A sub for redditors interested in following and predicting the Oscar race throughout the year.
Spencer Tracy won back-to-back Oscars for his performances in Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938).
While I do not think these are terrible performances as they are both charming supported by Tracy having great chemistry with his the respective Supp. Leads in each of those films (Freddie Bartholomew and Mickey Rooney). I feel like he has had work that was 10× better than that.
His ending speech and final scene with Burt Lancaster in Judgement At Nuremberg are some of my favorite movie scenes. I feel like these two scenes alone highlight the best of his ability as an actor than both Captains Courageaous and Boys Town combined.
I would also say his performances in "Bad Day At Black Rock", "Inherit The Wind", "The Old Man And The Sea", "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (he should have gotten a Supp. Actor Nomination that year), and "Guess Whos Coming To Dinner" are much better performances. Though the competition was tough in each of the years he was nominated. I feel like Judgement At Nuremberg was the closest he was to winning a 3rd Oscar.
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Boys Town isn’t the best movie but I think it’s the quintessential Spencer Tracy performance. I think he deserved it for being at his Spencer Traciest.
If you asked me should he have won for Inherit the Wind I’d say yes of course. But when I remember he was against Jack Lemon (for my favorite movie of all time, The Apartment), Burt Lancaster for Elmer Gantry (winner), and Laurence Olivier I’d have to say no. It was a packed year.
Same for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. All classics that year. Warren Beatty for Bonnie and Clyde, Dustin Hoffman for The Graduate, Paul Newman for Cool Hand Luke, and Rod Steiger (winner) for Heat of the Night.
(Also Sidney Poitier was double fucked that year. I guess the two performances split the vote for him.)
As great as Tracy was in Judgement, I would not have traded Max Schell's win in the same movie for all the tea in China.
I think Tracy, like Tom Hanks later on, was hurt by his back-to-back victories, because he wasn't seriously considered anymore after that impressive feat. He was nominated again, but I feel like often they were just to filler noms, like many given to Meryl Streep in recent years. On a separate note, his role in Captains Courageous is clearly a supporting actor performance.
To your list of impressive performances, I'd add three from his collaborations with Katherine Hepburn, Adam's Rib, Woman of the Year and State of the Union. In the last one he is incredible, even though the movie is a bit flawed.