The Power and the Glory

[Le Chiffre]

This 1933 film, written by Preston Sturges and starring Spencer Tracy, is sometimes compared to CITIZEN KANE. TCM this month offers a chance to do a direct comparism when it plays both in tandem on the 18th, followed by Lang's restored METROPOLIS. Quite a night on TCM.

[Colmena]

The Power and the Glory is available at youtube, broken up into 6 parts. I haven't watched it yet, so cannot speak to its quality. To get to it I had to search for "Spencer Tracy The Power and the Glory".

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks Comena, nice find. Picture quality is OK, by Youtube standards.

"The Power and the Glory"

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyPERLdKV7g

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NHogO5GlLI

Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH2UHUKsQ8w

Part 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIpSSdjmiPc

Part 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCa2Xd4Q7SU

Part 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oob94GnoWT4

[GlennandersFraser]

Aside from the general theme that "Wealth doesn't necessarily bring happiness," and a much heavier emphasis on the protagonist's (rebellious) son (cut out of Welles' final script for his first film), I don't see much similarity between CITIZEN KANE and THE POWER AND THE GLORY. A more possible fruitful field of research suggested by THE POWER AND THE GLORY is the fact that it was written by Preston Sturges, a pal of Welles in Hollywood, and a man beginning to enjoy, at the time that . . . KANE was written, directed, and produced, a model for Welles, in that Sturges was beginning to write, produce and direct a series of unique films -- THE GREAT McGINTY, CHRISTMAS IN JULY, and THE LADY EVE (all in 1940), utilizing the talents of a "stock supporting company" that he had assembled. Sturges chose to make satire his method, and I've often thought that the leading character of SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1941), a director striving to write a serious masterpiece (OH BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?), was a little joke that Sturges and Welles shared. [For Sturges, the "serious masterpiece was to be THE GREAT MOMENT, about the dentist who invented an early anesthetic. After a string of box office and critical hits, he finally got to make his heart's desire, and it came dangerously close to ending his career.

THE POWER AND THE GLORY is a remarkable film for its time, but one that hardly begins to touch the brilliance of CITIZEN KANE.

Glenn

[Le Chiffre]

Thanks Glenn, for the tip on THE GREAT MOMENT. I'll check it out sometime. I've always considered Preston Sturges' masterpiece to be UNFAITHFULY YOURS, which also bombed at the box office.

POWER AND THE GLORY also starts with the death of the main protagonist, and the film tells his story in a series of flashbacks, which is another similarity to Kane. POWER is a good film but no, it's not in the same league as KANE, although it's a bit hard to fully judge it's worth from the mediocre prints still available. KEEPER OF THE FLAME, the Tracy/Hepburn film we discussed a couple of years ago comes somewhat closer to the quality of Kane, IMO.

[GlennandersFraser]

Yes, Mike, I agree: THE KEEPER OF THE FLAME is an extraordinary film (until perhaps its end), a film of great power in unmasking a political hero to have been a fraud. It is clearly influenced by CITIZEN KANE, and roughly follows the plot scheme of . . . KANE with more prominent stars (Tracy and Hepburn) and not quite so many twists.

You're right -- I think we had this discussion in another context, several years ago.

Glenn