Il romanzo di una vita

If anyone is looking for a factual account of the life of Thomas Alva Edison this ain't the film for you. In fact Edison the Man is the second film that MGM did on him. Young Tom Edison had come out before this one and Mickey Rooney played a boy's life version of him. At the conclusion of that film there was a preview that Edison the Man would be coming out soon starring Spencer Tracy.

The widow Edison who was still alive at the time gave her personal stamp of approval on casting Spencer Tracy as her husband. Who wouldn't want his life's story portrayed by Tracy. But among the many things not shown was the fact that she was the second Mrs. Edison. The first Mrs. Edison, played by Rita Johnson in the film died in the 1880s and Edison married again the Gay Nineties. He had three children with each wife. So you can see a lot of the personal life has been left out.

The film is told in flashback as an aged Edison is sitting at a banquet table listening to the toastmaster tell of his life. We only see about 10 years of it from the time he arrives in New York to when he proves the validity of the electric light by powering a section of New York.

One of the great quotes from Edison is that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Inventing the electric light was the result of trial and error running into the thousands of methods and that is the part of Edison graphically shown.

Edison is always held up as the great example of the American success story. He was a man with little formal education at all who had ideas and the natural ability and will to see them through. It should always be remembered that Edison gained his fame during the Horatio Alger era. He was the living embodiment of those stories about the poor kid who succeeds through hard work.

The part of Edison that's not so nice, his battles over patents with other inventors, his ruthlessness in business exploiting those patents, that all comes later. It would take a mini-series to really do his life justice.

But I think Edison himself would have loved to see the way MGM handled his life in both films. He certainly would have seen himself as Spencer Tracy plays him, the wise benevolent man, with an iron perseverance.

Just don't anyone doing serious research on Edison use this film as a guide to his life.