Edison, the Man

This was one of the films that Spencer Tracy really believed in and actively supported not because he starred in it, but because he was a great admirer of Thomas A. Edison. This was unusual, as Tracy was known throughout most of his career to disparage his own gifts as well as the importance of motion pictures. Also, prior to this film, Tracy had been a very active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He even hosted the awards show on at least one occasion. However, when the nominations came out for the best films of 1940, Tracy was appalled that "Edison, the Man" was so overlooked in the nominations, being nominated for only Best Writing. He swore he would never attend another Academy Award ceremony again, and he never did. Not without irony is that, although he was nominated another six times over the next 28 years, Tracy never won another Oscar after that (after having won two in a row in the previous two years).

The montage sequence depicting Edison's inventions lists "electric power transmission" over a shot of a massive transmission line and the tower that holds it up. That technology was in fact developed not by Thomas A. Edison but by Nikola Tesla. (Tesla held over 700 patents, including Radio. Guglielmo Marconi stole the radio patent from Tesla. The US Patent office has since revoked Marconi's claim, giving it to Tesla.) Edison insisted on powering his lights with direct current, which could only travel short distances from the generators that produced it. Tesla used alternating current, which could be run through transformers to increase its voltage so it could be moved over long distances, then reduced in voltage again for home use. Tesla's alternating current, not Edison's direct current, quickly became the standard and is what is used today.

The opening credits appear as 19th Century sampler embroideries.

Featured in Hollywood: Style Center of the World (1940)