While not really an anti-war movie, this does give the message that not every man should be forced to go onto the front lines and be given a gun to shoot to kill what mankind refers to as their enemy. Set in World War I, this focuses on two pals (Franchot Tone and Spencer Tracy), opposites at first, who find their lives switching gears and going in opposite directions. Tracy is presumed to be killed in battle, causing Tone to marry Gladys George (the woman Tracy loved), and when Spencer pulls an Enoch Adams, all of their worlds are turned upside down, leading to Tracy facing a murder rap and the previously peace-loving Tone turning to a life of crime when he realizes the truth about Spencer and wife George.
"Memorize your lines and don't trip over the furniture", two-time Oscar Winning Spencer Tracy once said, and almost fifty years after his last film and death, his advice still holds up, his acting as fresh today as it was when he first stepped in front of movie cameras in 1930. Even in mediocre films, he added a quality to it that made it seem much better. Also remarkable is the fact that as great as he is, he doesn't make his co-stars look like amateurs. His method only added to his own character's development, and as a result, even an average actor could look like a pro simply because of the company they were keeping. In the case of "They Gave Him a Gun", this is obvious with both stars-Franchot Tone and Gladys George, both capable performers, who seemed to pick up on what secret he had, making even their own characters all the more fascinating.
A lot of what Tracy does is simple reacting, not acting, and with Tone, it is obvious that this is a "trading places" plot, with bad boy Tracy reforming somewhat while Tone goes from clean-cut all-American to crook with nurse Gladys George torn between them. She's one of those rare leading ladies who in the 1930's had a brief success, that throaty voice and hard presence covering up a heart as soft as oatmeal and the realization that no matter how much pain her characters had been through, she hadn't forgotten how to be human. Tone had the physical presence of an actor who could seem to be bland, but he was paired with co-stars of expressive features and great dramatic training that his appearance was revealed to hide passions that with weaker co-stars might have never revealed. As adept in screwball comedy as he was in drama, Tone's performance here is very nuanced, and ultimately, it is his character's fate that wraps up a complex plot and brings on great sympathy. Even though both Tracy and Tone got guns, it is Tone's character that the bullet-ridden titles (opening the film like a machine gun) are referring to. With these three, the film ends up with a great touch of class that with less co-stars would have ranked it among MGM's "B" crime dramas or been part of their "Crime Does Not Pay" series of shorts.
"Memorize your lines and don't trip over the furniture", two-time Oscar Winning Spencer Tracy once said, and almost fifty years after his last film and death, his advice still holds up, his acting as fresh today as it was when he first stepped in front of movie cameras in 1930. Even in mediocre films, he added a quality to it that made it seem much better. Also remarkable is the fact that as great as he is, he doesn't make his co-stars look like amateurs. His method only added to his own character's development, and as a result, even an average actor could look like a pro simply because of the company they were keeping. In the case of "They Gave Him a Gun", this is obvious with both stars-Franchot Tone and Gladys George, both capable performers, who seemed to pick up on what secret he had, making even their own characters all the more fascinating.
A lot of what Tracy does is simple reacting, not acting, and with Tone, it is obvious that this is a "trading places" plot, with bad boy Tracy reforming somewhat while Tone goes from clean-cut all-American to crook with nurse Gladys George torn between them. She's one of those rare leading ladies who in the 1930's had a brief success, that throaty voice and hard presence covering up a heart as soft as oatmeal and the realization that no matter how much pain her characters had been through, she hadn't forgotten how to be human. Tone had the physical presence of an actor who could seem to be bland, but he was paired with co-stars of expressive features and great dramatic training that his appearance was revealed to hide passions that with weaker co-stars might have never revealed. As adept in screwball comedy as he was in drama, Tone's performance here is very nuanced, and ultimately, it is his character's fate that wraps up a complex plot and brings on great sympathy. Even though both Tracy and Tone got guns, it is Tone's character that the bullet-ridden titles (opening the film like a machine gun) are referring to. With these three, the film ends up with a great touch of class that with less co-stars would have ranked it among MGM's "B" crime dramas or been part of their "Crime Does Not Pay" series of shorts.