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I wasn't going to bring up Tracy...and I mean Spencer, 'cuz I love Lee. He's not so much an actor I dislike as he's one that falls into the category of the overrated for me. I find him...well, rather dull.

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I feel pretty much the same way, Ken, and for me it brings an important point: the distinction between good acting and interesting acting. I think Tracy is a fine, believable actor. There isn't much in his performances that doesn't ring true for me. But unlike a William Powell, or an Edward G. Robinson, or a Roland Young, there's nothing particularly exciting to me about watching Tracy... whereas, on the other hand, I really don't know how good an actor Powell really was, but I'm delighted to watch him in most anything.

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I disagree entirely. A subtle gesture, a knowing smile, is worth all the "exciting" acting in the world to me. That's one of the reasons I'll take Spencer Tracy's DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE over Fredric March's

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I don't think we're in as total disagreement as you suggest, Richard. The "exciting" acting of which I speak is often a "subtle gesture" or a "knowing smile." I wasn't suggesting that acting need be either or broad or overtly theatrical to be interesting. Lord knows that one of my earlier examples, Roland Young, has often underplayed-- and thereby outshone-- entire casts of films. Naunton Wayne is another of my favorite subtle scene stealers. I also find James Stewart a very interesting player (though I realize Ken does not), and usually most interesting when he is his most subtle.

I just find Tracy, though good, a bit boring. It doesn't help that he made a large portion of his films for MGM (which, let's face it, made an unproportionately large number of boring films). The Great Mr. Benchley (who could also be subtle, and was always interesting) said it best in a quote I'll have to paraphrase from memory (he was not referring to Spencer Tracy): "He is an actor who was simply never fated to quicken my pulse."

Incidentally, I too prefer Tracy's performance as Jekyll/Hyde (though I prefer the March film as a whole). And March's Hyde make-up made him look like a monkey, which is, of course, why Tracy and March had to battle out the Monkey Trial thirty years later.