The Power and the Glory (1933)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

William K. Howard

Writer:

Preston Sturges (original screenplay)

Release Date:

6 October 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A man's life is retold just after his funeral. Beginning as a track walker, Tom Garner rose through all sorts of railroad jobs to head the company...

Plot Keywords:

Railroad | Funeral | Stepmother | Suicide | Friendship

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Tom Garner
Colleen Moore	...	Sally Garner
Ralph Morgan	...	Henry
Helen Vinson	...	Eve Borden
Phillip Trent	...	Tom Garner, Jr. (as Clifford Jones)
Henry Kolker	...	Mr. Borden
Sarah Padden	...	Henry's Wife
Billy O'Brien	...	Tom as a Boy
Cullen Johnson	...	Henry as a Boy
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Mulligan

Also Known As:

Power and Glory (UK)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1789-R: 13 November 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Preston Sturges has written that he based the story on his second wife's grandfather, C.W. Post, founder of a company which later became General Foods. However, except for Post's humble beginnings and the fact he committed suicide, the story bore no resemblance to his life.

Goofs:

Continuity: As a boy, Tom cuts the back of his right hand badly. We are shown in a later scene that the scar is prominent as an old man. Yet on scenes showing him in between there is no scar.

Soundtrack:

Ave Maria, Op.52 No.6

God on the tracks

The film begins with a funeral to the sound of "nearer my God to thee" and the soundtrack includes Gounod's "Ave Maria" as well.

This is the story of a self-made man,the American dream come true.From a track walker to a railway society tycoon,through the strikes and the strife of life ,Tom makes his way of life,abetted by wife Sally who taught him reading,writing and arithmetic when he was already a grown-up.

This is some kind of "Citizen Kane" in miniature ,relatively speaking ,a decade before Orson Welles' masterpiece happened.The story is told by Tom's good friend Henry,with wife making frequently unsympathetic comments .The movie alternates between present and past,back to childhood's days when Tom taught Henry to swim and to dive.

The story is a bit melodramatic ,mainly towards the end when the son falls in love with his stepmother and illustrates the famous sentence "you gain the world and lose your soul" ,which Tom's last word reinforces.

Henry was an educated man whereas Tom was essentially a self taught person .Tom got it made ,but in the end ,according to Sturges' screenplay,it's Henry's way which leads to true happiness.