Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Children of Narcisissts in the movies - Spencer Tracy in 'The Actress'

You never know when you’re going to find one.  There you are, all alone (because your husband is in POLAND for a week, for chrissakes) and you find yourself stopping the change-a-lator (channel changer, technical jargon) on some old Spencer Tracy movie.  Which, you’ve never seen and everyone in it is YELLING and you almost change it, but then you Google it and find out it’s about wonderful RUTH GORDON (a whole goddamn bag of Oreos) and so you find yourself watching.  And then *BANG* there it is.  A speech about being raised by a buncha narcs.

Here’s the link.  I highly recommend, for his acting anyway.
Tracy did this in ONE TAKE because he is that good.  But the words.  Good god, that poor little kid that the character was. 
 
“I ran away from the people who were in charge of bringing me up.  They was AWFUL people.   …they worked me long and hard.  Whenever I went against their will they locked me in the woodshed and they beat me.  Then they went to church 3 times on Sunday.”  “…I’ll be bitter about ‘em – if I live to be a hundred.  They was awful people.  Till the day I die I’ll be bitter about ‘em.”

3 comments:

  1. Here.
    I brought us some more Oreos.
    The double-stuffed ones.....
    TW

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  2. That clip was excellent. I love Spencer Tracy.

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  3. Very cool. Awful people shouldn't get a shred of sympathy.

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