Spencer Tracy_ A Biography - James C. Curtis [88]
With Claire Luce, Humphrey Bogart, and Warren Hymer in Up the River (1930). (SUSIE TRACY)
Tracy made his last shot on Sunday, August 17, at around five in the afternoon, and was on a train bound for New York by eight that same evening. Before he left, the terms of a new contract were discussed, but he told Sol Wurtzel, the superintendent of production under Winfield Sheehan, he had given his word he’d return to The Last Mile and was honor-bound to do so. Louise and Johnny went back to San Diego for a few days and then left for home. In Chicago, they stopped to see Mother Tracy, who was still in the hospital. While there, Johnny showed signs of fatigue and nausea and was registering a slight fever. The symptoms would fade and then return, and just before it was time to leave, they worsened.
Louise called the general practitioner who was overseeing Carrie’s recovery, but it never occurred to her to call the orthopedist who was in charge of her broken back. The doctor came to the hotel, gave the child a cursory examination, and said he thought that Johnny was probably just upset from all the travel and the change in his eating habits, and that he didn’t think it was anything serious or a reason to delay the rest of their trip. Despite his assurances, Louise felt a certain undercurrent of dread: “I knew I must get home as quickly as possible before whatever I felt was going to happen did so.” That night on the train, she slept in the berth with her son, and his body felt very hot. He tossed relentlessly, moaning in his sleep, and occasionally he would cry out sharply, partially awaken, and then draw his legs up and point to them. And Louise, by that point, knew exactly what was happening.
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1 Sam Golden was the owner of the Artcraft Litho and Printing Company, which produced most of the programs and window cards seen on Broadway.
2 The rare exception to the rule was Journey’s End, a British war drama with an all-male cast that was a hit in New York and Chicago as well as in London.
3 The fact that Sheehan was also negotiating a new two-year contract with Ford couldn’t have hurt.
4 Due to a delay in starting Up the River, Bogart was put into A Devil With Women and ended up shooting both films simultaneously. The Ford picture was released on October 12, 1930, making it Bogart’s feature debut. A Devil With Women was released a month later.
5 Leslie died on July 15, 1930. He was twenty-two years old.
6 Fortunately, Tracy tanned well in the California sun. According to author and makeup artist Michael Blake, he would have needed a good, even color to work without makeup. “Perhaps some base color under the eyes to ‘even him out’ as we put it.” Blake is certain he would have needed powder. “No doubt the oils in his skin would make him appear ‘shiny’ under the lights, and he would need powder to dull the shine down or he’d be too bright under the lights.”
CHAPTER 7
Quick Millions
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As planned, Spencer Tracy rejoined The Last Mile on September 1, 1930—in New York, however, not Chicago, Herman Shumlin having extended the Broadway run on the promise of Tracy’s return. Curiously, his absence hadn’t made much of a difference in terms of ticket sales, and Wexley, the author, actually liked Thomas Mitchell’s work as Mears better than Tracy’s—though his was certainly a minority report. (“Poor Tommy,” said Chester Erskine, “he just couldn’t get into that part.”) Mitchell played the role five weeks, then went on one night stewed to the gills, heaving and snorting and stumbling into the footlights. Erskine replaced him with Allen Jenkins, Mitchell’s understudy,