not quite as wrong-headed as James Stewart as a Chinese peasant. It’s good to know that I’m not the only person who finds this intriguing and a bit mind-boggling.
Thanks,
Moira

By: Joanne Jones

Joanne Jones — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:25:28 +0000

As much as I liked Spencer Tracy I can not see him in the role of Klaatu.He would have never made a good Klaatu.Spencer Tracy was to formal for the role.

By: Al Lowe

Al Lowe — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:55:20 +0000

I wish my parents would have sold the comedy routine about my name to Abbott and Costello.
I usually use the name routine as an ice breaker. My father, who had the same name, had problems with it while working in a railroad office. The workers there were told to answer the phones with their names. I don’t have to go into detail. You know what happened. Typically the Brilliant Supervisor had a solution that didn’t work. He told my dad to answer with his last name. Well, when he did that, the exact same thing happened.
Thanks RHS for your comment.

By: Vincent

Vincent — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:44:39 +0000

Nothing against Robert Montgomery, but imagine Cary Grant in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”…he and Carole Lombard were probably the actor and actress most identified with the screwball comedy genre (William Powell’s comedies were generally more of the romantic type and less screwy), and while Cary and Carole co-starred in “In Name Only,” it’s too bad they never made a comedy together. (Of course, some could argue that “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” is sort of a warmed-over version of “The Awful Truth,” but Grant would have found a way to make it fresh, just as Montgomery did.)

By: RHS

RHS — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:27:19 +0000

Entirely out of context, but…

Al, when you call someone up on the telephone, does your name get you in trouble?

“Who’s calling?”
“Al Lowe.”
“‘allo to you too, mate, but I asked you who’s calling?”

By: Al Lowe

Al Lowe — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:05:30 +0000

Spencer Tracy has always been my favorite actor.
I don’t think he ever gave serious consideration to the Klaatu role. In those days superstars didn’t appear in science fiction. Howard Hawks made The Thing but took producer credit instead of director credit because superstar directors didn’t touch that material either.
I also remember something else. Wise several years later started directing Tracy in Tribute to a Bad Man and after some clashes had him fired from MGM. He was replaced by James Cagney.
No, that science fiction project starring Tracy was never going to happen.
The High and the Mighty, starring Tracy, almost did. John Wayne’s company produced and signed Tracy for the part and he backed out. So Wayne, because it was his company, stepped in.
According to various biographies Tracy was always trying to get out of any project he was involved with. He tried to convince the producers of Desk Set to replace him with Fred Astaire and Dore Schary strongarmed Tracy into making Bad Day at Black Rock.
Regarding Desperate Hours, I think the mistake William Wyler made was not using the guy who created the convict’s role on Broadway, Paul Newman.
Claude Rains might have made The Day the Earth Stood Still if he hadn’t another commitment. After all, he did The Invisible Man.
Gregory Peck appeared in Pittsburgh (my town) in a forum that allowed him to answer fans’ questions. I heard him say he turned down High Noon because it was too similar to Gunfighter but he thought he might have brought something to the part.
Incidentally, it is well known that Paul Newman and Steve McQueen did not co-star in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for the same reason that made Bogart and Tracy (or Tracy and Bogart) so reluctant years earlier. It was a billing problem.

By: 42nd Street Memories

42nd Street Memories — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:28:08 +0000

Imagining Spencer Tracy as Klaatu leads me to picture Hepburn in the Patricia Neal role and David Wayne in the Hugh Marlowe role.

I’m sure Tracy would have insisted on a change to the “Klaatu barada nikto” line

Klaatu: “Vive la difference!”
Helen Benson: “Which means?”
Klaatu: “Which means hurrah for that little difference.”