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Post by courtneymarie on Sept 26, 2009 0:38:23 GMT -5
Hi  Just wondering if any of you have read a book by Bill Davidson called "Spencer Tracy: Tragic Idol"? Is he reputable? I have just finished the book after I checked it out from my university library and I found it very interesting. He has a great deal of insight into the Hepburn/Tracy relationship and treats it with respect but, also divulges some interesting tidbits that I wish were actually the truth but, I'm not totally sure. I will include a passage that really struck me because I haven't heard this perspective before. It is in an interview with Edward Dmytryk the director of "The Mountain" and he discusses a moment were his wife, Jean Porter a former MGM actress and supposedly very outspoken woman comes right out and asks Spencer why he didn't marry Kate and was it because he was Catholic and he said and I quote: "Hell, no...When we first started going together, Katie wanted to get married. But my son, John, still was living at home and I felt that until he grew up and could take care of himself I couldn't do it. Later, when all that cleared up, I wanted to marry Katie, but by that time she didn't want to marry Me."
When I read that I really didn't know what to believe...but, I thought it was very interesting...there are also some other quotes that were really insightful into their relationship...I will try to post them later...I have a wedding and then other commitments but, they were really interesting. Just wondering, Court |
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Post by HollywoodHepcat on Sept 26, 2009 6:45:17 GMT -5
Ah, yes. The Davidson book is literally dripping with juice---the bulk of which has been so embellished, dear, that I do hope you're taking everything with a grain o' salt. This book was delicious for a starry-eyed teenager who 'shipped Tracy and Hepburn like there was no tomorrow, but it ain't the first -- hell, it probably shouldn't even be the last -- go-to resource about Tracy or the pair as a whole. To say that the dates and the geographic locations of both parties throughout the course of their respective careers are unaligned with the facts is a given. Davidson made the same errors that the biographers before/after him made/continue to make. "Hell, no...When we first started going together, Katie wanted to get married. But my son, John, still was living at home and I felt that until he grew up and could take care of himself I couldn't do it. Later, when all that cleared up, I wanted to marry Katie, but by that time she didn't want to marry Me."
I just..............don't ever see that happening. Not with Kate. Not when she had so recently taken the defibulators to her flatlining career. She had a lot on her plate towards the end of 1941 [Actually, I'd make that " always" if we were speaking literally here, but I digress], and marriage, it seems to me, would not have been the practical thing to focus on at that time. Forget that ST was already married, albeit, estranged from his wife; she really hadn't been the type to jump so quickly into marriage before, so why would it have been any different with him---especially if she had the intentions of settling down (not in the traditional sense of the term) with the man? Adding any nuptials into that homelife would have been cause for disaster. And he wouldn't have called her "Kat ie", either, although the voice in that anecdote sure sounds like him. Eh. What you're left with is your decision to make, based on your own ideas of who these people were. I'm happy as a clam with my perception of Kate, and that one would not have demanded marriage. That's really all I can tell you. The only thing I'm ready to believe about the Davidson book is that one time, after eating escargot, Kate reeked of garlic and Spence cracked on her for half the night. Now THAT sounds like my perception of Stinkybritches and Old Pot. |
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Post by HollywoodHepcat on Sept 26, 2009 9:29:21 GMT -5
PS, While we're on the topic of this book, and as there's been recent discussion of J-Gar all over the place [Mostly on the one-night release of 'Oz', but some jibberjabber on her life], I'd rather not read a biography with the word TRAGIC in its title. Almost instantly there's a negative stigma attached to the person's life, and all the humor he or she could have possessed is thrown out the window. Now I would name a biography on Tracy, "Steak and Potatoes: A Love Story".
And see, it could act as a metaphor for the Tracy/Hepburn relationship, too! Brillz.
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Post by CrazyForKate on Sept 26, 2009 13:11:56 GMT -5
I read the book as a silly thirteen-year-old, and even then saw its flaws. The whole part about the interview Tracy gave is ridiculous and self-promoting. Meanwhile, that statement- well who knows, part of it might have been true. It's hard to say. But I've never heard anything of the kind anywhere else. I'm guessing Tracy was joking or someone misquoted him.
Can't wait for the James Curtis...
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Post by Judy on Sept 26, 2009 13:57:22 GMT -5
Bill Davidson = hack
I'd recommend Larry Swindell's bio before Davidson's - but not necessarily with much confidence, though it IS better.
I'm pretty certain that James Curtis' will become the one by which to measure the other ST bios or, for that matter, references to him in many of the Kate books. There may be some things in it that will be hard to read but unlike some others (fill in the blank), he does not distort facts nor revise history. He doesn't come up with a theory and then write his books to support it. He comes to his conclusions based on solid research, and doesn't twist it to suit a preconceived notion. That's my view anyway.
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Post by dreamer on Sept 27, 2009 1:44:27 GMT -5
I read the book as a silly thirteen-year-old, and even then saw its flaws. The whole part about the interview Tracy gave is ridiculous and self-promoting. Meanwhile, that statement- well who knows, part of it might have been true. It's hard to say. But I've never heard anything of the kind anywhere else. I'm guessing Tracy was joking or someone misquoted him. Can't wait for the James Curtis... I wouldn't say silly - at one point we are on a hunt in our fandom - that we read anything - just to read something more/new. And then there comes the stage of selection - and I must say that a book with a title similar to the header in a gossip magazine - just doesn't sound reliable/credible. I have like many here great hopes in the biography by Curtis - not only about Spencer of course but also about the many - hopefully - stories/anecdotes about Kate. So please Mr. Curtis - no more delays ..... Please! |
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Post by gottamatch on Sept 27, 2009 3:39:11 GMT -5
Yeah the thing that gave it away for me was the "Katie" reference also. Although I think the name Katie is cute, I recall in one of the better books reading that she was never referred to as Katie. perhaps by a stage hand of some sort, but certainly not by Spencer Tracy or other close ones. It would have been Kathy or Kate or Kath. I'm learning  Jess |
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Post by CrazyForKate on Oct 4, 2009 14:11:08 GMT -5
I have like many here great hopes in the biography by Curtis - not only about Spencer of course but also about the many - hopefully - stories/anecdotes about Kate. So please Mr. Curtis - no more delays ..... Please! I've heard it will be released in early 2011. If the book is done like he says, then surely the delays will be few, if any. |
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Post by dreamer on Oct 4, 2009 14:32:32 GMT -5
I have like many here great hopes in the biography by Curtis - not only about Spencer of course but also about the many - hopefully - stories/anecdotes about Kate. So please Mr. Curtis - no more delays ..... Please! I've heard it will be released in early 2011. If the book is done like he says, then surely the delays will be few, if any. What I meant was - it was supposed to be 2008 and later Fall 2009 - so hopefully it will not be later as May 2011. |
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Post by kellyw on Oct 23, 2009 22:20:26 GMT -5
Regarding the Davidson book - I know it's junk - but I've always wondered about the story he relates regarding an alleged story Spence told him about he and Kate in Paris, her making him walk. Says he was some young writer who didn't know he wasn't supposed to print it and put it in LOOK I believe. Anyone know if that actually happened? In the past I thought I came across the LOOK magazine he mentioned but not the story he relates. The way he worded it with "My Kate" this and that I thought sounded like Spence, but it's just so hard to tell with these so called writers.
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In order to login - click at the upper right corner - use your name from the board and your password and it should be all right. If not - please let me know and I will try to help!
Just stumbled upon this interesting board.. Does anyone have any video interviews with KH?? Or maybe transcripts of them? I´ve been especially looking for the full version of the famous Cavett one forever and ever... 