Spencer Tracy is a hot mess in The Murder Man

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school newspaper movies where everyone talks at 100 miles per hour and smokes in every single room, you’ll dig this. If you need your protagonists to be likeable, good people, skip it. You will probably hate this if you get annoyed by characters who make terrible life choices just to keep the plot moving.

Spencer Tracy plays Steve Gray, and man, he’s a piece of work. He spends half the movie looking like he hasn't slept since the Great Depression. There’s this jittery, desperate energy to him that makes you wonder if he’s going to break the story or just break down in the middle of the newsroom. 🥃

The plot is standard noir-ish stuff. Dead guy, suspicious partner, and a reporter who knows too much. It reminds me a bit of the frantic pace in A Prisoner Has Escaped, though this one feels way more cynical about the whole journalism game. The film isn't trying to be a deep dive into ethics, which is probably for the best.

There is a scene in a bar that just feels so lived-in. Not the fancy sets you see in Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, but something smaller and grittier. You can practically smell the stale beer and regret coming off the screen. Tracy just stares into his glass like he’s waiting for a ghost to show up.

The supporting cast is… fine, I guess. A lot of guys in hats walking into rooms and shouting things. It feels like they were plucked straight from the set of The Charming Deceiver and told to just look busy. It works, but don't expect much depth from anyone who isn't Tracy.

One thing that caught me off guard: how much time they spend on the printing press stuff. It’s loud, messy, and rhythmic. It’s almost more interesting than the actual murder investigation. Maybe because the machine doesn't lie to you like the characters do.

Small details that stuck:

• The way Tracy holds his cigarette like it’s the only thing keeping him grounded.
• The lighting in the office, which is either way too bright or way too dark. No in-between.
• The background extras who look like they’d rather be literally anywhere else.

The ending isn't some big, life-changing reveal. It’s just kind of there. It’s a bit of a damp squib, really, but by that point, you’re so used to the chaos that it doesn’t even matter. Not every movie needs to stick the landing perfectly, right?

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even the best thing Tracy did that year. But it’s got this weird, twitchy pulse that keeps you watching even when the script starts to fray at the edges. Watch it for the performance, ignore the plot holes. It’s better that way. 📰