Tracy accepted
a contract from Fox Films and he and his family moved to Hollywood in November
of 1931. He believed that exposure was the key to success in films;
in his first three years at the studio he made sixteen films, with co-stars
such as Joan Bennett, Bette Davis, Jean Harlow, and Loretta Young.
In 1935 Tracy signed a new
contract with the most prestigious studio of the time, MGM, where he would
remain for almost 20 years. Unlike Fox Films, MGM gave him scripts with
depth and variety, and Tracy continued to amaze critics and audiences alike
with his versatilty. In 1936 alone he played an innocent man almost
killed by a lynch mob in Fritz Lang's stark "Fury", a feisty priest opposite
Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald in the spectacular "San Francisco",
followed by "Libeled Lady", literally a four-star screwball comedy, with
William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow.
For 1937's "Captains Courageous"
and 1938's "Boys Town" Tracy became the first man to win the Academy Award
for Best Actor for two consecutive years (a record matched only by Tom
Hanks 55 years later).
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