Edison the Man (NR, 1940)

Spencer Tracy plays Thomas Edison in this biopic, which chronicles the inventor's life from his early failures to his first major success – the phonograph – and his struggle to create the electric light bulb. After Edison's lab tests more than 9000 substances as filaments without success, one of his colleagues says, "We're as sorry as you are that you didn't get results," he replies, "Results? Man, I got a lot of results. I now know 9000 things that won't work." Finally, they find a filament that works, but Edison's next challenge is politics. The powers behind gas utilities do not want electricity because they will lose money. They impose a seemingly impossible deadline, but Edison meets it, and New York City is electrified. At a 1929 celebration to honor the "Golden Jubilee of Light," the speaker worries that man will destroy itself with technology. Edison responds that man's ingenuity and humanity must work together in balance. "What man's mind can conceive, man's character can control."

Made just nine years after Edison's death, and on the brink of World War II, EDISON THE MAN is very much a reflection of the concerns of its time. It's a glossy MGM production, part history, and part fiction (the details of his personal life). In a world with too few heroes, it's good to let kids see a movie about an American who transformed the world with his mind, whose dream was not to make money, but to make the world easier, more efficient, more comfortable, and safer.

One thing that made Edison special was that he never lost his overwhelming curiosity, something kids have naturally, and that was the major force behind his inventions. This movie is a good reminder to kids that they are always surrounded by his inventions, including the very process that was used to film and project this film.

Studio: MGM/UA
Director: Clarence Brown
Cast: Gene Lockhart, Rita Johnson, Spencer Tracy
Genre: Drama
Run time: 107 minutes
Theatrical release: May 10, 1940
DVD release: June 22, 2009
MPAA Rating: NR